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Date:      Wed, 04 Mar 1998 20:55:51 -0800 (PST)
From:      Simon Shapiro <shimon@simon-shapiro.org>
To:        Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>
Cc:        Matthew Thyer <Matthew.Thyer@dsto.defence.gov.au>, current@FreeBSD.ORG, Evan Champion <evanc@synapse.net>
Subject:   Re: silo overflows (Was Re: 3.0-RELEASE?)
Message-ID:  <XFMail.980304205551.shimon@simon-shapiro.org>
In-Reply-To: <199803050348.TAA23945@dingo.cdrom.com>

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On 05-Mar-98 Mike Smith wrote:
 
...

> The sio(4) driver (and a few others) use what are called "fast 
> interrupt handlers".  These are spl-immune, and can only be blocked 
> with disable_intr().  Delivery of these interrupts may also be delayed 
> at the hardware level.

I will not comment on this at all...

 ...

>> Again, don't decapitate me on this one, but does not the 16550 have a
>> mode
>> by which it will lower DSR and or CTS when the FIFO reaches a certain
>> point
>> of saturation? 
> 
> No, it doesn't, although some of the extended versions do.

Brain-Dead.  Then all bets are off.  In the current software + hardware
structure, interrupts will be lost.

> Lowering DSR won't help much, because it's an input.

Picky, picky, I mean DTR, and you know it :-)

> Automatic RTS/CTS flow control is only useful when you are talking to
> another UART that implements a comparable scheme.  Many serial devices
> will only respond to changes in flow control signals at the start of an
> output block, ie. there is no guaranteed response to a change in RTS
> state.

Modems must and do comply with RTS/CTS.  All the ISPs out there that have a
flow control with Sportster, raise your hand...  A modem that does not is
broken.  Many modems bastardized this support to acomodate operating
systemsd that did too.  But there is normally a mode where it will work.

 ...

> The ZSIO is completely unrelated to the 8250.  It has more in common
> with the 2681/68681 family and the 8530 SCC.

sorry.  Last I touched one of these has been longerthan I can hold
information.

> Unfortunately, you cannot expect a peripheral to respond in this
> fashion.  Automatic handshaking can also significantly reduce throughput
> unless very carefully managed.

Again, you are convincing me why something that works cannot (or is hard to
make) work.  I cannot agree to that, as I see modems, telex machines from
yore, computers, PCs, all working fine without dropping a single byte due
to internal overflow.  Since the system is useful to me, in this state, I
have no further complaints.

----------


Sincerely Yours, 

Simon Shapiro
Shimon@Simon-Shapiro.ORG                      Voice:   503.799.2313

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