patch-2.1.126 linux/Documentation/mca.txt

• Lines: 270
• Date: Sat Oct 17 15:33:45 1998
• Orig file: v2.1.125/linux/Documentation/mca.txt
• Orig date: Wed Jun 24 22:54:02 1998

diff -u --recursive --new-file v2.1.125/linux/Documentation/mca.txt linux/Documentation/mca.txt
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@
 		mca_set_adapter_name( slot, "adapter name & description" );
 		mca_set_adapter_procfn( slot, dev_getinfo, dev );
 
-		/* read the POS registers.  Most devices only need
-		2 and 3 */
+		/* read the POS registers.  Most devices only use 2 and 3 */
 		pos2 = mca_read_stored_pos( slot, 2 );
 		pos3 = mca_read_stored_pos( slot, 3 );
 		pos4 = mca_read_stored_pos( slot, 4 );
@@ -45,7 +44,8 @@
 
 Loadable modules should modify this to test that the specified IRQ and
 IO ports (plus whatever other stuff) match.  See 3c523.c for example
-code.
+code (actually, smc-mca.c has a slightly more complex example that can
+handle a list of adapter ids).
 
 Keep in mind that devices should never directly access the POS registers
 (via inb(), outb(), etc).  While it's generally safe, there is a small
@@ -57,11 +57,11 @@
 and mca_write_pos() are also available for (safer) direct POS access,
 but their use is _highly_ discouraged.  mca_write_pos() is particularly
 dangerous, as it is possible for adapters to be put in inconsistent
-states (e.g. sharing IO address, etc) and may result in crashes, toasted
-hardware, and operator injury.
+states (i.e. sharing IO address, etc) and may result in crashes, toasted
+hardware, and blindness.
 
-User level drivers (such as the AGX X server) can use /proc/mca to find
-adapters (see below).
+User level drivers (such as the AGX X server) can use /proc/mca/pos to
+find adapters (see below).
 
 Some MCA adapters can also be detected via the usual ISA-style device
 probing (many SCSI adapters, for example).  This sort of thing is highly
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@
 /proc/mca
 =========
 
-I did a major rewrite of /proc/mca.  It is now a directory containing
-various files for adapters and other stuff.
+/proc/mca is a directory containing various files for adapters and
+other stuff.
 
 	/proc/mca/pos		Straight listing of POS registers
 	/proc/mca/slot[1-8]	Information on adapter in specific slot
@@ -100,6 +100,8 @@
 	/proc/mca/scsi		Same for integrated SCSI
 	/proc/mca/machine	Machine information
 
+See Appendix A for a sample.
+
 Device drivers can easily add their own information function for
 specific slots (including integrated ones) via the
 mca_set_adapter_procfn() call.  Drivers that support this are ESDI, IBM
@@ -132,10 +134,9 @@
 Disable it with:
 	mca_set_adapter_procfn( slot, NULL, NULL );
 
-It is also recommended, even if you don't write a proc function, to
-set the name of the adapter (e.g. "PS/2 ESDI Controller") via
-mca_set_adapter_name( int slot, char* name ).  Up to 30 characters are
-used.
+It is also recommended that, even if you don't write a proc function, to
+set the name of the adapter (i.e. "PS/2 ESDI Controller") via
+mca_set_adapter_name( int slot, char* name ).
 
 MCA Device Drivers
 ==================
@@ -146,65 +147,174 @@
 	drivers/block/ps2esdi.c
 	include/linux/ps2esdi.h
    Uses major number 36, and should use /dev files /dev/eda, /dev/edb.
-   Supports two drives, but only one controller.  Usually requires the
-   command-line args ed=cyl,head,sec
+   Supports two drives, but only one controller.  May use the
+   command-line args "ed=cyl,head,sec" and "tp720".
 
 2) PS/2 SCSI
 	drivers/scsi/ibmmca.c
 	drivers/scsi/ibmmca.h
    The driver for the IBM SCSI subsystem.  Includes both integrated
    controllers and adapter cards.  May require command-line arg
-   ibmmcascsi=pun to force detection of an adapter.
+   "ibmmcascsi=io_port" to force detection of an adapter.  If you have a
+   machine with a front-panel display (i.e. model 95), you can use
+   "ibmmcascsi=display" to enable a drive activity indicator.
 
 3) 3c523
 	drivers/net/3c523.c
 	drivers/net/3c523.h
-   3Com 3c523 Etherlink/MC Ethernet driver.
+   3Com 3c523 Etherlink/MC ethernet driver.
 
-4) SMC Ultra/MCA
+4) SMC Ultra/MCA and IBM Adapter/A
 	drivers/net/smc-mca.c
 	drivers/net/smc-mca.h
-	Elite/A (8013EP/A) and Elite10T/A (8013WP/A) Ethernet driver
+	Driver for the MCA version of the SMC Ultra and various other
+	OEM'ed and work-alike cards (Elite, Adapter/A, etc).
 
-As well, drivers/char/psaux.c was modified to support IRQ sharing (it's
-#ifdef CONFIG_MCA'ed, for your convenience, although PCI users might be
-able to use it...)
+5) NE/2
+	driver/net/ne2.c
+	driver/net/ne2.h
+	The NE/2 is the MCA version of the NE2000.  This may not work
+	with clones that have a different adapter id than the original
+	NE/2.
+
+6) Future Domain MCS-600/700, OEM'd IBM Fast SCSI Aapter/A and
+   Reply Sound Blaster/SCSI (SCSI part)
+	Better support for these cards than the driver for ISA.
+   Supports multiple cards with IRQ sharing.
+
+Also added boot time option of scsi-probe, which can do reordering of
+SCSI host adapters. This will direct the kernel on the order which
+SCSI adapter should be detected. Example:
+  scsi-probe=ibmmca,fd_mcs,adaptec1542,buslogic
 
 The serial drivers were modified to support the extended IO port range
 of the typical MCA system (also #ifdef CONFIG_MCA).
 
 The following devices work with existing drivers:
 1) Token-ring
-2) Future Domain SCSI (MCS-600, MCS-700, not MCS-350)
-3) Adaptec 1640 SCSI (aha1542 driver)
-4) Buslogic SCSI (various)
+2) Future Domain SCSI (MCS-600, MCS-700, not MCS-350, OEM'ed IBM SCSI)
+3) Adaptec 1640 SCSI (using the aha1542 driver)
+4) Bustek/Buslogic SCSI (various)
+5) Probably all Arcnet cards.
+6) Some, possibly all, MCA IDE controllers.
+7) 3Com 3c529 (MCA version of 3c509) (patched)
+
+8) Intel EtherExpressMC  (patched version)
+   You need to have CONFIG_MCA defined to have EtherExpressMC support.
+9) Reply Sound Blaster/SCSI (SB part) (patched version)
 
 Bugs & Other Weirdness
 ======================
 
 NMIs tend to occur with MCA machines because of various hardware
-weirdness, bus timeouts, and many other non-critical things.  Those of
-you who have NMI problems should probably set the CONFIG_IGNORE_NMI flag
-somewhere.  NMIs seem to be particularly common on the model 70.
-
-Various Pentium machines have serious problems with the FPU test in
-bugs.h.  You may need to comment out the FPU test before you can even
-boot.  This occurs, as far as we know, on the Pentium-equipped 85s, 95s,
-and some servers.  The PCI/MCA PC 750s are fine as far as I can tell.
+weirdness, bus timeouts, and many other non-critical things.  Some basic
+code to handle them (inspired by the NetBSD MCA code) has been added to
+detect the guilty device, but it's pretty incomplete.  If NMIs are a
+persistent problem (on some model 70 or 80s, they occur every couple
+shell commands), the CONFIG_IGNORE_NMI flag will take care of that.
+
+Various Pentium machines have had serious problems with the FPU test in
+bugs.h.  Basically, the machine hangs after the HLT test.  This occurs,
+as far as we know, on the Pentium-equipped 85s, 95s, and some PC Servers.
+The PCI/MCA PC 750s are fine as far as I can tell.  The ``mca-pentium''
+boot-prompt flag will disable the FPU bug check if this is a problem
+with your machine.
 
 The model 80 has a raft of problems that are just too weird and unique
 to get into here.  Some people have no trouble while others have nothing
-but problems.  I'd suspect the problems are related to the age of the
-average 80 and accompanying hardware deterioration.
+but problems.  I'd suspect some problems are related to the age of the
+average 80 and accompanying hardware deterioration, although others
+are definitely design problems with the hardware.  Among the problems
+include SCSI controller problems, ESDI controller problems, and serious
+screw-ups in the floppy controller.  Oh, and the parallel port is also
+pretty flaky.  There were about 5 or 6 different model 80 motherboards
+produced to fix various obscure problems.  As far as I know, it's pretty
+much impossible to tell which bugs a particular model 80 has (other than
+triggering them, that is).
+
+Drivers are required for some MCA memory adapters.  If you're suddenly
+short a few megs of RAM, this might be the reason.  The (I think) Enhanced
+Memory Adapter commonly found on the model 70 is one.  There's a very
+alpha driver floating around, but it's pretty ugly (disassembled from
+the DOS driver, actually).  See the MCA Linux web page (URL below)
+for more current memory info.
+
+The Thinkpad 700 and 720 will work, but various components are either
+non-functional, flaky, or we don't know anything about them.  The
+graphics controller is supposed to be some WD, but we can't get things
+working properly.  The PCMCIA slots don't seem to work.  Ditto for APM.
+The serial ports work, but detection seems to be flaky.
 
 Credits
 =======
 A whole pile of people have contributed to the MCA code.  I'd include
 their names here, but I don't have a list handy.  Check the MCA Linux
-home page (URL below) for an out-of-date list.
+home page (URL below) for a perpetually out-of-date list.
 
 =====================================================================
-http://glycerine.cetmm.uni.edu/mca
+MCA Linux Home Page: http://glycerine.itsmm.uni.edu/mca/
 
-Chris Beauregard
+Christophe Beauregard
 chrisb@truespectra.com
+cpbeaure@calum.csclub.uwaterloo.ca
+
+=====================================================================
+Appendix A: Sample /proc/mca
+
+This is from my model 8595.  Slot 1 contains the standard IBM SCSI
+adapter, slot 3 is an Adaptec AHA-1640, slot 5 is a XGA-1 video adapter,
+and slot 7 is the 3c523 Etherlink/MC.
+
+/proc/mca/machine:
+Model Id: 0xf8
+Submodel Id: 0x14
+BIOS Revision: 0x5
+
+/proc/mca/pos:
+Slot 1: ff 8e f1 fc a0 ff ff ff  IBM SCSI Adapter w/Cache
+Slot 2: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  
+Slot 3: 1f 0f 81 3b bf b6 ff ff  
+Slot 4: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  
+Slot 5: db 8f 1d 5e fd c0 00 00  
+Slot 6: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  
+Slot 7: 42 60 ff 08 ff ff ff ff  3Com 3c523 Etherlink/MC
+Slot 8: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  
+Video: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  
+SCSI: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  
+
+/proc/mca/slot1:
+Slot: 1
+Adapter Name: IBM SCSI Adapter w/Cache
+Id: 8eff
+Enabled: Yes
+POS: ff 8e f1 fc a0 ff ff ff 
+Subsystem PUN: 7
+Detected at boot: Yes
+
+/proc/mca/slot3:
+Slot: 3
+Adapter Name: Unknown
+Id: 0f1f
+Enabled: Yes
+POS: 1f 0f 81 3b bf b6 ff ff 
+
+/proc/mca/slot5:
+Slot: 5
+Adapter Name: Unknown
+Id: 8fdb
+Enabled: Yes
+POS: db 8f 1d 5e fd c0 00 00 
+
+/proc/mca/slot7:
+Slot: 7
+Adapter Name: 3Com 3c523 Etherlink/MC
+Id: 6042
+Enabled: Yes
+POS: 42 60 ff 08 ff ff ff ff 
+Revision: 0xe
+IRQ: 9
+IO Address: 0x3300-0x3308
+Memory: 0xd8000-0xdbfff
+Transceiver: External
+Device: eth0
+Hardware Address: 02 60 8c 45 c4 2a