Xircom CreditCard and RealPort 16-bit PCMCIA Ethernet adapters
A family of 16-bit PCMCIA (PC Card) Ethernet and Fast Ethernet adapters that Xircom sold for laptops in the 1990s, including the CreditCard and early RealPort lines. Intel acquired Xircom in 2001 and has long since classified the entire product line as legacy with no current software support.
recommendation
Already on the path to removal: Andrew Lunn posted a patch in 2026 to delete the xirc2ps_cs driver from the kernel tree, reflecting that the 16-bit PC Card hardware it supports has been obsolete for two decades and Intel lists it as legacy with no downloads. A small stable backport in September 2025 shows it was not completely abandoned before the removal push, but there is no modern use case or replacement needed beyond dropping support for hardware that effectively no longer exists in service.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
Andrew Lunn posted an explicit 2026 netdev patch to remove the xirc2ps driver, indicating active upstream removal work.
- lore.kernel.org
The driver still received a small stable bug fix in September 2025, so it was not entirely untouched before the removal push.
- intel.com
Intel categorizes Xircom networking/modem adapters as legacy products and shows no current driver/software downloads.
- cateee.net
LKDDb identifies this as support for Xircom 16-bit PCMCIA Ethernet/Fast Ethernet cards and compatible rebadges.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local file read via exec_command shows a single legacy PCMCIA NIC driver for Xircom CreditCard/RealPort-era cards. lore_file_timeline on drivers/net/ethernet/xircom/xirc2ps_cs.c returned a current 2026 removal patch on lore plus a 2025 stable-only fix, which fits 'obsolete but minimally maintained' rather than active feature use. Intel support page was obtained by web search/open and labels the product line as Legacy with no downloads; LKDDb from web search/open shows the hardware scope is 16-bit PCMCIA only. That combination points to niche retro/industrial leftovers, no meaningful new-sales story in 2025, and no modern in-tree replacement beyond removing support for dead hardware.