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Actually, since you mention Realtek, some of their gigabit NICs do take some firmware. I have a vague notion that it's not needed for the basic functionality of
by qb45 10y ago
Actually, since you mention Realtek, some of their gigabit NICs do take some firmware. I have a vague notion that it's not needed for the basic functionality of sending and receiving packets, but I might be wrong - it's been a few years since I dealt with it.
- qb45 10y agoWell, I'm dumb. Of course the firmware has to be embedded in the BIOS or the chip itself, because most machines with Realtek NICs support network booting. Firmware loading in OS drivers probably only delivers updates. So there is firmware, it can be updated by the OS, we don't know exactly what's inside. Though at least the firmware isn't designed to update the OS as in those Soviet Russia jokes.