Hi Mr. Bellovin,

> My daughter has an R51 running 3.0; she doesn't recall seeing such
> messages.  On my T42, running -current, I'll see
>
> /netbsd: wm0: device timeout (txfree 4095 txsfree 63 txnext 45)
>
> if it's not connected to anything.  I regard the message as a bit annoying
> but not really worth doing something about.

Indeed, it should not generate anything like that unless its something
verbose for this particular chipset which is absent to others.

To replicate this, I tried booting-up the R51 without anything attached to
its NIC and ran dmesg upon login. It consistently generates the same thing
on a generic NetBSD 3.0 install and upon update to stable branch.

>>
>> 2) With prolonged use, heavy network traffic (http, ssh and ftp
>> transfers)
>> this one came up:
>>
>> wm0: discarding oversize frame (len=-4)
>>
>> This is not the first time I encountered wm stating this error message.
>> On
>> a Dell Poweredge 2800 also with an integrated Intel gigabit adapter.
>>
>> wm0 at pci9 dev 7 function 0: Intel i82541GI 1000BASE-T Ethernet, rev. 5
>>
> What else is on your network?  That message suggests that some other
> device emitted a too-large frame.
>

Its just a dedicated machine acting as a http proxy and several web and
DNS servers. With myself as the lone user on keeping those boxes busy on a
2-4 AM strech.

With the Poweredge 2800, the error came out even when cross connected.
Details of which have been listed on the thread since November last year.

Thanks for your reply.

Regards,

Joseph