Hi,
I have an application for IDE hdd hotswap, and I'm trying to determine the best chipset. I think one thing to consider is the ability or Linux/LinuxBIOS to completely initialize the chipset from power on reset to use UltraDMA (133 if possible). If it can do that, logically it can re-do it when a different drive is swapped in.
So I'm asking on the LinuxBIOS list since IDE chip initialization has surely been dealt with. Can anyone give me the name of chipsets which they have gotten going with UltraDMA and LinuxBIOS?
The second issue is the ability to tri-state off the bus, but I can find that info elsewhere (ie kernel source) The hdparm utility/kernel driver has the beginnings of this support.
I know that the Promise PCI card controllers have a bios which probably contains hidden magic, perhaps another off-board card can be found.
Regards,
Jeremy
Jeremy Jackson wrote:
The second issue is the ability to tri-state off the bus, but I can find that info elsewhere (ie kernel source) The hdparm utility/kernel driver has the beginnings of this support.
I know its an old chipset but the 440bx has a bit that you set to disable the ide[01] device and tristate all its lines. I suspect that most of the other chipsets have the same type setup. That functionality and a gp input pin with a really weak pullup attached to a ground pin on the IDE cable should give you hotplug functionality.
Jeremy Jackson wrote:
So I'm asking on the LinuxBIOS list since IDE chip initialization has surely been dealt with. Can anyone give me the name of chipsets which they have gotten going with UltraDMA and LinuxBIOS?
The second issue is the ability to tri-state off the bus, but I can find that info elsewhere (ie kernel source) The hdparm utility/kernel driver has the beginnings of this support.
I know that the Promise PCI card controllers have a bios which probably contains hidden magic, perhaps another off-board card can be found.
Are you looking for chipsets with integrated IDE controllers that support UDMA or just PCI based IDE controller IC's that support UDMA and can tri-state the IDE lines?
-Bari
Maybe I should clarify. I'm not designing a board. I just want to identify and IDE controller, integrated or not, that has complete Linux support for PIO/UDMA tuning (and tri-state but many support this) so that after hot-swap (which will power cycle the drive, change the model, etc.), the drive and controller can be configured without rebooting to get the BIOS involved.
My logic for asking on the LinuxBIOS list is that since LinuxBIOS does the basics from power on, and Linux finishes things, *everything* that is needed must be there if UDMA works with Linux/LinuxBIOS, and all that I have to do is move some code around so the hdparm -U/-R and -b stuff is a bit easier to work with.
So, I guess my question should be: Does anyone have and IDE drive working with UDMA under LinuxBIOS/Linux? If so, please tell me what chipset(s).
Thanks,
Jeremy
Bari Ari wrote:
Jeremy Jackson wrote:
So I'm asking on the LinuxBIOS list since IDE chip initialization has surely been dealt with. Can anyone give me the name of chipsets which they have gotten going with UltraDMA and LinuxBIOS?
The second issue is the ability to tri-state off the bus, but I can find that info elsewhere (ie kernel source) The hdparm utility/kernel driver has the beginnings of this support.
I know that the Promise PCI card controllers have a bios which probably contains hidden magic, perhaps another off-board card can be found.
Are you looking for chipsets with integrated IDE controllers that support UDMA or just PCI based IDE controller IC's that support UDMA and can tri-state the IDE lines?
-Bari
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Bari Ari -
Jeremy Jackson -
Richard Smith