+ <chapter id="libataDriverApi">
+ <title>libata Driver API</title>
+ <para>
+ struct ata_port_operations is defined for every low-level libata
+ hardware driver, and it controls how the low-level driver
+ interfaces with the ATA and SCSI layers.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ FIS-based drivers will hook into the system with ->qc_prep() and
+ ->qc_issue() high-level hooks. Hardware which behaves in a manner
+ similar to PCI IDE hardware may utilize several generic helpers,
+ defining at a bare minimum the bus I/O addresses of the ATA shadow
+ register blocks.
+ </para>
+ <sect1>
+ <title>struct ata_port_operations</title>
+
+ <sect2><title>Disable ATA port</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*port_disable) (struct ata_port *);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Called from ata_bus_probe() and ata_bus_reset() error paths,
+ as well as when unregistering from the SCSI module (rmmod, hot
+ unplug).
+ This function should do whatever needs to be done to take the
+ port out of use. In most cases, ata_port_disable() can be used
+ as this hook.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Called from ata_bus_probe() on a failed probe.
+ Called from ata_bus_reset() on a failed bus reset.
+ Called from ata_scsi_release().
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Post-IDENTIFY device configuration</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*dev_config) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Called after IDENTIFY [PACKET] DEVICE is issued to each device
+ found. Typically used to apply device-specific fixups prior to
+ issue of SET FEATURES - XFER MODE, and prior to operation.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Called by ata_device_add() after ata_dev_identify() determines
+ a device is present.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This entry may be specified as NULL in ata_port_operations.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Set PIO/DMA mode</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*set_piomode) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
+void (*set_dmamode) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
+void (*post_set_mode) (struct ata_port *);
+unsigned int (*mode_filter) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *, unsigned int);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Hooks called prior to the issue of SET FEATURES - XFER MODE
+ command. The optional ->mode_filter() hook is called when libata
+ has built a mask of the possible modes. This is passed to the
+ ->mode_filter() function which should return a mask of valid modes
+ after filtering those unsuitable due to hardware limits. It is not
+ valid to use this interface to add modes.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ dev->pio_mode and dev->dma_mode are guaranteed to be valid when
+ ->set_piomode() and when ->set_dmamode() is called. The timings for
+ any other drive sharing the cable will also be valid at this point.
+ That is the library records the decisions for the modes of each
+ drive on a channel before it attempts to set any of them.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ ->post_set_mode() is
+ called unconditionally, after the SET FEATURES - XFER MODE
+ command completes successfully.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ ->set_piomode() is always called (if present), but
+ ->set_dma_mode() is only called if DMA is possible.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Taskfile read/write</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*tf_load) (struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
+void (*tf_read) (struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ ->tf_load() is called to load the given taskfile into hardware
+ registers / DMA buffers. ->tf_read() is called to read the
+ hardware registers / DMA buffers, to obtain the current set of
+ taskfile register values.
+ Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware (PIO or MMIO) use
+ ata_tf_load() and ata_tf_read() for these hooks.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>PIO data read/write</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*data_xfer) (struct ata_device *, unsigned char *, unsigned int, int);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+All bmdma-style drivers must implement this hook. This is the low-level
+operation that actually copies the data bytes during a PIO data
+transfer.
+Typically the driver
+will choose one of ata_pio_data_xfer_noirq(), ata_pio_data_xfer(), or
+ata_mmio_data_xfer().
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>ATA command execute</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*exec_command)(struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ causes an ATA command, previously loaded with
+ ->tf_load(), to be initiated in hardware.
+ Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use ata_exec_command()
+ for this hook.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Per-cmd ATAPI DMA capabilities filter</title>
+ <programlisting>
+int (*check_atapi_dma) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+Allow low-level driver to filter ATA PACKET commands, returning a status
+indicating whether or not it is OK to use DMA for the supplied PACKET
+command.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This hook may be specified as NULL, in which case libata will
+ assume that atapi dma can be supported.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Read specific ATA shadow registers</title>
+ <programlisting>
+u8 (*check_status)(struct ata_port *ap);
+u8 (*check_altstatus)(struct ata_port *ap);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Reads the Status/AltStatus ATA shadow register from
+ hardware. On some hardware, reading the Status register has
+ the side effect of clearing the interrupt condition.
+ Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use
+ ata_check_status() for this hook.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that because this is called from ata_device_add(), at
+ least a dummy function that clears device interrupts must be
+ provided for all drivers, even if the controller doesn't
+ actually have a taskfile status register.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Select ATA device on bus</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*dev_select)(struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int device);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Issues the low-level hardware command(s) that causes one of N
+ hardware devices to be considered 'selected' (active and
+ available for use) on the ATA bus. This generally has no
+ meaning on FIS-based devices.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use
+ ata_std_dev_select() for this hook. Controllers which do not
+ support second drives on a port (such as SATA contollers) will
+ use ata_noop_dev_select().
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Private tuning method</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*set_mode) (struct ata_port *ap);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ By default libata performs drive and controller tuning in
+ accordance with the ATA timing rules and also applies blacklists
+ and cable limits. Some controllers need special handling and have
+ custom tuning rules, typically raid controllers that use ATA
+ commands but do not actually do drive timing.
+ </para>
+
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ This hook should not be used to replace the standard controller
+ tuning logic when a controller has quirks. Replacing the default
+ tuning logic in that case would bypass handling for drive and
+ bridge quirks that may be important to data reliability. If a
+ controller needs to filter the mode selection it should use the
+ mode_filter hook instead.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Control PCI IDE BMDMA engine</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*bmdma_setup) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
+void (*bmdma_start) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
+void (*bmdma_stop) (struct ata_port *ap);
+u8 (*bmdma_status) (struct ata_port *ap);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+When setting up an IDE BMDMA transaction, these hooks arm
+(->bmdma_setup), fire (->bmdma_start), and halt (->bmdma_stop)
+the hardware's DMA engine. ->bmdma_status is used to read the standard
+PCI IDE DMA Status register.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+These hooks are typically either no-ops, or simply not implemented, in
+FIS-based drivers.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+Most legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_setup() for the bmdma_setup()
+hook. ata_bmdma_setup() will write the pointer to the PRD table to
+the IDE PRD Table Address register, enable DMA in the DMA Command
+register, and call exec_command() to begin the transfer.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+Most legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_start() for the bmdma_start()
+hook. ata_bmdma_start() will write the ATA_DMA_START flag to the DMA
+Command register.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+Many legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_stop() for the bmdma_stop()
+hook. ata_bmdma_stop() clears the ATA_DMA_START flag in the DMA
+command register.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+Many legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_status() as the bmdma_status() hook.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>High-level taskfile hooks</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*qc_prep) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
+int (*qc_issue) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Higher-level hooks, these two hooks can potentially supercede
+ several of the above taskfile/DMA engine hooks. ->qc_prep is
+ called after the buffers have been DMA-mapped, and is typically
+ used to populate the hardware's DMA scatter-gather table.
+ Most drivers use the standard ata_qc_prep() helper function, but
+ more advanced drivers roll their own.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ ->qc_issue is used to make a command active, once the hardware
+ and S/G tables have been prepared. IDE BMDMA drivers use the
+ helper function ata_qc_issue_prot() for taskfile protocol-based
+ dispatch. More advanced drivers implement their own ->qc_issue.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ ata_qc_issue_prot() calls ->tf_load(), ->bmdma_setup(), and
+ ->bmdma_start() as necessary to initiate a transfer.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Exception and probe handling (EH)</title>
+ <programlisting>
+void (*eng_timeout) (struct ata_port *ap);
+void (*phy_reset) (struct ata_port *ap);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+Deprecated. Use ->error_handler() instead.
+ </para>
+
+ <programlisting>
+void (*freeze) (struct ata_port *ap);
+void (*thaw) (struct ata_port *ap);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ata_port_freeze() is called when HSM violations or some other
+condition disrupts normal operation of the port. A frozen port
+is not allowed to perform any operation until the port is
+thawed, which usually follows a successful reset.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+The optional ->freeze() callback can be used for freezing the port
+hardware-wise (e.g. mask interrupt and stop DMA engine). If a
+port cannot be frozen hardware-wise, the interrupt handler
+must ack and clear interrupts unconditionally while the port
+is frozen.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+The optional ->thaw() callback is called to perform the opposite of ->freeze():
+prepare the port for normal operation once again. Unmask interrupts,
+start DMA engine, etc.
+ </para>
+
+ <programlisting>
+void (*error_handler) (struct ata_port *ap);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+->error_handler() is a driver's hook into probe, hotplug, and recovery
+and other exceptional conditions. The primary responsibility of an
+implementation is to call ata_do_eh() or ata_bmdma_drive_eh() with a set
+of EH hooks as arguments:
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+'prereset' hook (may be NULL) is called during an EH reset, before any other actions
+are taken.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+'postreset' hook (may be NULL) is called after the EH reset is performed. Based on
+existing conditions, severity of the problem, and hardware capabilities,
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+Either 'softreset' (may be NULL) or 'hardreset' (may be NULL) will be
+called to perform the low-level EH reset.
+ </para>
+
+ <programlisting>
+void (*post_internal_cmd) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+Perform any hardware-specific actions necessary to finish processing
+after executing a probe-time or EH-time command via ata_exec_internal().
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Hardware interrupt handling</title>
+ <programlisting>
+irqreturn_t (*irq_handler)(int, void *, struct pt_regs *);
+void (*irq_clear) (struct ata_port *);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ ->irq_handler is the interrupt handling routine registered with
+ the system, by libata. ->irq_clear is called during probe just
+ before the interrupt handler is registered, to be sure hardware
+ is quiet.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The second argument, dev_instance, should be cast to a pointer
+ to struct ata_host_set.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Most legacy IDE drivers use ata_interrupt() for the
+ irq_handler hook, which scans all ports in the host_set,
+ determines which queued command was active (if any), and calls
+ ata_host_intr(ap,qc).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Most legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_irq_clear() for the
+ irq_clear() hook, which simply clears the interrupt and error
+ flags in the DMA status register.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>SATA phy read/write</title>
+ <programlisting>
+u32 (*scr_read) (struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int sc_reg);
+void (*scr_write) (struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int sc_reg,
+ u32 val);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Read and write standard SATA phy registers. Currently only used
+ if ->phy_reset hook called the sata_phy_reset() helper function.
+ sc_reg is one of SCR_STATUS, SCR_CONTROL, SCR_ERROR, or SCR_ACTIVE.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2><title>Init and shutdown</title>
+ <programlisting>
+int (*port_start) (struct ata_port *ap);
+void (*port_stop) (struct ata_port *ap);
+void (*host_stop) (struct ata_host_set *host_set);
+ </programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ ->port_start() is called just after the data structures for each
+ port are initialized. Typically this is used to alloc per-port
+ DMA buffers / tables / rings, enable DMA engines, and similar
+ tasks. Some drivers also use this entry point as a chance to
+ allocate driver-private memory for ap->private_data.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Many drivers use ata_port_start() as this hook or call
+ it from their own port_start() hooks. ata_port_start()
+ allocates space for a legacy IDE PRD table and returns.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ ->port_stop() is called after ->host_stop(). It's sole function
+ is to release DMA/memory resources, now that they are no longer
+ actively being used. Many drivers also free driver-private
+ data from port at this time.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Many drivers use ata_port_stop() as this hook, which frees the
+ PRD table.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ ->host_stop() is called after all ->port_stop() calls
+have completed. The hook must finalize hardware shutdown, release DMA
+and other resources, etc.
+ This hook may be specified as NULL, in which case it is not called.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ </sect1>
+ </chapter>
+
+ <chapter id="libataEH">
+ <title>Error handling</title>
+
+ <para>
+ This chapter describes how errors are handled under libata.
+ Readers are advised to read SCSI EH
+ (Documentation/scsi/scsi_eh.txt) and ATA exceptions doc first.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect1><title>Origins of commands</title>
+ <para>
+ In libata, a command is represented with struct ata_queued_cmd
+ or qc. qc's are preallocated during port initialization and
+ repetitively used for command executions. Currently only one
+ qc is allocated per port but yet-to-be-merged NCQ branch
+ allocates one for each tag and maps each qc to NCQ tag 1-to-1.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ libata commands can originate from two sources - libata itself
+ and SCSI midlayer. libata internal commands are used for
+ initialization and error handling. All normal blk requests
+ and commands for SCSI emulation are passed as SCSI commands
+ through queuecommand callback of SCSI host template.
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1><title>How commands are issued</title>
+
+ <variablelist>
+
+ <varlistentry><term>Internal commands</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ First, qc is allocated and initialized using
+ ata_qc_new_init(). Although ata_qc_new_init() doesn't
+ implement any wait or retry mechanism when qc is not
+ available, internal commands are currently issued only during
+ initialization and error recovery, so no other command is
+ active and allocation is guaranteed to succeed.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Once allocated qc's taskfile is initialized for the command to
+ be executed. qc currently has two mechanisms to notify
+ completion. One is via qc->complete_fn() callback and the
+ other is completion qc->waiting. qc->complete_fn() callback
+ is the asynchronous path used by normal SCSI translated
+ commands and qc->waiting is the synchronous (issuer sleeps in
+ process context) path used by internal commands.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Once initialization is complete, host_set lock is acquired
+ and the qc is issued.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry><term>SCSI commands</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ All libata drivers use ata_scsi_queuecmd() as
+ hostt->queuecommand callback. scmds can either be simulated
+ or translated. No qc is involved in processing a simulated
+ scmd. The result is computed right away and the scmd is
+ completed.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ For a translated scmd, ata_qc_new_init() is invoked to
+ allocate a qc and the scmd is translated into the qc. SCSI
+ midlayer's completion notification function pointer is stored
+ into qc->scsidone.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ qc->complete_fn() callback is used for completion
+ notification. ATA commands use ata_scsi_qc_complete() while
+ ATAPI commands use atapi_qc_complete(). Both functions end up
+ calling qc->scsidone to notify upper layer when the qc is
+ finished. After translation is completed, the qc is issued
+ with ata_qc_issue().
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that SCSI midlayer invokes hostt->queuecommand while
+ holding host_set lock, so all above occur while holding
+ host_set lock.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ </variablelist>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1><title>How commands are processed</title>
+ <para>
+ Depending on which protocol and which controller are used,
+ commands are processed differently. For the purpose of
+ discussion, a controller which uses taskfile interface and all
+ standard callbacks is assumed.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Currently 6 ATA command protocols are used. They can be
+ sorted into the following four categories according to how
+ they are processed.
+ </para>
+
+ <variablelist>
+ <varlistentry><term>ATA NO DATA or DMA</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ ATA_PROT_NODATA and ATA_PROT_DMA fall into this category.
+ These types of commands don't require any software
+ intervention once issued. Device will raise interrupt on
+ completion.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry><term>ATA PIO</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ ATA_PROT_PIO is in this category. libata currently
+ implements PIO with polling. ATA_NIEN bit is set to turn
+ off interrupt and pio_task on ata_wq performs polling and
+ IO.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry><term>ATAPI NODATA or DMA</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ ATA_PROT_ATAPI_NODATA and ATA_PROT_ATAPI_DMA are in this
+ category. packet_task is used to poll BSY bit after
+ issuing PACKET command. Once BSY is turned off by the
+ device, packet_task transfers CDB and hands off processing
+ to interrupt handler.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry><term>ATAPI PIO</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ ATA_PROT_ATAPI is in this category. ATA_NIEN bit is set
+ and, as in ATAPI NODATA or DMA, packet_task submits cdb.
+ However, after submitting cdb, further processing (data
+ transfer) is handed off to pio_task.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ </variablelist>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1><title>How commands are completed</title>
+ <para>
+ Once issued, all qc's are either completed with
+ ata_qc_complete() or time out. For commands which are handled
+ by interrupts, ata_host_intr() invokes ata_qc_complete(), and,
+ for PIO tasks, pio_task invokes ata_qc_complete(). In error
+ cases, packet_task may also complete commands.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ ata_qc_complete() does the following.
+ </para>
+
+ <orderedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ DMA memory is unmapped.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ ATA_QCFLAG_ACTIVE is clared from qc->flags.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ qc->complete_fn() callback is invoked. If the return value of
+ the callback is not zero. Completion is short circuited and
+ ata_qc_complete() returns.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ __ata_qc_complete() is called, which does
+ <orderedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ qc->flags is cleared to zero.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ ap->active_tag and qc->tag are poisoned.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ qc->waiting is claread & completed (in that order).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ qc is deallocated by clearing appropriate bit in ap->qactive.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </orderedlist>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </orderedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ So, it basically notifies upper layer and deallocates qc. One
+ exception is short-circuit path in #3 which is used by
+ atapi_qc_complete().
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ For all non-ATAPI commands, whether it fails or not, almost
+ the same code path is taken and very little error handling
+ takes place. A qc is completed with success status if it
+ succeeded, with failed status otherwise.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ However, failed ATAPI commands require more handling as
+ REQUEST SENSE is needed to acquire sense data. If an ATAPI
+ command fails, ata_qc_complete() is invoked with error status,
+ which in turn invokes atapi_qc_complete() via
+ qc->complete_fn() callback.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This makes atapi_qc_complete() set scmd->result to
+ SAM_STAT_CHECK_CONDITION, complete the scmd and return 1. As
+ the sense data is empty but scmd->result is CHECK CONDITION,
+ SCSI midlayer will invoke EH for the scmd, and returning 1
+ makes ata_qc_complete() to return without deallocating the qc.
+ This leads us to ata_scsi_error() with partially completed qc.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1><title>ata_scsi_error()</title>
+ <para>
+ ata_scsi_error() is the current transportt->eh_strategy_handler()
+ for libata. As discussed above, this will be entered in two
+ cases - timeout and ATAPI error completion. This function
+ calls low level libata driver's eng_timeout() callback, the
+ standard callback for which is ata_eng_timeout(). It checks
+ if a qc is active and calls ata_qc_timeout() on the qc if so.
+ Actual error handling occurs in ata_qc_timeout().
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If EH is invoked for timeout, ata_qc_timeout() stops BMDMA and
+ completes the qc. Note that as we're currently in EH, we
+ cannot call scsi_done. As described in SCSI EH doc, a
+ recovered scmd should be either retried with
+ scsi_queue_insert() or finished with scsi_finish_command().
+ Here, we override qc->scsidone with scsi_finish_command() and
+ calls ata_qc_complete().
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If EH is invoked due to a failed ATAPI qc, the qc here is
+ completed but not deallocated. The purpose of this
+ half-completion is to use the qc as place holder to make EH
+ code reach this place. This is a bit hackish, but it works.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Once control reaches here, the qc is deallocated by invoking
+ __ata_qc_complete() explicitly. Then, internal qc for REQUEST
+ SENSE is issued. Once sense data is acquired, scmd is
+ finished by directly invoking scsi_finish_command() on the
+ scmd. Note that as we already have completed and deallocated
+ the qc which was associated with the scmd, we don't need
+ to/cannot call ata_qc_complete() again.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1><title>Problems with the current EH</title>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Error representation is too crude. Currently any and all
+ error conditions are represented with ATA STATUS and ERROR
+ registers. Errors which aren't ATA device errors are treated
+ as ATA device errors by setting ATA_ERR bit. Better error
+ descriptor which can properly represent ATA and other
+ errors/exceptions is needed.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ When handling timeouts, no action is taken to make device
+ forget about the timed out command and ready for new commands.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ EH handling via ata_scsi_error() is not properly protected
+ from usual command processing. On EH entrance, the device is
+ not in quiescent state. Timed out commands may succeed or
+ fail any time. pio_task and atapi_task may still be running.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Too weak error recovery. Devices / controllers causing HSM
+ mismatch errors and other errors quite often require reset to
+ return to known state. Also, advanced error handling is
+ necessary to support features like NCQ and hotplug.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ ATA errors are directly handled in the interrupt handler and
+ PIO errors in pio_task. This is problematic for advanced
+ error handling for the following reasons.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ First, advanced error handling often requires context and
+ internal qc execution.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Second, even a simple failure (say, CRC error) needs
+ information gathering and could trigger complex error handling
+ (say, resetting & reconfiguring). Having multiple code
+ paths to gather information, enter EH and trigger actions
+ makes life painful.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Third, scattered EH code makes implementing low level drivers
+ difficult. Low level drivers override libata callbacks. If
+ EH is scattered over several places, each affected callbacks
+ should perform its part of error handling. This can be error
+ prone and painful.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </sect1>
+ </chapter>
+