X-Git-Url: http://git.onelab.eu/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=Documentation%2Fcciss.txt;h=15378422fc46562132b5748c63308c1ecd78b94e;hb=43bc926fffd92024b46cafaf7350d669ba9ca884;hp=d599beb9df8a7594ff5c1ee177945f45a0f33601;hpb=cee37fe97739d85991964371c1f3a745c00dd236;p=linux-2.6.git diff --git a/Documentation/cciss.txt b/Documentation/cciss.txt index d599beb9d..15378422f 100644 --- a/Documentation/cciss.txt +++ b/Documentation/cciss.txt @@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ This driver is known to work with the following cards: * SA P600 * SA P800 * SA E400 + * SA P400i + * SA E200 + * SA E200i If nodes are not already created in the /dev/cciss directory, run as root: @@ -130,3 +133,32 @@ 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 coommand, 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. +