Linux considerations for converting from RIO/HSL to 12X I/O expansion units

When you convert from a RIO PCI-X expansion unit to an 12X PCI-X expansion unit (5796, or 7314-G30), the adapters stay the same. The same Linux image generally works for the new adapters. pci_hotplug detects 12X devices after they are plugged in. If the slots are not in the same location, the devices might be the same. For example, suppose eth0 and eth1 are in slots 1 and 2 on the old expansion unit and in slots 3 and 4 on the new expansion unit. In the migrated Linux system, eth0 and eth1 might be the same as before, but could also vary between distributions.

When you convert from a RIO PCI-X expansion unit to PCIe 5802 and 5877 expansion units, the adapters are different. The drivers are different also. PCIe is a serial bus and the older PCI and PCI-X adapters are a parallel bus. Due to the difference in the adapters, the pci_hotplug creates new devices because the previous devices would be different.