Cortina Gemini / StorLink SL351x Gigabit Ethernet
The dual Gigabit Ethernet controller built into the StorLink SL351x (later branded Cortina Gemini) system-on-chip, an ARM-based platform from around 2005 that was widely used in small NAS boxes and home routers through the late 2000s and early 2010s.
recommendation
Worth keeping but documenting its niche, because the underlying SoC family was effectively discontinued after Inphi acquired Cortina in 2014 and is not sold new today, yet a small community of users is still running these old NAS and router boards. OpenWrt was still building Gemini images in its 2024.10 release, and the driver continues to receive real upstream fixes and stable backports into 2025-2026, so it is actively maintained rather than abandoned.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
Recent upstream maintenance exists for this driver; a netdev patch in 2026 fixes an SKB leak in gemini.c.
- lore.kernel.org
The driver still receives stable backports; a 2025 stable patch updates TOE/TSO behavior for the Cortina Gemini ethernet driver.
- cateee.net
LKDDb identifies this as CONFIG_GEMINI_ETHERNET for StorLink SL351x (Gemini) dual Gigabit Ethernet and shows it is still present in current kernel series.
- mjmwired.net
Kernel DT documentation describes the Gemini SoC family as originating around 2005 and says the product family appears to have been discontinued after Inphi acquired Cortina in 2014.
- openwrt.org
OpenWrt still tracks a Gemini target with working status for CS351x/SL351x boards, indicating some residual legacy deployments.
- downloads.openwrt.org
OpenWrt release artifacts for the gemini target were still being built in 2025, showing ongoing support for a small set of legacy devices.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local `rg` and `sed` on drivers/net/ethernet/cortina identified a real driver: `gemini.c` with OF matches `cortina,gemini-ethernet` and Kconfig help text naming StorLink SL351x (Gemini). `lore_file_timeline` on `drivers/net/ethernet/cortina/gemini.c` showed substantial 2025-2026 fix traffic and stable backports, with sampled recent subjects focused on fixes rather than removal, so this is not a dead driver. `web search` found LKDDb and OpenWrt pages; `web open` on the kernel DT mirror showed the SoC family dates to around 2005 and appears discontinued after 2014. Conclusion: hardware is legacy and likely not sold new in 2025, but there is still low-level field use on old NAS/router boards and active upstream maintenance, so `keep-annotate` fits better than deprecate/remove.