diff --git a/drivers/staging/octeon/ethernet-mem.c b/drivers/staging/octeon/ethernet-mem.c
index 7090521471b2..53ed2f7ffdfd 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/octeon/ethernet-mem.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/octeon/ethernet-mem.c
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Contact: support@caviumnetworks.com
  * This file is part of the OCTEON SDK
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2003-2007 Cavium Networks
+ * Copyright (c) 2003-2010 Cavium Networks
  *
  * This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2, as
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ static int cvm_oct_fill_hw_skbuff(int pool, int size, int elements)
 	int freed = elements;
 	while (freed) {
 
-		struct sk_buff *skb = dev_alloc_skb(size + 128);
+		struct sk_buff *skb = dev_alloc_skb(size + 256);
 		if (unlikely(skb == NULL)) {
 			pr_warning
 			    ("Failed to allocate skb for hardware pool %d\n",
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ static int cvm_oct_fill_hw_skbuff(int pool, int size, int elements)
 			break;
 		}
 
-		skb_reserve(skb, 128 - (((unsigned long)skb->data) & 0x7f));
+		skb_reserve(skb, 256 - (((unsigned long)skb->data) & 0x7f));
 		*(struct sk_buff **)(skb->data - sizeof(void *)) = skb;
 		cvmx_fpa_free(skb->data, pool, DONT_WRITEBACK(size / 128));
 		freed--;
@@ -91,10 +91,7 @@ static void cvm_oct_free_hw_skbuff(int pool, int size, int elements)
 }
 
 /**
- * This function fills a hardware pool with memory. Depending
- * on the config defines, this memory might come from the
- * kernel or global 32bit memory allocated with
- * cvmx_bootmem_alloc.
+ * This function fills a hardware pool with memory.
  *
  * @pool:     Pool to populate
  * @size:     Size of each buffer in the pool
@@ -103,18 +100,29 @@ static void cvm_oct_free_hw_skbuff(int pool, int size, int elements)
 static int cvm_oct_fill_hw_memory(int pool, int size, int elements)
 {
 	char *memory;
+	char *fpa;
 	int freed = elements;
 
 	while (freed) {
-		/* We need to force alignment to 128 bytes here */
-		memory = kmalloc(size + 127, GFP_ATOMIC);
+		/*
+		 * FPA memory must be 128 byte aligned.  Since we are
+		 * aligning we need to save the original pointer so we
+		 * can feed it to kfree when the memory is returned to
+		 * the kernel.
+		 *
+		 * We allocate an extra 256 bytes to allow for
+		 * alignment and space for the original pointer saved
+		 * just before the block.
+		 */
+		memory = kmalloc(size + 256, GFP_ATOMIC);
 		if (unlikely(memory == NULL)) {
 			pr_warning("Unable to allocate %u bytes for FPA pool %d\n",
 				   elements * size, pool);
 			break;
 		}
-		memory = (char *)(((unsigned long)memory + 127) & -128);
-		cvmx_fpa_free(memory, pool, 0);
+		fpa = (char *)(((unsigned long)memory + 256) & ~0x7fUL);
+		*((char **)fpa - 1) = memory;
+		cvmx_fpa_free(fpa, pool, 0);
 		freed--;
 	}
 	return elements - freed;
@@ -130,13 +138,16 @@ static int cvm_oct_fill_hw_memory(int pool, int size, int elements)
 static void cvm_oct_free_hw_memory(int pool, int size, int elements)
 {
 	char *memory;
+	char *fpa;
 	do {
-		memory = cvmx_fpa_alloc(pool);
-		if (memory) {
+		fpa = cvmx_fpa_alloc(pool);
+		if (fpa) {
 			elements--;
-			kfree(phys_to_virt(cvmx_ptr_to_phys(memory)));
+			fpa = (char *)phys_to_virt(cvmx_ptr_to_phys(fpa));
+			memory = *((char **)fpa - 1);
+			kfree(memory);
 		}
-	} while (memory);
+	} while (fpa);
 
 	if (elements < 0)
 		pr_warning("Freeing of pool %u had too many buffers (%d)\n",
@@ -149,7 +160,7 @@ static void cvm_oct_free_hw_memory(int pool, int size, int elements)
 int cvm_oct_mem_fill_fpa(int pool, int size, int elements)
 {
 	int freed;
-	if (USE_SKBUFFS_IN_HW)
+	if (USE_SKBUFFS_IN_HW && pool == CVMX_FPA_PACKET_POOL)
 		freed = cvm_oct_fill_hw_skbuff(pool, size, elements);
 	else
 		freed = cvm_oct_fill_hw_memory(pool, size, elements);
@@ -158,7 +169,7 @@ int cvm_oct_mem_fill_fpa(int pool, int size, int elements)
 
 void cvm_oct_mem_empty_fpa(int pool, int size, int elements)
 {
-	if (USE_SKBUFFS_IN_HW)
+	if (USE_SKBUFFS_IN_HW && pool == CVMX_FPA_PACKET_POOL)
 		cvm_oct_free_hw_skbuff(pool, size, elements);
 	else
 		cvm_oct_free_hw_memory(pool, size, elements);
diff --git a/drivers/staging/octeon/ethernet-tx.c b/drivers/staging/octeon/ethernet-tx.c
index a3594bb0a45d..e5695d964d9a 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/octeon/ethernet-tx.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/octeon/ethernet-tx.c
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Contact: support@caviumnetworks.com
  * This file is part of the OCTEON SDK
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2003-2007 Cavium Networks
+ * Copyright (c) 2003-2010 Cavium Networks
  *
  * This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2, as
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ int cvm_oct_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	 * shown a 25% increase in performance under some loads.
 	 */
 #if REUSE_SKBUFFS_WITHOUT_FREE
-	fpa_head = skb->head + 128 - ((unsigned long)skb->head & 0x7f);
+	fpa_head = skb->head + 256 - ((unsigned long)skb->head & 0x7f);
 	if (unlikely(skb->data < fpa_head)) {
 		/*
 		 * printk("TX buffer beginning can't meet FPA
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ int cvm_oct_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	pko_command.s.reg0 = 0;
 	pko_command.s.dontfree = 0;
 
-	hw_buffer.s.back = (skb->data - fpa_head) >> 7;
+	hw_buffer.s.back = ((unsigned long)skb->data >> 7) - ((unsigned long)fpa_head >> 7);
 	*(struct sk_buff **)(fpa_head - sizeof(void *)) = skb;
 
 	/*