hi,

tulip driver is not the only driver i'm having problems with (see "oops
in tulip driver..." from a few weeks ago). our net connection is via
pppoe, and either the kernel pppoe driver is randomly crashing to the
point that i *have* to reboot. yes, it's modular, go figure. or it's the
other ppp drivers.  seems to be ppp, since the error messages i get from
the kernel are pointing that way. i don't have the error output
unfortunately, but it is on the list, from my first mention of the tulip
driver being busted, i posted the oops output i got. i'll go try to find
the relevant message.

http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=110077095802656&w=4
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=110082052528028&w=4

the first one refers what i'm speaking of a bit. it happens when i'm
bringing pppd down with poff, or when the other end of my ppp tunnel
drops the connection. here's some more f what i managed to get:

sig11
call trace:
snmp6_unregistered_dev
in6_dev_finish_destroy
ip6_dst_destroy
dst_destroy
dst_ran_gc
run_timer_softirq
__do_softirq
irq_exit
timer_interrupt
ret_from_interrupt

then a message about PANIC: not syncing: Aiee, killing interrupt handler!

sorry i don't have the various numbers that go with those above
functions.

is there a patch out there that can at least mitigate the problems i'm
seeing? it's making for a very unstable environment to work in. 

(yes, i'm getting desperate. i'm even thinking of going back to 2.4).

eric

-- 
"I believe that part of what propels science is the thirst for wonder.  It's a
very powerful emotion.  All children feel it.  In a first grade classroom
everybody feels it; in a twelfth grade classroom almost nobody feels it, or
at least acknowledges it.  Something happens between first and twelfth grade,
and it's not just puberty.  Not only do the schools and the media not teach
much skepticism, there is also little encouragement of this stirring sense
of wonder.  Science and pseudoscience both arouse that feeling.  Poor
popularizations of science establish an ecological niche for pseudoscience."
- Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 12, Fall 87