In message 200606081731.49365.ngustavson@emacinc.com you wrote:
It's just that the *Linux* *driver* is responsible to initialize =A0it, no matter which boot loader you use and what the boot loader is doing or not doing.
In some cases that would amount to dynamic reassignment, such as in the Coldfire fec, which does not provide the typical load from eeprom
So what? Is there any reason why the Linux ethernet driver could not perform the same actions that U-Boot can perform?
functionality for it's MAC. It must be assigned by software somewhere, I am of the opinion that the bootloader should do it.
You are wrong. It is teh responsibility of the Linux driver to adjust the settings it needs for correct operation.
I look at the bootloader like the BIOS of a PC without the system calls. It initializes the hardware to a minimal point (you've at least got to turn on the DRAM, an IMHO make sure the MAC is valid) and loads the OS.
I agree with the RAM, but the MAC has nothing to do here. The BIOS on a PC does not care about any MAC addresses either.
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk