The tap does not behave properly in some cases. It is generally expected that a real device should be available once the probing has been done.
It is also better to check if an operation (here, setting MAC) is mandatory before performing it. Typically in cases where the remote netdevice is a VF with limited capabilities. This series ensures that the tap works more logically. Pascal Mazon (5): net/tap: add debug messages net/tap: remove unnecessary functions net/tap: drop unnecessary nested block net/tap: create netdevice during probing net/tap: do not set remote MAC if not necessary drivers/net/tap/rte_eth_tap.c | 299 +++++++++++++++++++++--------------------- 1 file changed, 153 insertions(+), 146 deletions(-) -- 2.12.0.306.g4a9b9b3