diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'drivers/char/ftape/RELEASE-NOTES')
| -rw-r--r-- | drivers/char/ftape/RELEASE-NOTES | 966 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 966 deletions
diff --git a/drivers/char/ftape/RELEASE-NOTES b/drivers/char/ftape/RELEASE-NOTES deleted file mode 100644 index 03799db..0000000 --- a/drivers/char/ftape/RELEASE-NOTES +++ /dev/null @@ -1,966 +0,0 @@ -Hey, Emacs, we're -*-Text-*- mode! - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.04d 25/11/97 ===== -- The correct pre-processor statement for "else if" is "#elif" not - "elsif". -- Need to call zft_reset_position() when overwriting cartridges - previously written with ftape-2.x, sftape, or ancient - (pre-ftape-3.x) versions of zftape. - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.04c 16/11/97 ===== -- fdc_probe() was calling DUMPREGS with a result length of "1" which - was just fine. Undo previous change. - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.04b 14/11/97 ===== - -- patches/2.x.x/floppy.c.diff was somewhat broken, releasing i/o - regions it never had allocated. -- fdc_probe() was calling DUMPREGS with a result length of "1" instead - of "10" -- Writing deleted data marks if the first segents on track zero are - should work now. -- ftformat should now be able to handle those cases where the tape - drive sets the read only status bit (QIC-40/80 cartridges with - QIC-3010/3020 tape drives) because the header segment is damaged. -- the MTIOCFTCMD ioctl may now be issued by the superuser ONLY. - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.04a 12/11/97 ===== -- Fix an "infinite loop can't be killed by signal" bug in - ftape_get_drive_status(). Only relevant when trying to access - buggy/misconfigured hardware -- Try to compensate a bug in the HP Colorado T3000's firmware: it - doesn't set the write protect bit for QIC80/QIC40 cartridges. - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.04 06/11/97 ===== -- If positioning with fast seeking fails fall back to a slow seek - before giving up. -- (nearly) no retries on "no data errors" when verifying after - formatting. Improved tuning of the bad sector map after formatting. -- the directory layout has changed again to allow for easier kernel - integration -- Module parameter "ftape_tracing" now is called "ft_tracing" because - the "ftape_tracing" variable has the version checksum attached to it. -- `/proc/ftape' interface for 2.0.* kernels. `/proc/ftape' no longer - is a directory but a file that contains all the information formerly - provided in separate files under the `/proc/ftape/' directory. -- Most of the configuration options have been prefixed by "CONFIG_FT_" - in preparation of the kernel inclusion. The Makefiles under - "./ftape/" should be directly usable by the kernel. -- The MODVERSIONS stuff is now auto-detected. -- Broke backslashed multi line options in MCONFIG into separate lines - using GNU-make's "+=" feature. -- The html and dvi version of the manual is now installed under - '/usr/doc/ftape` with 'make install` -- New SMP define in MCONFIG. ftape works with SMP if this is defined. -- attempt to cope with "excessive overrun errors" by gradually - increasing FDC FIFO threshold. But this doesn't seem to have too - much an effect. -- New load time configuration parameter "ft_fdc_rate_limit". If you - encounter too many overrun errors with a 2Mb controller then you - might want to set this to 1000. -- overrun errors on the last sector in a segment sometimes result in - a zero DMA residue. Dunno why, but compensate for it. -- there were still fdc_read() timeout errors. I think I have fixed it - now, please FIXME. -- Sometimes ftape_write() failed to re-start the tape drive when a - segment without a good sector was reached ("wait for empty segment - failed"). This is fixed. Especially important for > QIC-3010. -- sftape (aka ftape-2.x) has vanished. I didn't work on it for - ages. It is probably still possible to use the old code with - ftape-3.04, if one really needs it (BUT RECOMPILE IT) -- zftape no longer alters the contents of already existing volume - table entries, which makes it possible to fill in missing fields, - like time stamps using some user space program. -- ./contrib/vtblc/ contains such a program. -- new perl script ./contrib/scripts/listtape that list the contents of a - floppy tape cartridge parsing the output of "mt volinfo" + "mt fsf" -- the MTWEOF implementation has changed a little bit (after I had a - look at amanda). Calling MTWEOF while the tape is still held open - after writing something to the tape now will terminate the current - volume, and start a new one at the current position. -- the volume table maintained by zftape now is a doubly linked list - that grows dynamically as needed. - - formatting floppy tape cartridges - --------------------------------- - * there is a new user space formatting program that does most of the - dirty work in user space (auto-detect, computing the sector - coordinates, adjusting time stamps and statistics). It has a - simple command line interface. - * ftape-format.o has vanished, it has been folded into the low level - ftape.o module, and the ioctl interface into zftape.o. Most of the - complicated stuff has been moved to user space, so there was no - need for a separate module anymore. - * there is a new ioctl MTIOCFTCMD that sends a bare QIC-117 command - to the tape drive. - * there is a new mmap() feature to map the dma buffers into user - space to be used by the user level formatting program. - * Formatting of yet unformatted or totally degaussed cartridges - should be possible now. FIXME. - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.03b, <forgot the exact date> ==== - -ftape-3.03b was released as a beta release only. Its main new feature -was support of the DITTO-2GB drive. This was made possible by reverse -engineering done by <fill in his name> after Iomega failed to support -ftape. Although they had promised to do so (this makes me feel a bit -sad and uncomfortable about Iomega). - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.03a, 22/05/97 ==== - -- Finally fixed auto-un-loading of modules for kernels > 2.1.18 -- Add an "uninstall" target to the Makefile -- removed the kdtime hack -- texi2www didn't properly set the back-reference from a footnote back - to the regular text. - - zftape specific - --------------- - * hide the old compression map volume. Taper doesn't accept the - presence of non-Taper volumes and Taper-written volume on the same - tape. - * EOD (End Of Data) handling was still broken: the expected behavior - is to return a zero byte count at the first attempt to read past - EOD, return a zero byte count at the second attempt to read past - EOD and THEN return -EIO. - - ftape-format specific - --------------------- - * Detection of QIC-40 cartridges in select_tape_format() was broken - and made it impossible to format QIC-3010/3020 cartridges. - * There are strange "TR-1 Extra" cartridges out there which weren't - detected properly because the don't strictly conform to the - QIC-80, Rev. N, spec. - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.03, 30/04/97 ===== - -- Removed kernel integration code from the package. I plan to provide - a package that can be integrated into the stock kernel separately - (hopefully soon). - As a result, a simple `make' command now will build everything. -- ALL compile time configuration options have been moved to the file - `MCONFIG'. -- Quite a few `low level' changes to allow formatting of cartridges. -- formatting is implemented as a separate module `ftape-format.o'. The - modified `mt' program contains sample code that shows how to use it. -- The VFS interface has been moved from the `ftape.o' module to the - high level modules `zftape.o' resp. `sftape.o'. `ftape.o' contains - the hardware support only. -- A bit of /proc support for kernels > 2.1.28 -- Moved documentation to Doc subdir. INSTALL now contains some real - installation notes. -- `install' target in Makefile. - -zftape specific: ----------------- - -- zftape works for large cartridges now ( > 2^31 bytes) -- MTIOCVOLINFO and MTIOCGETSIZE now return the size in KILOBYTES, - NO LONGER in bytes. - -- permissions for write access to a cartridge have changed: - * zftape now also takes the file access mode into account - * zftape no longer allows writing in the middle of the recorded - media. The tape has to be positioned at BOT or EOD for write - access. - -- MTBSF has changed. It used to position at the beginning of the - previous file when called with count 1. This was different from the - expected behavior for other Un*x tape drivers (i.e. SCSI). MTBSF - with count 1 should merely position at the beginning of the current - volume. Fixed. As a result, `tar --verify' now produces the desired - result: it verifies the last written volume, not the pre-last - written volume. - -- The compression map has vanished --> no need for `mt erase' any - more. Fast seeking in a compressed volume is still be possible, but - takes slightly longer. As a side effect, you may experience an - additional volume showing up in front of all others for old - cartridges. This is the tape volume that holds the compression map. - -- The compression support for zftape has been moved to a separate - module `zft-compressor'. DON'T forget to load it before trying to - read back compressed volumes. The stock `zftape.o' module probes for - the module `zft-compressor' using the kerneld message channel; you - have to install `zft-compressor.o' in a place where modprobe can - find it if you want to use this. - -- New experimental feature that tries to get the broken down GMT time - from user space via a kernel daemon message channel. You need to - compile and start the `kdtime' daemon contained in the contrib - directory to use it. Needed (?) for time stamps in the header - segments and the volume table. - -- variable block size mode via MTSETBLK 0 - -- keep modules locked in memory after the block size has been changed - -sftape specific: ----------------- - -- end of tape handling should be fixed, i.e. multi volume archives - written with `afio' can be read back now. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.02a, 09/01/97 ===== - -No big news: -- call zft_init() resp. sft_init() when compiling the entire stuff - into the kernel image. -- fix bug in ftape-setup.c when NO_TRACE_AT_ALL was defined. -- fix bug in sftape-eof.c/zftape-eof.c for old kernels (1.2.*) -- add support for new module interface for recent kernels - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.02, 16/12/96 ===== -- Fixed the `FDC unlock command failed' bug in fdc-io.c. When the FIFO - was already locked when ftape was loaded, ftape failed to unlock it. -- Fixed compilation of `contrib/gnumt'. It now finds `mtio.h' even if - ftape is NOT included into the kernel source tree. -- fc-10.c: include <asm/io.h> for inb() and outb(). -- ftape/sftape/zftape: all global variable now have either a `ftape_', - a `ft_', `sft_', `zft_' or `qic_' prefix to prevent name clashes - with other parts of the kernel when including ftape into the kernel - source tree. -- Kerneld support has changed. `ftape' now searches for a module - `ftape-frontend' when none of the frontend (`sftape' or `zftape') is - loaded. Please refer to the `Installation/Loading ftape' section of - the TeXinfo manual. -- Add load resp. boot-time configuration of ftape. There are now - variables ft_fdc_base, ft_fdc_dma and ft_fdc_irq corresponding to - the former FDC_BASE etc. compile time definitions. One can also use - the kernel command line parameters to configure the driver if it is - compiled into the kernel. Also, the FC-10/FC-20 support is load-time - configurable now as well as the MACH-II hack (ft_probe_fc10, - resp. ft_mach2). Please refer to the section `Installation/Configure - ftape' of the TeXinfo manual. -- I removed the MODVERSIONS option from `Makefile.module'. Let me alone - with ftape and MODVERSIONS unless you include the ftape sources into - the kernel source tree. -- new vendors in `vendors.h': - * HP Colorado T3000 - * ComByte DoublePlay (including a bug fix for their broken - formatting software, thanks to whraven@njackn.com) - * Iomega DITTO 2GIG. NOTE: this drive cannot work with ftape because - the logical data layout of the cartridges used by this drive does - NOT conform to the QIC standards, it is a special Iomega specific - format. I've sent mail to Iomega but didn't receive an answer - yet. If you want this drive to be supported by ftape, ask Iomega - to give me information about it. -- zftape: - * re-introduced the MTIOC_ZFTAPE_GETBLKSZ ioctl for compatibility - with zftape 1.06a and earlier. Please don't use it when writing - new software, use the MTIOCVOLINFO ioctl instead. - * Major overhaul of the code that updates the header segments. Never - change the tape label unless erasing the tape. Thus we almost - never need to write the header segments, unless we would modify - the bad sector map which isn't done yet. Updating of volume table - and compression map more secure now although it takes a bit - longer. - * Fixed bug when aborting a write operation with a signal: zftape - now finishes the current volume (i.e. writes an eof marker) at the - current position. It didn't before which led to somehow *strange* - behavior in this cases. - * Keep module locked in memory when using it with the non-rewinding - devices and the tape is not logical at BOT. Needed for kerneld - support. -- sftape: - * Keep module locked in memory when using it with the non-rewinding - devices and the tape is not logical at BOT. Needed for kerneld - support. - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.01, 14/11/96 ===== - -- Fixed silly bugs in ftape-3.00: - * MAKEDEV.ftape: major device number must be 27, not 23 - * sftape/sftape-read.c: sftape_read_header_segments() called - itself recursively instead of calling ftape_read_header_segment() - * zftape/qic-vtbl.h: conversion of ftape's file marks to zftape's - internal volume table was broken. - * patches/2.x.x/linux-2.0.21.dif: my RCS (resp. CVS) system replaced - the `$Revison:' etc. macros in the `ftape.h' concerning part of the - patch :-( Fixed. - * info/ftape.info: Fixed misspellings (`cp' <-> `cp -r' etc.) - * when ftape/sftape or ftape/zftape was compiled into the kernel the - variable ftape_status was declared twice. Fixed. - * removed reference to undeclared variable kernel_version when not - compiling as module - * fixed a bug introduced by the use of bit-fields for some flags - (i.e. write_protected, no_cartridge, formatted) - * flag `header_read' is now reset correctly to zero when tape is - removed. -- fixed a bug in sftape/sftape-eof.c that was already in the original - ftape code. MTFSF/BSF was not handled correctly when positioned - right before the file mark (think of tar) -- Changed TRACE macros (following a suggestion of Marcin Dalecki) to use - the predefined __FUNCTION__ macro of GCC. Spares about 4k of code. -- added new vendor id for Iomega DITTO 2GIG -- fixed a bug already present in zftape-1.06 when aborting a write - with a signal: we now finish the current volume at that - position. Header segments remain NOT up to date until an explicit call - to MTREW or MTOFFL is done. - -===== Release notes for ftape-3.00, 14/10/96 ===== - -- Merged ftape with zftape. There are three modules now: - ftape for the hardware support, sftape for the implementation of the - original ftape eof mark stuff and zftape that implements zftape's way - of handling things (compression, volume table, tape blocks of - constant length) -- Documentation in TeXinfo format in the `info' subdirectory. -- New ioctls for zftape. See zftape/zftape.h -- Dummy formatting ioctl for ftape. See ftape.h -- Kernel patch files for the 2.*.* series to include ftape-3.00 in the - kernel source tree. These includes a kernel compatible Config.in - script and fairly large online information for the kernel configure - script. -- Support for compiling with Linux-1.2.13. -- Modified GNU mt from their cpio package that can handle the new - ioctls. -- ftape/sftape/zftape is kerneld save now! - -Notes on sftape: -- sftape implements the eof handling code of the original ftape. If - you like to stick with the original ftape stuff, you have to use - this module, not zftape. -- sftape is kerneld save, unlike the original ftape. -- we keep the entire header segment now in memory, so no need to read - it before updating the header segments. Additional memory - consumption: 256 bytes. - -Notes for zftape: -- zftape has support for tapes with format code 6 now, which use a - slightly different volume table format compared with other floppy - tapes. -- new ioctls for zftape. Have a look at zftape/zftape.h -- The internal volume table representation has changed for zftape. Old - cartridges are converted automatically. -- zftape no longer uses compression map segments, which have vanished - from the QIC specs, but creates volume table entry that reserves - enough space for the compression map. -- zftape is kerneld save now. -- we keep the entire header segment now in memory, so no need to read - it before updating the header segments. Additional memory - consumption: 256 bytes. - -Notes for contrib/gnumt: -- modified mt from the GNU cpio package that supports all the new - ioctls of zftape. -Notes for contrib/swapout: -- This contains the swapout.c program that was written by Kai - Harrekilde-Pederson. I simply added a Makefile. - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.10, 14/10/96 ===== - -The ftape maintainer has changed. -Kai Harrekilde-Petersen <khp@dolphinics.no> -has resigned from maintaining ftape, and I, -Claus-Justus Heine <claus@momo.math.rwth-aachen.de>, -have taken over. - -- Added support for tapes with `format code 6', i.e. QIC-3020 tapes - with more than 2^16 segments. -- merged changes made by Bas Laarhoven with ftape-2.09. Refer - to his release notes below. I've included them into this - file unchanged for your reference. -- disabled call stack back trace for now. This new feature - introduced by the interim release 2.0.x still seems to - be buggy. -- Tried to minimize differences between the ftape version - to be included into the kernel source tree and the standalone - module version. -- Reintroduced support for Linux-1.2.13. Please refer to the - Install-guide. - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.09, 16/06/96 ===== - -There aren't any really big news in this release, mostly just that I -(the maintainer) have changed my email address (due to a new job). My -new address is <khp@dolphinics.no> - -- The CLK_48MHZ and FDC_82078SL options has gone (all 2Mbps cards seem - to use a 48MHz oscillator anyway and I haven't heard of an 'SL - chip out there). -- The S82078B has been `downgraded' to i82077AA compability. -- TESTING option revived. Right now, it'll enable the (seriously broken) - 2Mbps code. If you enable it, you'll experience a tape drive that's - *really* out to lunch! -- Some (bold) changes in the init code. Please notify me if they - break things for you. - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.08, 14/03/96 ===== - -If you correct a problem with ftape, please send your patch to -khp@dolphinics.no too. - -- Updated to reflect that NR_MEM_LISTS is gone in 1.3.74 -- Teac 700 added to list of known drives. -- The registered device name is now "ft" rather than "ftape". - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.07a, 14/03/96 ===== - -Bugfixes by Marcin Dalecki <dalecki@namu03.gwdg.de>: -- In the last release it just compiled against 1.3.70; - now the params to request_irq() and free_irq are() are fixed, so it also - works in 1.3.73 :-) -- Support for modules is now correct for newer kernels. - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.07, 04/03/96 ===== - - -- ftape updated to compile against 1.3.70. -- Iomega 700 and Wangtek 3200 recognised. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.06b, 13/02/96 ===== - -Another simple bugfix version. - -- Jumbo 700 recognised. -- Typo in vendors.h fixed. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.06a, 10/02/96 ===== - -This release is a simple bugfix version. - -- Linux/SMP: ftape *should* work. -- FC-10/20: Only accepts IRQs 3-7, or 9. If IRQ 9, properly tell the card - to use IRQ 2. Thanks to Greg Crider (gcrider@iclnet.org) for finding and - locating this bug and testing the patch. -- Insight drive recognised correctly again. -- Motor-on wakeup version of the Iomega 250 drive added - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.06, 28/01/96 ===== - -Special thanks go to Neal Friedman and Steven Sorbom for their -help in producing and testing this release. - -I have continued to clean up the code, with an eye towards inclusion -of ftape in Linus' official kernel (In fact, as I type this, I am -running on a kernel with ftape support statically linked). I have -test-compiled ftape against my 1.2.13 tree without problems. -Hopefully, everything should be OK for the v1.2.x people. - -WARNING! Alan Cox has mailed me that ftape does *NOT* work with -Linux/SMP. If you try to run ftape under Linux/SMP, it will cause a -kernel deadlock (which is worse than a panic). - -- QIC-3020/TR-3: 1Mbps support works. Neal is capable of reading and - writing data to a tape. ftape will automatically detect the type of - tape (e.g. TR-3 vs QIC-80) and move the fdc in and out of - "perpendicular mode" as necessary. -- 2Mbps support is disabled by default, since it is not fully - debugged. If you are adventurous, remove -DFDC_82078SL in the - Makefile and see what happens :-) -- fdc detection: silly bugs removed (Only 2Mbps fdcs were affected) - and added detection of the National Semiconductors PC8744 fdc chip - (used in the PC873xx "super-IO" chips). -- Removed warning about incompatible types when compiling with Linux - 1.2.x. -- README.PCI updated with info about the DELL Dimension XPS P90. -- Connor TST3200R added to detected drives. -- `swapout' utility added to distribution. It will dirty 5Meg of - memory, trying to swap out other programs. Just say `make swapout' - to build it. ftape will do this automatically Real Soon Now (ie: - when I have found out which kernel memory alloc function to call). - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.05, 08/01/96 ===== - -- For v1.2.x Kernels, you must apply the patch linux-1.2/ksyms.patch to - the kernel and rebuild it (it adds the __get_dma_pages symbol to - ksyms.c). -- Included new asm-i386/io.h file from v1.3.x kernel series, to enable - gcc v.2.7.[12] to compile v1.2.x kernels (linux-1.2/io.h). -- Module versions: If you wish to compile ftape as a versioned module, - you must first compile your kernel with CONFIG_MODVERSIONS=y. - Otherwise, you will get complaints that <linux/modversions.h> does not - exist (if that happens, a `touch modversions.h' will help you out). -- CLK_48MHZ: new define in the Makefile (default: non-zero). If you have - a tape controller card that uses the i82078(-1) chip, but cannot get - it to work with ftape, try set it to 0 (and please report this). -- QIC-3010/3020: Complete support is still missing, but will hopefully - come soon. Steven Sorbom has kindly provided me with hints about - this. Writing of QIC-3020 tapes definitely does NOT work (do not try - it! - the drive will not be in "perpendicular mode" and this will ruin - the formatting info on the tape). -- ftape_num_buffers is out of fashion: use NR_BUFFERS instead (and - recompile if you want to change it :-). - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.04, 01/01/96 ===== - -This version by Kai Harrekilde-Petersen <khp@dolphinics.no> - -- ALERT! Support for Kernels earlier then v1.1.85 is about to go away. - I intend to clean up some of the code (getting rid of an annoyingly - large numbers of #ifdef mostly), which means that support for - pre-1.1.85 kernels must go as well. -- NR_FTAPE_BUFFERS is gone; You can instead select the number of dma - buffers by saying `insmod ftape.o ftape_num_buffer=<n>' instead. -- Configure script gone. ftape will now automagically determine your - kernel version by /usr/include/linux/version.h instead. -- CONFIG_MODVERSIONS now work. All combinations of versioned / - unversioned kernel and ftape module works (at least with my 1.3.52 - kernel). -- If you have problems with inserting ftape into an old (1.2.x) - kernel (e.g. insmod says "1.2.8 does not match 1.2.8), recompile - your modules utilities with your new compiler. -- Reveal TB1400 drive added to vendors.h -- Support for the i82078-1 (2Mbps) chip is coming along. The - biggest problem is that I don't have such a card, which makes - testing / debugging somewhat problematic. The second biggest - problem is that I do not have the QIC-3010/3020 standards either. - Status right now is that the chip is detected, and it should be - possible to put it into 2Mbps mode. However, I do not know what - "extras" are needed to complete the support. Although putting the - i82078 into 1Mbps mode ought to work out of the box, it doesn't - (right now, ftape complains about id am errors). - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.04beta5, 29/12/95 ===== - -Bas offline linux-tape ----------------------- -For reasons only known to the majordomo mail list processor, Bas was -kicked off the linux-tape list sometime during the summer. Being -overworked at his for-pay job, he didn't notice it much. Instead I -(Kai, khp@dolphinics.no) has worked on ftape to produce the 2.04(beta) -version. - -zftape ------- -Note that there exists a much improved version of ftape, written by -Claus-Justus Heine <claus@willi.math.rwth-aachen.de> which is named -zftape, which conforms to the QIC-80 specs on how to mark backups, and -is capable of doing automatic compression. However, zftape makes -substantial changes to ftape, and I (Kai) have therefore declined to -integrate zftape into ftape. Hopefully, this will happen soon. - -CONFIG_QIC117 removed from the kernel -------------------------------------- -The biggest change of all is that ftape now will allocate its dma -buffers when it is inserted. The means that the CONFIG_QIC117 option -has disappeared from the Linux kernel as of v1.3.34. If you have an -earlier kernel, simply answer 'no' to the question will do the trick -(if you get complains about __get_free_pages() missing, contact the -linux-tape mailing list). - -Note that ftape-2.04beta will work equally well on kernels with and -without `ftape support'. The only catch is, that you will waste -around 96-128Kb of precious DMA'able memory on a box that has ftape -support compiled in. - -Now for the real changes: - -- FC-20 can now use DMA channels 1, 2, and 3. Thanks to Daniel - Cohen, catman@wpi.edu. -- ftape no longer requires a (gigantic) 96Kb buffer to be statically - allocated by the kernel. -- Added new Iomega drive (8882) to vendors.h -- -fno-strength-reduce added to Makefile, since GCC is broken. -- i82078-1 (2Mbps) FDC support started. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.03b, 27/05/95 ===== - -- Prevented verify_area to return error if called with zero length. -- Fixed a bug in flush_buffers that caused too much padding to be - written when a final segment had bad sectors. -- Increased maximum fast-seek overshoot value from 5 to 10 segments. -- Breaking loop after 5 retries when positioning fails. -- Fixed wrong calculation of tape length for QIC-3010 and QIC-3020 - tapes (densities were swapped). -- Fixed wrong calculation of overshoot on seek_forward: Wrong sign - of error. -- Suppress (false) error message due to new tape loaded. -- Added two new CMS drives (11c3 and 11c5) to vendors.h. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.03a, 09/05/95 ===== - -- Fixed display of old error (even if already cleared) in ftape_open. -- Improved tape length detection, ioctls would fail for 425 ft tapes. - Until the tape length is calculated with data from the header - segment, we'll use worst-case values. -- Clear eof_mark after rewinding ioctls. -- Fixed wrong version message (2.03 had 2.02g id). -- Fixed bug that caused the fdc to be reset very frequently. - This shouldn't affect normal operation but the timing of the - report routines has changed again and that may cause problems. - We'll just have to find out.... -- Implemented correct write precompensation setting for QIC-3010/3020. -- Cleaned up fdc_interrupt_wait routine. Hope it still works :-) -- Finally removed (already disabled) special eof mark handling for - gnu tar. -- Changed order of get_dma_residue and disable_dma in fdc-isr.c - because the current order would fail on at least one system. - We're back to the original order again, hope (and expect) this - doesn't break any other system. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.03, 07/05/95 ===== - -(Changes refer to the first ftape-2.02 release) - -Support for wide and extended length tapes ------------------------------------------- -The Conner TSM 420 and 850 drives are reported to be working. -I haven't received any reports about other brands; the TSM 420 -and 850 seem to be the most widely used wide drives. -Extended length tapes (425 ft) with normal QIC-80 drives -are operating too (At least I've had no reports stating otherwise). -_Not_ yet completely supported (although they may work) are -QIC-3020 drives and 2 Mbps floppy disk controllers won't work at -the highest speed. -If someone is kind enough to send me one of these, I'll include -support for it too ;-) - -Easier configuration --------------------- -Problems due to wrong settings in the Makefile are prevented -by using a configuration script that sets the necessary (kernel -version dependent) compile time options. -This kernel version is now determined from the sources found -at /usr/src/linux, or if not found, the old way using -/proc/version. -Versioned modules will be used automatically when supported -by- and configured in- the kernel. -Note that the current modules code (1.1.87) is still broken -and _needs_ the fix included in the insmod directory. -Please don't send me any more Oops reports caused by insmod :-( - -Reduced module size -------------------- -The standard module size is much reduced and some compile time -options can even reduce it further. (I don't recommend this -for normal use but it can be handy for rescue diskettes) - -Option: Approx. module size: - -<standard> 150 Kb -NO_TRACE 125 Kb -NO_TRACE_AT_ALL 67 Kb - - -Much improved driver interruption ---------------------------------- -Most possible loops have been broken and signal detection -has been improved. -In most cases the driver can be aborted by ^C (SIGINT) and -SIGKILL (kill -9) will generate be a sure kill. -(Note that aborting a tape operation may damage the last -data written to tape) - -Improved error recovery ------------------------ -Ftape now returns an error (ENODATA) to the application if -a segment proves to be unrecoverable and then skips the -bad segment. -This causes most applications to continue to work (tar -and afio) loosing only a small amount (up to 29 Kb) of data. -Retried read operations will now be done slightly off-track -to improve the chance of success. Serious head off-track -errors will be detected. - -FC-10 and FC-20 controllers ---------------------------- -Ftape now supports both the old CMS FC-10 and the newer FC-20 -controllers. -Because the operation of these cards is still undocumented, -thus far they will only work with the default settings (See -Makefile). Any feed-back on how to use them with other settings -will be welcome ! -Compilation will fail if one changes the settings to illegal -values. - -Kernels and compilers ---------------------- -Ftape is currently being developed using the 2.5.8 compiler. -The older 2.4.5 probably works too (Set option in Makefile!). -I have no experience with any later compilers nor Elf support. -Any information on this is welcome. -The latest kernel I have tested ftape with is 1.2.6. - -Compression ------------ -An impressive collection of changes for ftape including -on-the-fly compression is still lying on my desk. -If 2.03 proves to be reliable I might start integrating these -but as usual, I'm short in time :-( - -Formatting ----------- -There is still no way to format tapes under Linux. As far as -I know all attempts to write such a program have died now. -Since formatted tapes are rather common now, I think all we -need is a utility that writes a worst case pattern and verifies -that with the drive put in verify mode, reducing margins. -Any takers ? - -Furthermore ------------ -Cleaned up messages. -Prepared to support multiple tape drives on one fdc. -Thanks to all the people who sent bug reports and helped me -improve the driver. Without trying to be complete I'll mention -Gary Anderson (without his accurate reports and unreliable -hardware there wouldn't be a 2.03), Stefan Kneifel (FC-20), -Robert Broughton (FC-20, you were almost there ;-), Bjorn -Ekwall (for the versioned modules and buggy insmod ;-), Peter -Fox, Christopher Oliver, Ralph Whittaker and not the least -Linus Torvalds (for Linux and keeping me busy because of -changes to the kernel ;-) -Thanks to anyone I forgot, for the bug reports, the ftape -bashing and the mental support... - - -That's it for now. Have Fun, - -Bas. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.02g, 06/05/95 ===== - -- Added extra test to break read-id loop with signal. -- Changed rewind code to handle negative overshoot for drives - that take very long to start or stop. -- Let use of get/set i/o-regions depend on kernel version. -- Changed code to use a more general test for conditional - compilations depending on kernel version. -- Improved micro-step functionality to go off-track only - while reading (id & data). -- Added failure on tape-not-referenced bit in ftape_command. -- Added FOREVER option to read-wait routine. -- Changed read-id to use shorter timeout causing smaller - rewinds on timeout. -- Made kernel-interface functions static. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.02f, 03/05/95 ===== - -- Added support for dual tape drives on my system, extended Configure - script to detect host 'dodo'. -- Log media defect in history if ecc failed and no data was returned. -- Fixed Configure script that was failing for kernel versions with - double digit version or revision numbers. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.02e, 01/05/95 ===== - -- Fixed reposition loop at logical eot (failing read_id). -- Fixed 34 segment offset when rewinding. -- Added fast seek capability for more than 255 segments. -- Fixed wrong busy result from ftape_command causing reverse - seek to fail. -- Added breakout from infinite rewind loop (if something fails). - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.02d, 30/04/95 ===== - -- Improved abortion on signals: Interrupt will make a graceful - exit, Kill will be less nice and should be used if everything - else fails. -- Included check for tape-head off track. -- Implemented exit from tape-start loop. -- Added kernel io-port registration. -- Implemented skip of failing segment (ENODATA) on ecc failure. - This allows afio and tar to continue when the tape is damaged. -- Made distinction between drive names with different codes. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.02c, 22/04/95 ===== - -- Fixed too tight command queueing after tape stop/pause command - issued from within interrupt service routine (Showed as timeout - on Acknowledge errors during retries on some systems) -- Tried to fix timeouts when using 425 ft tape because the extended - length doesn't seem to be detected by the hardware. - We now use the format code from the header segment so adjust the - timing after reading the header segment. -- Fixed some messages stating 'unexpected something...' being not - unexpected anymore. -- Started preparations for merge of dynamic buffer allocation and - compression code. -- Changed some debug messages to include relevant segment information - at level 4. -- Included early bail-out when drive offline, preventing a lot of - false messages. -- Moved ftape_parameter_xxx() offsets into function instead of in calls. -- Removed 'weird, drive busy but no data' error when caused by - an error during a read-id. -- Improved 'timeout on acknowledge' diagnostics. -- Moved MODULE option into Configure. -- Reduced code size when no tracing at all was set (Claus Heine). -- No longer log error code 0 (no error) as an error. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.02b, 09/04/95 ===== - -- Relaxed timing for status operation and displaying - abnormal results. Hopefully this shows what's going - wrong with the Conner TSM850R drives. -- Created script for configuration, using version number - of kernel source if available, otherwise /proc/version. -- Fixed conditionals in kernel-interface.c. -- Removed unavoidable TRACE output. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.02a, 01/04/95 ===== - -- Implemented `new-style' (versioned) modules support for new - kernels. -- Reduced size of module by moving static data to bss. -- Now using version number of kernel source instead of running - kernel for kernel versions >= 1.1.82 -- Added feedback on drive speeds to vendor information. -- Included fixed insmod sources to distribution (Let's hope - the modules distribution get fixed soon :-/). - -Note that I haven't yet implemented any of the code extension I -received. I hope to find some time to do this soon. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.02, 15/01/95 ===== - - -- Fixed failing repositioning when overshoot was incremented. -- Fixed rate selection: Because of a deficiency in the QIC-117 - specification one cannot distinguish between a not implemented - and a failing command. Therefor we now try to find out if the - drive does support this command before usage. -- Fixed error retry using wrong offset in fdc-isr. -- Improved retry code to retry only once on a single no-data - error in a segment. -- Validate sector number extracted from eof mark because an - invalid file mark (due to ???) could cause kernel panic. -- Split ftape-io.c into ftape-io.c and ftape-ctl.c files. -- Corrected too high media error count after writing to - a bad tape. -- Added #include <asm/segment.h> again because old kernel versions - need it. -- Fixed fdc not being disabled when open failed because no tape - drive was found. -- Fixed problem with soft error in sector 32 (shift operator with - shiftcount 32 is not defined). - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.01, 08/01/95 ===== - - -- Removed TESTING setting from distributed Makefile. -- Fixed `mt asf' failure: Rewind was deferred to close which - overruled the fsf ioctl. -- Prevented non-interruptible commands being interrupted. -- Added missing timeout.pause setting. -- Maximum tape speed read from drive type information table. - If the information is not in the table (0) the drive will - determine the speed itself and put a message in the logfile. - This information should then be added to the table in the - vendors.h file (and reported to me). -- Added call to ftape_init_drive after soft reset for those - (antique) drives that don't do an implicit seek_load_point - after a reset or power up. -- Don't try to set data rate if reset failed. -- Prevent update of seek variables when starting from the - beginning or the end of the tape. -- Fixed wrong adjustment of overshoot in seek_forward(). -- Added sync to Makefile (again). -- Added code to diagnose timer problems (calibr.c). -- Replaced time differences by timediff calls. -- Removed reference to do_floppy from object for recent kernels. -- Fixed wrong display of 'failing dma controller' message. -- Removed various no longer used #include statements. -- Added max. tape speed value to vendor-struct. -- Changed ftape-command to check pre-conditions and wait - if needed. -- Further updated qic117.h to rev G. -- Combined command name table and restrictions table to one. - Extended this table with some new fields. -- Increased timeout on Ack timer value and included code to - report out of spec behaviour. -- Increased rewind timeout margin to calculated + 20%. -- Improved data rate selection so it won't fail on some - older (pre standard) drives. -- Changed initialisation code so drive will be rewound if the - driver is reloaded and the tape is not at bot. -- Moved some of the flush operations from close to the ioctls. -- Added exit code value to failing verify area message. -- Loop until tape halted in smart-stop. -- Fast seek handled specially if located at bot or eot. -- Being more conservative on overshoot value. - - -===== Release notes for ftape-2.00, 31/12/94 ===== - - The Install-guide is completely rewritten and now also includes -some information on how to use the driver. If you're either new -to ftape or new to Unix tape devices make sure to read it ! - - If you own a pci system and experience problems with the -ftape driver make sure to read the README.PCI file. It contains -some hints on how to fix your hardware. - - For anybody who hasn't noticed: The version number of the -driver has been incremented (The latest released version has -been version 1.14d). - This has been done for two major reasons: - - o A new (better) error recovery scheme is implemented. - o Support for new drive types has been added. - - All these improvements/changes will probably include a couple -of new (and old?) bugs. If you encounter any problems that you think -I'm not yet aware of, feel free to send a report to <bas@vimec.nl>. - I recommend keeping a version of ftape-1.14d available, just -in case ;-) - - This version should work with all kernel versions from 1.0.9 up -to 1.1.72 (and probably earlier and later versions too). - - -Major new features: - -- Better handling of tapes with defects: When a sector repeatedly - (SOFT_RETRIES in ftape.h) cannot be written to or read from it is - marked as an hard error and gets skipped. - The error correction code can handle up to three of these hard - errors provided there are no other errors in that segment (32 Kb). - -- Allows writing to tapes with defects (although the risk of loosing - data increases !) - Look for the media-defects entry printed with the statistics when - the tape is closed. A non-zero value here shows a bad tape. - [the actual count is wrong (too high), this is a known bug]. - -- Use of backup header segment if first one is failing. - -- Support for extended length tapes with QIC-80: both 425 and 1100 ft. - 0.25 inch tapes are now recognized and handled. - -- Support for new QIC-80 drives with 8 mm `wide' tapes (e.g. Conner - TSM 420). - -- Support for new QIC-3010 and QIC-3020 drives (experimental) with - both 0.25 inch and 8 mm tapes. - -Some minor features were added, a couple of small bugs were fixed and -probably some new ones introduced ;-). - -[lseek() didn't make it into this version] - -Have fun, - -Bas. ----- - LocalWords: ftape MCONFIG mt VFS zftape resp sftape proc subdir MTIOCVOLINFO - LocalWords: MTIOCGETSIZE BOT EOD MTBSF zft kerneld modprobe kdtime contrib TR - LocalWords: MTSETBLK afio uninstall texi www EIO QIC init sft eof aka dma GB - LocalWords: SIGKILL MTIOCFTCMD mmap Iomega FDC fdc io gnumt mtio fc asm inb - LocalWords: outb ft qic frontend TeXinfo irq mach MODVERSIONS CONFIG html dvi - LocalWords: usr doc SMP Mb Dunno FIXME vtblc perl listtape volinfo fsf MTWEOF - LocalWords: amanda degaussed ComByte DoublePlay whraven njackn com MTIOC vtbl - LocalWords: GETBLKSZ MAKEDEV zftape's linux dif CVS Revison cp MTREW MTOFFL - LocalWords: MTFSF BSF Marcin Dalecki GCC Config cpio swapout Kai Harrekilde - LocalWords: Pederson khp dolphinics Justus claus momo rwth aachen Laarhoven |
