Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 10:08:47 +0100 From: Michel Talon <michel@lpthe.jussieu.fr> To: freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Parallel ZIP patch for better mode detection Message-ID: <20001218100847.A395@lpthe.jussieu.fr> In-Reply-To: <20001218085132.A6191@wiliam.alcove-int> References: <20001214152635.B16808@wiliam.alcove-int> <Pine.BSF.4.21.0012151943110.175-100000@localhost> <20001218085132.A6191@wiliam.alcove-int>
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On Mon, Dec 18, 2000 at 08:51:32AM +0100, Nicolas Souchu wrote: > On Fri, Dec 15, 2000 at 07:45:23PM +0100, flag wrote: > > On Thu, 14 Dec 2000, Nicolas Souchu wrote: > > > > > Hi, > > > > > > Here is a patch against -stable /sys/dev/ppbus for better ZIP/ZIP+ > > > mode detection. I've tested ZIP, but don't have any ZIP+ :( > > > > > > Could some of you approve vpo and imm drivers for me? > > > > Can I gain any speed-boost installing this patch? > > > > The big problem with the parallel zip is that, while you are transferring > > data from/to the zip, the copy process get the 100% of the cpu and the > > system stay unusable until the end of the zip operation...very sad...=( > > That's normal. The ZIP is designed so that it can run only in polling mode :( > > You should get better speed and reactivness of your machine if you use > EPP mode (which is polled also but faster). > > Nicholas Yes, but i have two machines on which running the parallel port in EPP mode and using vpo works but is incredibly slow. Moreover the machine is essentially unusable during the transfers with the zip. One of these machines duals boot Linux, and here the zip works very well, almost at the same speed that a scsi zip that i have on a third machine. During the transfers the machine keeps its responsiveness. So i conclude that the driver has its responsibility in this affair :) To be precise the port is probed as EPP1.9 in both cases. I have looked at the vpio.c file and it seems that EPP1.9 is not used in the best possible way. On the other hand i have also looked at the Linux driver, and have not seen big difference in the way the transfer is done. So i have not been able to improve anything. I take advantage of the presence of the developer in the mailing list to attract its attention to this question. To me, the behaviour of the Zip on FreeBSD is by far the worst bad point of FreeBSD with respect to Linux. I have seen many messages from people with laptops in which only ECP mode is available, and for them the // port Zip does not work at all. But in many cases // port Zip is the only practical way to transfer files from home machines to office machines and so on. It should not be neglected. Best regards -- Michel Talon To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
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