Subject: Re: DP83815 ethernet chips, revision numbers
To: Peter Seebach <seebs@plethora.net>
From: Charles M. Hannum <mycroft@MIT.EDU>
List: current-users
Date: 02/21/2006 14:39:21
On Tue, Feb 21, 2006 at 01:09:48PM -0600, Peter Seebach wrote:
> >Soekris boards use the same chip, but there have been issues where some
> >boards obviously left the manufacturer without testing and had no MAC
> >address programmed in. These showed up as all Fs as well. Just FYI.

I don't know about either of the boards you're talking about specifically,
but it's very common for embedded systems to not have SEEPROMs connected
to the MACs, and instead do some machine-specific initialization.  It
saves an annoying manufacturing step.