diff -r 352a471d388f -r 04bcd38cf8dc devices/e1000/e1000_main-2.6.20-ethercat.c
--- a/devices/e1000/e1000_main-2.6.20-ethercat.c	Mon Jul 28 08:17:01 2008 +0000
+++ b/devices/e1000/e1000_main-2.6.20-ethercat.c	Mon Jul 28 08:28:42 2008 +0000
@@ -3446,7 +3446,9 @@
 	/* need: count + 2 desc gap to keep tail from touching
 	 * head, otherwise try next time */
 	if (unlikely(e1000_maybe_stop_tx(netdev, tx_ring, count + 2))) {
-		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tx_ring->tx_lock, flags);
+		if (!adapter->ecdev) {
+			spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tx_ring->tx_lock, flags);
+		}
 		return NETDEV_TX_BUSY;
 	}