Yes. You should call dev_alloc_skb() for receive packet buffers but that
isn't relevant to this issue.
> but the position of the buffers do not seem to stay constant (this was
> really a hard one to figure out!). Now what is going on here? Are
They stay constant. kmalloc buffers are pinned physically.
> 2.) When asked by the network subsystem to transmit a buffer I can
> not choose the kind of memory the data is provided in. I can only
> either copy it around or take the risk it will be pulled away
> under my feet.
The buffer you are given isnt going anywhere until you free it. It might be
outside ISA DMA range. ISA cards have to handle this - take a look at
drivers/net/z85230.c for an ISA example that handles it.
For PCI if your hardware is ok then you can hit the full 4Gig and are fine.
Remember to check alignment rules. Some hardware has problems with
alignment and you may have to make aligned copies at times.
Alan
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