Solving Ethernet watchdog timer deadlocks

I have a debian linux box (Debian Squeeze) that deadlocks every few hours if I run a python script that sniffs an interface... The stack trace is attached to the bottom of this question. Essentially, I have a Broadcom ethernet interface (bnx2 driver) that seems to die when I start a sniffing session and then it tries to transmit a frame out the same interface. From what I can tell, a kernel watchdog timer is tripping... NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth3 (bnx2): transmit queue 0 timed out I think there is a way to control watchdog timers with ioctl (ref: [EmbeddedFreak: How to use linux watchdog](http://embeddedfreak.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/howto-use-linux-watchdog/)) . Questions (Original): --------------------- How can I find which watchdog timer(s) is controlling eth3? Bonus points if you can tell me how to change the timer or even disable the watchdog... Questions (Revised): --------------------- How can I prevent the ethernet watchdog timer from causing problems? Stack trace ----------- Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837147] ------------[ cut here ]------------ Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837166] WARNING: at /build/buildd-linux-2.6_2.6.32-41squeeze2-amd64-NDo8b7/linux-2.6-2.6.32/debian/build/source_amd64_none/net/sched/sch_generic.c:261 dev_watchdog+0xe2/0x194() Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837169] Hardware name: PowerEdge R710 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837171] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth3 (bnx2): transmit queue 0 timed out Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837172] Modules linked in: 8021q garp stp parport_pc ppdev lp parport pci_stub vboxpci vboxnetadp vboxnetflt vboxdrv ext2 loop psmouse power_meter button dcdbas evdev pcspkr processor serio_raw ext4 mbcache jbd2 crc16 sg sr_mod cdrom ses ata_generic sd_mod usbhid hid crc_t10dif enclosure uhci_hcd ehci_hcd megaraid_sas ata_piix thermal libata usbcore nls_base scsi_mod bnx2 thermal_sys [last unloaded: scsi_wait_scan] Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837202] Pid: 0, comm: swapper Not tainted 2.6.32-5-amd64 #1 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837204] Call Trace: Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837206] [] ? dev_watchdog+0xe2/0x194 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837211] [] ? dev_watchdog+0xe2/0x194 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837217] [] ? warn_slowpath_common+0x77/0xa3 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837220] [] ? dev_watchdog+0x0/0x194 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837223] [] ? warn_slowpath_fmt+0x51/0x59 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837228] [] ? try_to_wake_up+0x289/0x29b Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837231] [] ? netif_tx_lock+0x3d/0x69 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837237] [] ? netdev_drivername+0x3b/0x40 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837240] [] ? dev_watchdog+0xe2/0x194 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837242] [] ? __wake_up+0x30/0x44 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837249] [] ? run_timer_softirq+0x1c9/0x268 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837252] [] ? __do_softirq+0xdd/0x1a6 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837257] [] ? lapic_next_event+0x18/0x1d Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837262] [] ? call_softirq+0x1c/0x30 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837265] [] ? do_softirq+0x3f/0x7c Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837267] [] ? irq_exit+0x36/0x76 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837270] [] ? smp_apic_timer_interrupt+0x87/0x95 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837273] [] ? apic_timer_interrupt+0x13/0x20 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837274] [] ? acpi_idle_enter_bm+0x27d/0x2af [processor] Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837283] [] ? acpi_idle_enter_bm+0x276/0x2af [processor] Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837289] [] ? cpuidle_idle_call+0x94/0xee Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837293] [] ? cpu_idle+0xa2/0xda Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837297] [] ? early_idt_handler+0x0/0x71 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837301] [] ? start_kernel+0x3dc/0x3e8 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837304] [] ? x86_64_start_kernel+0xf9/0x106 Apr 30 08:38:44 Hotcoffee kernel: [275460.837306] ---[ end trace 92c65e52c9e327ec ]---