diff -urN ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/brctl/brctl_cmd.c bridge-utils-1.0.4/brctl/brctl_cmd.c
--- ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/brctl/brctl_cmd.c	2004-06-04 20:03:40.000000000 +0200
+++ bridge-utils-1.0.4/brctl/brctl_cmd.c	2004-07-20 12:23:55.000000000 +0200
@@ -257,13 +257,16 @@
 {
 	int stp, err;
 
-	if (!strcmp(argv[2], "on") || !strcmp(argv[2], "yes") 
-	    || !strcmp(argv[2], "1"))
-		stp = 1;
-	else if (!strcmp(argv[2], "off") || !strcmp(argv[2], "no") 
-		 || !strcmp(argv[2], "0"))
-		stp = 0;
-	else {
+        stp=-1;
+        if ( argv[1] && argv[2] ){
+           if (!strcmp(argv[2], "on") || !strcmp(argv[2], "yes") 
+              || !strcmp(argv[2], "1"))
+              stp = 1;
+           else if (!strcmp(argv[2], "off") || !strcmp(argv[2], "no") 
+              || !strcmp(argv[2], "0"))
+              stp = 0;
+        }
+        if ( stp == -1 ){
 		fprintf(stderr, "expect on/off for argument\n");
 		return 1;
 	}
@@ -275,6 +278,36 @@
 	return err != 0;
 }
 
+static int br_cmd_stp_carrier(char** argv)
+{
+	int carrier, err;
+
+        carrier=-1;
+        if ( argv[2] && argv[1] ) {
+	   if (!strcmp(argv[2], "nfc"))
+	   	carrier = 1;
+	   else if (!strcmp(argv[2], "off"))
+	   	carrier = 0;
+           else if (!strcmp(argv[2], "mii"))
+                   carrier = 2;
+        }
+
+        if ( carrier == -1 ) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "expect off to disable, nfc for net_if_carrier (recommended), mii for mii/ethtool linkstate detection\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	err = br_set_stp_carrier(argv[1], carrier);
+        if (err){
+            if ( err == EOPNOTSUPP ) 
+               fprintf(stderr,"Don't forget to enable stp.\n");
+	    else
+               fprintf(stderr, "set linkstate detection failed: %s\n", 
+                  strerror(errno));
+        }
+	return err != 0;
+}
+
 static int br_cmd_showstp(char** argv)
 {
 	struct bridge_info info;
@@ -396,6 +429,8 @@
 	  "<bridge>\t\tshow bridge stp info"},
 	{ 1, "stp", br_cmd_stp,
 	  "<bridge> <state>\tturn stp on/off" },
+	{ 1, "linkstate", br_cmd_stp_carrier,
+	  "<bridge> <method>\tturn linkstate detection off / nfc (recommended) / mii" },
 };
 
 const struct command *command_lookup(const char *cmd)
diff -urN ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/doc/brctl.8 bridge-utils-1.0.4/doc/brctl.8
--- ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/doc/brctl.8	2001-11-07 18:16:20.000000000 +0100
+++ bridge-utils-1.0.4/doc/brctl.8	2004-07-20 11:23:45.000000000 +0200
@@ -159,6 +159,18 @@
 dimension. This metric is used in the designated port and root port
 selection algorithms.
 
+.B brctl linkstate <bridge> <method>
+enables link state monitoring of the bridge ports. We support two
+types of link state monitoring. The first type <nfc> uses the
+net_if_carrier_ok() call to determine interface status. 
+
+The second type <mii> uses MII or ETHTOOL ioctls that
+are less efficient and utilize a deprecated calling sequence within the kernel.
+The netif_carrier_ok() relies on the device driver to maintain its state and 
+most, but not all, device drivers support this facility. The netif_carrier_ok()
+call returns that the link is up when the state is unknown. So if brctl showstp
+insists that a link is up when it should not be then switch to <mii>. The <mii>
+code will log errors when it does not support the hardware.
 
 .SH NOTES
 .BR brctl(8)
diff -urN ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/libbridge/libbridge.h bridge-utils-1.0.4/libbridge/libbridge.h
--- ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/libbridge/libbridge.h	2004-06-08 17:57:49.000000000 +0200
+++ bridge-utils-1.0.4/libbridge/libbridge.h	2004-07-20 12:03:10.000000000 +0200
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@
 extern int br_set_bridge_max_age(const char *br, struct timeval *tv);
 extern int br_set_ageing_time(const char *br, struct timeval *tv);
 extern int br_set_stp_state(const char *br, int stp_state);
+extern int br_set_stp_carrier(const char *br, int stp_state);
 extern int br_set_bridge_priority(const char *br, int bridge_priority);
 extern int br_set_port_priority(const char *br, const char *p, 
 				int port_priority);
diff -urN ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/libbridge/libbridge_devif.c bridge-utils-1.0.4/libbridge/libbridge_devif.c
--- ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/libbridge/libbridge_devif.c	2004-06-08 17:57:49.000000000 +0200
+++ bridge-utils-1.0.4/libbridge/libbridge_devif.c	2004-07-19 15:28:07.000000000 +0200
@@ -390,6 +390,11 @@
 	return br_set(br, "stp_state", stp_state, BRCTL_SET_BRIDGE_STP_STATE);
 }
 
+int br_set_stp_carrier(const char *br, int stp_state)
+{
+	return br_set(br, "stp_state", stp_state, BRCTL_SET_BRIDGE_STP_CARRIER);
+}
+
 int br_set_bridge_priority(const char *br, int bridge_priority)
 {
 	return br_set(br, "priority", bridge_priority, 
diff -urN ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/libbridge/libbridge_misc.c bridge-utils-1.0.4/libbridge/libbridge_misc.c
--- ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/libbridge/libbridge_misc.c	2004-05-21 19:41:49.000000000 +0200
+++ bridge-utils-1.0.4/libbridge/libbridge_misc.c	2004-07-20 09:51:58.000000000 +0200
@@ -25,17 +25,18 @@
 #include "libbridge_private.h"
 
 
-static const char *state_names[5] = {
+static const char *state_names[6] = {
 	[BR_STATE_DISABLED] = "disabled", 
 	[BR_STATE_LISTENING] = "listening", 
 	[BR_STATE_LEARNING] = "learning", 
 	[BR_STATE_FORWARDING] = "forwarding", 
 	[BR_STATE_BLOCKING] ="blocking",
+	[BR_STATE_NOLINK] ="nolink",
 };
 
 const char *br_get_state_name(int state)
 {
-	if (state >= 0 && state <= 4)
+	if (state >= 0 && state <= 5)
 		return state_names[state];
 
 	return "<INVALID STATE>";
diff -urN ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/libbridge/stamp-h1 bridge-utils-1.0.4/libbridge/stamp-h1
--- ./bridge-utils-1.0.4-old/libbridge/stamp-h1	1970-01-01 01:00:00.000000000 +0100
+++ bridge-utils-1.0.4/libbridge/stamp-h1	2004-07-19 16:04:59.000000000 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+timestamp for libbridge/config.h