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Fsys.aha7scsi

Driver for Adaptec AIC-7770/7870/7880 based SCSI adapters

Syntax:

Fsys.aha7scsi [general_options] [fsys fsys_options]
              [aha7scsi aha7scsi_options]

Options:

general_options

If specified, the general_options must precede any fsys or aha7scsi options:

-a unit=type
Add this unit to the driver's device list. You should find this option handy in situations where a SCSI device might not be powered up when the driver performs its scan. Without -a, the only devices the driver will support are those that respond during the scan. You can specify multiple -a options.

The unit can be one of the following combinations (the number of commas affects how the unit information is interpreted; see also the Examples section):

Specify Meaning
controller,target,lun fully specified controller, target, and LUN
controller,target equivalent to controller,target,0
target equivalent to 0,target,0
In the type argument, you can specify one of the following SCSI device types:
type  String equivalent
0 direct-access (e.g. hard disk)
1 sequential-access (e.g. tape)
2 printer
3 processor
4 WORM
5 CD-ROM
6 scanner
7 optical
8 medium_changer
9 communications
To specify the type, you can use either the number or its string equivalent. When specifying a string, you need include only as many characters as are necessary to uniquely identify the type. For example to indicate type 1, you could specify se. Note that strings are case insensitive.

Not all of the above types are currently supported by the Filesystem Manager. See the -n option.

-L
Disable automatic scan for LUNs.
-q
Be quiet: don't display any information on startup.
-S scanmask
Target scan bitmask (default: 0xffff).
-v
Be verbose: display full information about SCSI units (devices) on startup.

fsys_options

The fsys_options control the driver's interface to Fsys. If specified, they must follow the fsys keyword:

-B num
Use this many 512-byte buffers for blocking/deblocking (default is 8). You need to specify this option if you have one or more units that don't use 512-byte sectors. CD-ROM units, for example, may use 2048-byte sectors.

The value of num is the sum of all the buffers required for SCSI units that use sectors larger than 512 bytes. To obtain the buffer required for a unit, you must use the following formula:

buf = (2*(sector_size / 512))

The value that should be used for num will be the sum of the results from all units.

-d
Allow concurrent I/O with other DMA-based drivers.

Some ISA motherboards have problems when on-board DMA and bus-mastering DMA occur concurrently. To avoid those problems, Fsys drivers which use DMA perform I/O concurrently only if the -d option is specified to either or both drivers. In general, you shouldn't use -d on an ISA machine if the floppy is going to be used at the same time as the SCSI hard disk. This option may be used safely on MCA and EISA machines.

-h heads[,sectors]
Report this many heads (and optionally sectors) to Fsys for hard disks (default is 64 heads, 32 sectors per track). The QNX filesystem doesn't need this information for normal operation. The information is needed only to let fdisk write the correct boot cylinder for booting.
-i
Ignore partition table when determining heads/sectors.
-l
("el") Disable locking while open on Removable & Tape
-m num
Transfer no more than this many 512-byte sectors from the SCSI controller to memory in one operation (default is 127).
-M num
Allow no more than this many units to register with Fsys (default is the number of SCSI units available).
-n type=name
For the given SCSI unit type, use the specified name. For example, to have hard drives use /dev/scsin, you would specify -n 0=scsi. You can specify multiple -n options.

By default, the driver assigns names as follows:

type  String equivalent Default name
0 direct-access (e.g. hard disk) hd
1 sequential-access (e.g. tape) tp
4 WORM wo
5 CD-ROM cd
7 optical mo

As in the -a general option, you can specify the type using either the number or its string equivalent.

To have the driver ignore a type of device, specify an empty setting. For example, to ignore hard disks, specify -n 0.

-N name
Assign this unique version name to this invocation of the driver. The name can range from 1 to 8 characters in length.
-r
Reassign bad blocks automatically. If a bad block is found on a drive, a "REASSIGN BLOCKS" command will be given to the controller, causing the drive to map the block through a defect-mapping table.

Use this option with care since bad blocks could be erroneously reported by the device if the SCSI bus isn't properly terminated. If this occurs and you've specified -r, the defect-mapping table will be filled unnecessarily.

-R
Disable reserving the SCSI unit when the unit is open.
-s mins
Minutes of inactivity before stopping direct drive. (disabled)
-S
Try to always use Scatter/Gather.

aha7scsi_options

The aha7scsi_options control the driver's interface to the AHA 7 series controllers. If you've installed multiple controllers, you can repeat these options for each controller. Remember, however, to specify the aha7scsi keyword before each controller's set of options.

-a controller
Use this controller address.
-d mask
Specify disconnect bitmask (default: 0xffff).
-D device_id
Device ID of the controller.
-F mask
Specify fast synchronous transfers bitmask (default: 0xffff).
-i irq
Assume that the controller is using this interrupt. By default, the driver queries the controller for this value.
-p pci_index
The PCI index of the controller in the machine, where pci_index is a value between 0 and the number of adapters.
-r
Do not reset the SCSI bus.
-S mask
Specify synchronous transfers bitmask (default: 0xffff).
-s
Specify the SCSI id used by the controller.
-t low[,high]
Set termination low, high (default is 1,1).
-U mask
Ultra/Fast20 synchronous bitmask (default: 0xffff).
-u num
Allow no more than this many SCSI units per controller.
-V vendor_id
Vendor ID of the controller.
-W mask
Specify wide transfers bitmask (default: 0xffff).

Description:

Fsys.aha7scsi is the driver for SCSI adapters based on the Adaptec AIC-7770, AIC-7870 and AIC-7880 chips. Controllers supported by this driver include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Manufacturer Controller
Adaptec AIC-7770
Adaptec AIC-7870
Adaptec AIC-7880
Adaptec AHA-2740/2742
Adaptec AHA-2740T/2742T
Adaptec AHA-2740W/2742W
Adaptec AHA-2840A/2842A
Adaptec AHA-2940
Adaptec AHA-2940W
Adaptec AHA-3940

Fsys.aha7scsi scans for controllers in the command-line sequence given by the -a option. If no -a option is given, the driver scans for controllers at the following hex addresses, in order:

After the above addresses are scanned the BIOS is queried for PCI cards.


Note: If you have problems with the PCI adapter make sure that you have an up to date version of the adapter BIOS as well as system BIOS.

Controllers are numbered from 0 to n, in the order they're found.

For each controller, the driver performs a scan, looking for installed units. All targets are scanned (0 to 7) and for each target, each LUN (Logical Unit Number) is scanned (0 to 7). Devices are numbered starting from 0, and each type of device is numbered separately. For example, if you have a hard disk and a CD-ROM device, they'll be numbered hd0 and cd0, respectively.

The Filesystem Manager supports only the following types of SCSI units:

0
direct-access (e.g. hard disk)
1
sequential-access (e.g. tape)
4
WORM (write once/read multiple)
5
CD-ROM
7
optical

Tape units

If a tape unit is found during the driver's scan or if you specify a sequential-access unit with the -a general option, two block special files are created under /dev. By default, they're named /dev/tp0 and /dev/tpr0. Both these files reference the same physical drive, but /dev/tpr0 will perform a rewind on a close.

Examples:

Support an AHA 7 controller, list all connected devices:

    Fsys.aha7scsi &

Support an AHA 7 PCI controller with a pci_index of 1, list all connected devices:

    Fsys.aha7scsi aha7scsi -p1 &

Support an AHA 7 controller, list all connected devices, and register direct access devices as /dev/hardn and sequential access devices as /dev/tapen:

    Fsys.aha7scsi fsys -n0=hard -n1=tape &

Support an AHA 7 controller at hex address 1c00, don't display list of connected devices. Register direct access devices (e.g. hard disks) as /dev/scsin:

    Fsys.aha7scsi -q fsys -n0=scsi aha7scsi -a1c00 &

Files:

Fsys.aha7scsi closes its standard input, standard output and standard error immediately after completing its initializations. Error messages may be produced during the initialization phase and will be written to standard error.

Fsys.aha7scsi will cause Fsys to adopt various block special devices under /dev. These devices will normally be named according to the device types in the form typen, where type is the abbreviated device type and n is the physical unit number of the device. The names used for the abbreviated device type may be overridden via the -n type=n option.

Exit status:

Fsys.aha7scsi will terminate only if an error occurs during startup, or if it has successfully forked itself upon startup because it had not been initially started in the background.

0
Fsys.aha7scsi was not started in the background and as a result forked itself. The original process terminated with a zero exit status, the forked process continued.
>0
An error occurred during startup.

Caveats:

Don't use slay to shut down a filesystem driver! If you do, new drivers may not be able to load properly and Fsys itself may experience internal errors.

If you need to shut down a filesystem driver, follow the steps in the "Driver shutdown" section in the documentation for Fsys.

See also:

Blkfsys, Fsys, Fsys.*


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