[comp.sys.sun] changes to SCSI drivers from 3.4 to 4.0

mc%miranda.uucp@moc.jpl.nasa.gov (Mike Caplinger) (03/30/89)

I have a driver for a SCSI CDROM device that worked correctly under 3.4.
When I tried to recompile it under 4.0, it failed to compile because the
SCSI device unit block, struct scsi_unit in scsi.h, no longer has an
element struct  buf un_utab, which is described in a comment as "queue of
requests".  There have been a number of changes to the SCSI stuff, and I
was able to figure most of them out by reading include files, but nowhere
can I find a reference to the SCSI request queue.

Messing with the SCSI stuff has always been difficult, because Sun's "open
systems" policy apparently doesn't extend to the addition of new SCSI
devices -- there's no documentation I can find about the structure of how
SCSI devices work.  Note that the CDROM is not being treated as a block
device (only raw access is supported), but I still don't know enough about
the SCSI driver system internals to do the job.

Any help would be appreciated.  The only thing I need to know is where to
enqueue a SCSI I/O request for the generic SCSI driver code to find.

	thanks,
	Mike Caplinger, Ground Data Systems Scientist
	ASU/Caltech Mars Observer Camera Project
	mc@moc.jpl.nasa.gov

henry@uunet.uu.net (04/24/89)

>Messing with the SCSI stuff has always been difficult, because Sun's "open
>systems" policy apparently doesn't extend to the addition of new SCSI
>devices -- there's no documentation I can find about the structure of how
>SCSI devices work...

The fact is, Sun's "open systems" policy is a sham, a scam, and a swindle.
When you compare Sun to Mips -- which doesn't make 1/10th as much fuss
about "open systems" and is one hell of a lot more open about things like
the kernel and the hardware -- you quickly realize this.

I'm indebted to my frequent partner in crime and fellow Sun victim, Geoff
Collyer, for summing it up nicely:

	"`Open systems' means they want your wallet to open."

	Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
	uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu

ian@sq.sq.com (Ian Darwin) (05/10/89)

>Messing with the SCSI stuff has always been difficult, because Sun's "open
>systems" policy apparently doesn't extend to the addition of new SCSI
>devices -- there's no documentation I can find about the structure of how
>SCSI devices work...

[Henry's and Geoff's comments about "open systems for open wallets" deleted]

Funny you should raise this:

"As part of Sun's continuing efforts to enhance SunOS, SPARCstation 1
incorporates a new SCSI driver. This driver supports a more consistent set
of SCSI operations, thereby simplifying the addition of new SCSI devices
to the system. Equally important is the support for synchronous SCSI for
high-speed data transfers." -- from an article on the design of the 4/110
(SPARCstation 1, a name that puts me in mind of a spark-station), by
Bechtolsheim et al in Sun Technology, Spring 1989, page 53.

They talk about revised documentation too, but don't specifically mention
documenting the SCSI driver.