From owner-freebsd-hardware Tue Oct 23 12: 4:10 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Received: from msgbas1.cos.agilent.com (msgbas1x.cos.agilent.com [192.25.240.36]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 64DAC37B403; Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:04:06 -0700 (PDT) Received: from msgrel1.cos.agilent.com (msgrel1.cos.agilent.com [130.29.152.77]) by msgbas1.cos.agilent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id C10C82D1B; Tue, 23 Oct 2001 13:04:05 -0600 (MDT) Received: from mina.soco.agilent.com (mina.soco.agilent.com [141.121.54.157]) by msgrel1.cos.agilent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 307104D7; Tue, 23 Oct 2001 13:04:05 -0600 (MDT) Received: from mina.soco.agilent.com (darrylo@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mina.soco.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_22672)/8.9.3 SMKit7.1.1_Agilent) with ESMTP id MAA15156; Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:04:01 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <200110231904.MAA15156@mina.soco.agilent.com> To: Mike Smith Cc: "Plucker, Prentice" , "'freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org'" Subject: Re: New Pormise ATA raid controller Reply-To: Darryl Okahata In-Reply-To: Your message of "Tue, 23 Oct 2001 11:17:23 PDT." <200110231817.f9NIHNI01584@mass.dis.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 (generated by tm-edit 1.7) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:03:59 -0700 From: Darryl Okahata Sender: owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Mike Smith wrote: > > Promise just anounced a new ATA raid controller , the Supertrak SX6000, that > > looks like a good solutuon with 3ware no longer producing there ATA cards. > > From what I understand Promise has this controller running on Linux and the > > source code is available. > > I'm not seeing any sources or documentation. The usual deal applies, > though; if someone can supply enough reference material to develop a > driver, and a sample card, I'll take a crack at it. The linux sources appear to be in the "Alan Cox tree", and the linux SX6000 driver is described as using an "i2o_block interface". See: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=lang_en&threadm=linux.kernel.E15vKkf-0006o5-00%40the-village.bc.nu&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3Dlang_en%26selm%3Dlinux.kernel.E15vKkf-0006o5-00%2540the-village.bc.nu It's unclear if the monitoring tools will work with linux, though (Promise's object-only drivers do not support monitoring). The press announcement looks interesting: dedicated i960 processor, parity HW, and up to 128MB cache RAM. However, for some reason, the fact that they're hyping their ASIC bothers me. From the press announcement: SuperTrak SX6000 uses Promise Technology's best-selling Ultra ATA/100 ASIC chip to automatically recognize and configure the optimal speed for most Ultra ATA/100, Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/33, and EIDE drives. The ASIC has been used in more than one million controllers and PCs worldwide through OEMs and distribution channels. Isn't this the same chip that's used in their low-end "raid" controllers? -- Darryl Okahata darrylo@soco.agilent.com DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Agilent Technologies, or of the little green men that have been following him all day. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message