correct.
there should be no need for me to set something that the kernel can do
itself as well ...
i think the solution is obvious and simple: if e1000 is built-in then
e1000e should not be allowed to be a module. (i.e. it should either be
built-in in which case it will handle the PCI IDs, or it should be
disabled - in which case e1000 will handle them.)
that way e1000e can take over the PCI IDs but we'll never get a
non-working system, which takes an hour for a kernel hacker to figure
out. The failure was totally silent. eth0 didnt show up at all.
Btw., a sidenote: this is another generally annoying property of Linux:
there's no easy and user-visible enumeration of PCI IDs (devices) that
we _could_ support but dont enable for some reason. It is a royal PITA
to track down when some driver decides to (silently) ignore a piece of
hardware.
Having a seemingly dead piece of hardware component is one of the most
frustrating user experiences possible - the first instinctive reaction
is "did my hw break???". The kernel should proactively know about all
inactive pieces of hardware and should have a one-stop-shop for users
where they can reassure themselves which devices are not active and why.
Ingo
--
