I've got a Linux 2.6.17 kernel running on an PPC-6xx system, on which I cannot detect Ethernet cable attach/detach status in software. All the 'usual' ioctl methods are failing; I've tried SIOCETHTOOL, SIOCGMMIPHY, and SIOCDEVPRIVATE, all of which return 'Operation not supported'

The physical device is an LXT971, and the driver is build from fcc_enet.c (exact version unknown, it has a 2000 copyright). The network works and I know the kernel can detect when the cable is attached or detached, as I get kmsg messages, but I can't tell from my program.

I've read that the driver may need to be updated to support the ioctl interface(s) but I'm feeling out of my league.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Logan Ratner
ratner@alumni.rice.edu

Did you mean to mark this "[SOLVED]"?

If so, kindly post the solution -- even though this is an old post, it still might help someone else w/ the same, or a similar, problem.