[UPDATE] "eeepc_lap" driver anomily; with wifi off no eth0

[bigpcman]

 tc3alpha5 running on eeepc 900a

Awhile back I discovered the eeepc_laptop module would not load on boot and was advised to install "hwmon" and "pci-hotplug" to overcome this problem.  Indeed, with these extensions installed the eeepc_laptop module now loads.

However, I just discovered that if I turn the wireless function off in the bios and reboot I no longer have a wired eth0 connection. Ifconfig report no device found. If I uninstall "hwmon" then eth0 comes back but eeepc_laptop goes away.  So I suppose the eeepc_laptop driver not being loaded is what enables eth0 to come back.

I have an old tc2.3 usb stick laying around so I tried that. It worked perfect on the same machine as far as eeepc_laptop, hwmon and eth0 are concerned. The eeepc_laptop module loaded with no extensions required and was not affected by the wireless being turned off in the bios.

Update: I just tried Meego on my eeepc and it does the same thing. So the eeepc_laptop driver for kernel 2.6.33 is the culprit.

The reason this is an issue for me is that I use an 802.11n network so I turn off the internal wireless function since it doesn't support "n".