SGI O2 MACE and IOC3 workstation Ethernet
Onboard Ethernet controllers found in SGI's MIPS workstations: the MACE 10/100 chip integrated into the 1996-era SGI O2 (IP32), and the IOC3 multi-function I/O chip used in higher-end SGI machines like the Octane and Octane2, which were sold until around 2004. Both are tied to specific SGI IRIX-era hardware that has been out of production for two decades.
recommendation
A candidate for future removal because the hardware is confined to SGI's MIPS workstations from the late 1990s and early 2000s — the O2 (1996) with its MACE Fast Ethernet, and Octane/Octane2 machines (discontinued in 2004) using the IOC3 chip. Recent kernel activity has been mechanical treewide API cleanups in 2023 and 2024, with no SGI-specific fixes, suggesting the code is on life support. Outright removal isn't urgent since hobbyists still run these machines and there is no in-tree replacement for the silicon.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
Most recent visible upstream touch for meth.c was a 2024 treewide platform_driver::remove() API conversion, not SGI-specific feature work or bug-fix traffic.
- lore.kernel.org
Another recent SGI-ethernet touch in 2023 was likewise a treewide remove-callback conversion affecting two files.
- cateee.net
The MACE side is the SGI O2 built-in Fast Ethernet driver (`meth`) and is tied to the SGI IP32/O2 platform.
- cateee.net
The IOC3 side is for SGI IOC3 Ethernet, tied to the IOC3 controller and still carried in current kernel configuration coverage.
- en.wikipedia.org
SGI O2 was a 1996-era MIPS workstation with built-in 10/100 Ethernet and was SGI's last low-end workstation line.
- en.wikipedia.org
SGI Octane used the IOC3 multi-I/O chip and the Octane/Octane2 line ended in 2004, bounding the likely end of new IOC3-based workstation sales.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Real driver directory with two SGI NIC drivers. Lore evidence came from `lore_file_timeline` on `drivers/net/ethernet/sgi/meth.c`; the only recent hits are 2023/2024 treewide API churn, and a `lore_regex` removal-search timed out rather than showing active removal discussion. Hardware/deployment evidence came from web search plus page open/find on Wikipedia and LKDDb pages: these drivers map to SGI O2 and IOC3-based SGI MIPS systems from the late-1990s/early-2000s. That hardware is long out of new sales and current usage is likely hobbyist/legacy only, with no natural in-tree replacement for the exact devices, so `deprecate` fits better than `remove`.