diff -r dbe4a4219aa5 -r c5757cebfaea devices/e1000/e1000_main-2.6.20-ethercat.c
--- a/devices/e1000/e1000_main-2.6.20-ethercat.c	Mon Jul 28 08:16:01 2008 +0000
+++ b/devices/e1000/e1000_main-2.6.20-ethercat.c	Mon Jul 28 08:30:44 2008 +0000
@@ -3450,7 +3450,9 @@
 	/* 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;
 	}