diff -urN /mnt/disk/linux/drivers/net/3c503.c /linux/drivers/net/3c503.c
--- /mnt/disk/linux/drivers/net/3c503.c	Thu Nov  2 22:00:58 2000
+++ /linux/drivers/net/3c503.c	Sat Nov  4 18:58:39 2000
@@ -101,8 +101,6 @@
 		break;
 	if (base_bits != 1)
 	    continue;
-	if (check_region(netcard_portlist[i], EL2_IO_EXTENT))
-	    continue;
 	if (el2_probe1(dev, netcard_portlist[i]) == 0)
 	    return 0;
     }
@@ -126,13 +124,9 @@
     else if (base_addr != 0)	/* Don't probe at all. */
 	return -ENXIO;
 
-    for (i = 0; netcard_portlist[i]; i++) {
-	int ioaddr = netcard_portlist[i];
-	if (check_region(ioaddr, EL2_IO_EXTENT))
-	    continue;
-	if (el2_probe1(dev, ioaddr) == 0)
+    for (i = 0; netcard_portlist[i]; i++)
+	if (el2_probe1(dev, netcard_portlist[i]) == 0)
 	    return 0;
-    }
 
     return -ENODEV;
 }
@@ -143,14 +137,18 @@
 int __init 
 el2_probe1(struct net_device *dev, int ioaddr)
 {
-    int i, iobase_reg, membase_reg, saved_406, wordlength;
-    static unsigned version_printed = 0;
+    int i, iobase_reg, membase_reg, saved_406, wordlength, retval;
+    static unsigned version_printed;
     unsigned long vendor_id;
 
+    if (!request_region(ioaddr, EL2_IO_EXTENT, dev->name))
+	return -EBUSY;
+
     /* Reset and/or avoid any lurking NE2000 */
     if (inb(ioaddr + 0x408) == 0xff) {
     	mdelay(1);
-	return -ENODEV;
+	retval = -ENODEV;
+	goto out;
     }
 
     /* We verify that it's a 3C503 board by checking the first three octets
@@ -160,7 +158,8 @@
     /* ASIC location registers should be 0 or have only a single bit set. */
     if (   (iobase_reg  & (iobase_reg - 1))
 	|| (membase_reg & (membase_reg - 1))) {
-	return -ENODEV;
+	retval = -ENODEV;
+	goto out;
     }
     saved_406 = inb_p(ioaddr + 0x406);
     outb_p(ECNTRL_RESET|ECNTRL_THIN, ioaddr + 0x406); /* Reset it... */
@@ -172,7 +171,8 @@
     if ((vendor_id != OLD_3COM_ID) && (vendor_id != NEW_3COM_ID)) {
 	/* Restore the register we frobbed. */
 	outb(saved_406, ioaddr + 0x406);
-	return -ENODEV;
+	retval = -ENODEV;
+	goto out;
     }
 
     if (ei_debug  &&  version_printed++ == 0)
@@ -182,8 +182,9 @@
     /* Allocate dev->priv and fill in 8390 specific dev fields. */
     if (ethdev_init(dev)) {
 	printk ("3c503: unable to allocate memory for dev->priv.\n");
-	return -ENOMEM;
-     }
+	retval = -ENOMEM;
+	goto out;
+    }
 
     printk("%s: 3c503 at i/o base %#3x, node ", dev->name, ioaddr);
 
@@ -282,8 +283,6 @@
     ei_status.block_input = &el2_block_input;
     ei_status.block_output = &el2_block_output;
 
-    request_region(ioaddr, EL2_IO_EXTENT, ei_status.name);
-
     if (dev->irq == 2)
 	dev->irq = 9;
     else if (dev->irq > 5 && dev->irq != 9) {
@@ -310,6 +309,9 @@
 	       dev->name, ei_status.name, (wordlength+1)<<3);
     }
     return 0;
+out:
+    release_region(ioaddr, EL2_IO_EXTENT);
+    return retval;
 }
 
 static int