Network card timeouts

[Anders Linden]

Symptom:
Network cards that stops working if they are sent enough data.

The cards I have got problem with this far:
Intel Etherexpress Pro 100+ (some kernels ago).
Davicom Semiconductor, Inc. Ethernet 100/10

Occasion 1:
The kernel version on the computers were 2.4.3. Every person in a single
classroom had problem with Intel cards. They could not even fetch
webpages before their consoles were spammed with a message like: network
card timeout. All computers were Compaq. I dont know which hardware they
had in addition to that. I have also had problems with Intel cards even
after this occasion on other computers.

Occasion 2:
The later card, Davicom, is probably not a well-known card, but
nevertheless, it works like shit in Linux. I am using Redhat 7.1 and the
kernel 2.4.2-2. If I send more than 10M to such a card in an interval of
a second, it just quits working for 5 seconds. The card has no problems
at all in other, third party operating systems, like Windows.

Is it the newest kernels that has theese problems? The first occasion
was exactly after a kernel 2.4.3 has been released, and people I talked
to said that 2.4.2 and network cards were better friends.

Thanks for your attension

/Anders Lindén