Softing DPRAM-based CAN interface cards (CANcard2, CAN-AC, CAN-PRO)
A family of CAN bus interface cards from Softing — including PCMCIA CANcard2, PCI CAN-AC, and PC/104 CAN-PRO boards — that communicate with the host through dual-port RAM and onboard firmware. They were used in industrial automation, automotive test rigs, and embedded control systems from the late 1990s through the 2010s.
recommendation
Worth keeping but documenting its niche. The hardware is firmly legacy: Softing discontinued CANcard2 back in 2013 and the remaining CAN-AC and PC/104 CAN-PRO boards were retired between 2020 and 2023 with vendor support ending by 2024, so no new units are being sold. However, the code was still being touched in late 2025 as part of routine CAN-subsystem maintenance, and existing industrial field deployments may still depend on it, so removal is premature. There is no in-tree successor covering the same DPRAM card family.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
`drivers/net/can/softing/softing_main.c` was still being touched in late 2025 as part of active CAN-subsystem treewide maintenance, so the driver is not abandoned upstream.
- cateee.net
LKDDb describes CONFIG_CAN_SOFTING as support for Softing CAN cards using dual-port RAM, created by `softing_cs` or `softing_pci`, i.e. a legacy board family rather than modern USB CAN adapters.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows the directory still includes explicit PCMCIA support and references firmware version 4.6, reinforcing that this targets older deployed hardware.
- industrial.softing.com
Softing lists CANcard2 as discontinued in 2013 and several CAN-AC/CAN-PRO PC/104 products as discontinued in 2020-2023 with support ending by 2024, indicating the supported hardware family is no longer a current new-sales line.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local `rg` on the tree showed this is real driver code (`module_platform_driver`, `module_pcmcia_driver`) for Softing CAN hardware, not helpers. Recent upstream activity came from `lore_file_timeline` on `drivers/net/can/softing/softing_main.c`, which returned the cited lore URL and a 2025 activity histogram; I saw active maintenance but no explicit removal discussion in the evidence gathered. Hardware/deployment evidence came from `web.search_query` results for LKDDb and Softing product lifecycle pages: the driver covers old DPRAM/PCMCIA/PCI/PC104-era cards, while vendor lifecycle pages show those lines discontinued. That points to legacy industrial field deployments that still exist, but very little chance of meaningful new 2025 sales. I left `replacement_driver` null because local tree inspection found no separate in-tree successor for the same Softing DPRAM card family; newer Softing CAN products are different device families, not drop-in coverage for this driver.