Re: Lenovo X60 em workaround

On 1/19/07, Bill Paul <wpaul_at_freebsd.org> wrote:
>
> > Since this was just seen, and the patch below validated as working I wanted
> > to send general email to capture this:
> >
> > The Lenovo X60 can have issues with long ping times, this is a KNOWN
> > hardware problem, and Intel is working with IBM/Lenovo, a final 'fix' has
> > not been decided on yet. Nevertheless, the patch below will work, but
> > I do not want to check it in as its still temporary.
> >
> > Address questions to me,
>
> Okay, I have a question. Could you elaborate on just what the problem is?
> (I mean, since it's KNOWN and all...) I'm just having a hard time figuring
> out what problem could possibly be fixed by setting the RX interrupt
> delay timer to a non-zero value (especially since elsewhere in the em(4)
> source it says that doing so is a Bad Thing (tm)).

saying its known to be a problem doesnt mean its cause is known :)
They discovered that setting this eliminated the problem, but we
immediately pointed out that this is, as you pointed out, a Bad
Thing on other hardware, so the investigation continues, there is
always a communication lag on these kind of things, so I dont know
if it has been resolved yet or not.

I just dont think this patch will become the final way to solve this,
but we shall see :)

Cheers,

Jack