X-Git-Url: http://ftp.safe.ca/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=Documentation%2Fcciss.txt;h=f74affe5c8297f58b4d36dfac566e7411899f2c5;hb=0dec4c8bc6ed62a65b61594aa754e21270423796;hp=68a711fb82cf8d9d612363ff04bb71719ef6729f;hpb=9dc7a86e85593c834bb930f5d5aba3a19ee7a350;p=safe%2Fjmp%2Flinux-2.6 diff --git a/Documentation/cciss.txt b/Documentation/cciss.txt index 68a711f..f74affe 100644 --- a/Documentation/cciss.txt +++ b/Documentation/cciss.txt @@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ This driver is known to work with the following cards: * SA P400i * SA E200 * SA E200i + * SA E500 If nodes are not already created in the /dev/cciss directory, run as root: @@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ the /proc filesystem entry which the "block" side of the driver creates as the SCSI core may not yet be initialized (because the driver is a block driver) and attempting to register it with the SCSI core in such a case would cause a hang. This is best done via an initialization script -(typically in /etc/init.d, but could vary depending on distibution). +(typically in /etc/init.d, but could vary depending on distribution). For example: for x in /proc/driver/cciss/cciss[0-9]* @@ -133,3 +134,32 @@ hardware and it is important to prevent the kernel from attempting to directly access these devices too, as if the array controller were merely a SCSI controller in the same way that we are allowing it to access SCSI tape drives. +SCSI error handling for tape drives and medium changers +------------------------------------------------------- + +The linux SCSI mid layer provides an error handling protocol which +kicks into gear whenever a SCSI command fails to complete within a +certain amount of time (which can vary depending on the command). +The cciss driver participates in this protocol to some extent. The +normal protocol is a four step process. First the device is told +to abort the command. If that doesn't work, the device is reset. +If that doesn't work, the SCSI bus is reset. If that doesn't work +the host bus adapter is reset. Because the cciss driver is a block +driver as well as a SCSI driver and only the tape drives and medium +changers are presented to the SCSI mid layer, and unlike more +straightforward SCSI drivers, disk i/o continues through the block +side during the SCSI error recovery process, the cciss driver only +implements the first two of these actions, aborting the command, and +resetting the device. Additionally, most tape drives will not oblige +in aborting commands, and sometimes it appears they will not even +obey a reset command, though in most circumstances they will. In +the case that the command cannot be aborted and the device cannot be +reset, the device will be set offline. + +In the event the error handling code is triggered and a tape drive is +successfully reset or the tardy command is successfully aborted, the +tape drive may still not allow i/o to continue until some command +is issued which positions the tape to a known position. Typically you +must rewind the tape (by issuing "mt -f /dev/st0 rewind" for example) +before i/o can proceed again to a tape drive which was reset. +