David Hinds wrote:
> 
> Say the driver is linked into the kernel.  Hot plug drivers should not
> all complain about not finding their hardware.
>

That's handled by pci_module_init(), check <linux/pci.h>:
if CONFIG_HOTPLUG is enabled, then pci_module_init() never returns with
-ENODEV.

Which means that eisa cards will never be probed in a hotplug enabled
kernel.

And loading the current 3c59x.c into a non CONFIG_HOTPLUG non EISA
kernel results in a disconnected driver:
it's _not_ registered as a pci driver, pci_module_init() calls
pci_unregister_driver().

What about the attached patch?