Commit | Line | Data |
---|---|---|
1da177e4 LT |
1 | The BusLogic FlashPoint SCSI Host Adapters are now fully supported on Linux. |
2 | The upgrade program described below has been officially terminated effective | |
3 | 31 March 1997 since it is no longer needed. | |
4 | ||
5 | ||
6 | ||
7 | MYLEX INTRODUCES LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM SUPPORT FOR ITS | |
8 | BUSLOGIC FLASHPOINT LINE OF SCSI HOST ADAPTERS | |
9 | ||
10 | ||
11 | FREMONT, CA, -- October 8, 1996 -- Mylex Corporation has expanded Linux | |
12 | operating system support to its BusLogic brand of FlashPoint Ultra SCSI | |
13 | host adapters. All of BusLogic's other SCSI host adapters, including the | |
14 | MultiMaster line, currently support the Linux operating system. Linux | |
15 | drivers and information will be available on October 15th at | |
0ea6e611 | 16 | http://sourceforge.net/projects/dandelion/. |
1da177e4 LT |
17 | |
18 | "Mylex is committed to supporting the Linux community," says Peter Shambora, | |
19 | vice president of marketing for Mylex. "We have supported Linux driver | |
20 | development and provided technical support for our host adapters for several | |
21 | years, and are pleased to now make our FlashPoint products available to this | |
22 | user base." | |
23 | ||
24 | The Linux Operating System | |
25 | ||
26 | Linux is a freely-distributed implementation of UNIX for Intel x86, Sun | |
27 | SPARC, SGI MIPS, Motorola 68k, Digital Alpha AXP and Motorola PowerPC | |
28 | machines. It supports a wide range of software, including the X Window | |
29 | System, Emacs, and TCP/IP networking. Further information is available at | |
0ea6e611 | 30 | http://www.linux.org and http://www.ssc.com/. |
1da177e4 LT |
31 | |
32 | FlashPoint Host Adapters | |
33 | ||
34 | The FlashPoint family of Ultra SCSI host adapters, designed for workstation | |
35 | and file server environments, are available in narrow, wide, dual channel, | |
36 | and dual channel wide versions. These adapters feature SeqEngine | |
37 | automation technology, which minimizes SCSI command overhead and reduces | |
38 | the number of interrupts generated to the CPU. | |
39 | ||
40 | About Mylex | |
41 | ||
42 | Mylex Corporation (NASDAQ/NM SYMBOL: MYLX), founded in 1983, is a leading | |
43 | producer of RAID technology and network management products. The company | |
44 | produces high performance disk array (RAID) controllers, and complementary | |
45 | computer products for network servers, mass storage systems, workstations | |
46 | and system boards. Through its wide range of RAID controllers and its | |
47 | BusLogic line of Ultra SCSI host adapter products, Mylex provides enabling | |
48 | intelligent I/O technologies that increase network management control, | |
49 | enhance CPU utilization, optimize I/O performance, and ensure data security | |
50 | and availability. Products are sold globally through a network of OEMs, | |
51 | major distributors, VARs, and system integrators. Mylex Corporation is | |
52 | headquartered at 34551 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont, CA. | |
53 | ||
54 | #### | |
55 | ||
56 | Contact: | |
57 | ||
58 | Peter Shambora | |
59 | Vice President of Marketing | |
60 | Mylex Corp. | |
61 | 510/796-6100 | |
62 | peters@mylex.com | |
63 | \f | |
64 | ANNOUNCEMENT | |
65 | BusLogic FlashPoint LT/BT-948 Upgrade Program | |
66 | 1 February 1996 | |
67 | ||
68 | ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT | |
69 | BusLogic FlashPoint LW/BT-958 Upgrade Program | |
70 | 14 June 1996 | |
71 | ||
72 | Ever since its introduction last October, the BusLogic FlashPoint LT has | |
73 | been problematic for members of the Linux community, in that no Linux | |
a33f3224 | 74 | drivers have been available for this new Ultra SCSI product. Despite its |
1da177e4 LT |
75 | officially being positioned as a desktop workstation product, and not being |
76 | particularly well suited for a high performance multitasking operating | |
77 | system like Linux, the FlashPoint LT has been touted by computer system | |
78 | vendors as the latest thing, and has been sold even on many of their high | |
79 | end systems, to the exclusion of the older MultiMaster products. This has | |
80 | caused grief for many people who inadvertently purchased a system expecting | |
81 | that all BusLogic SCSI Host Adapters were supported by Linux, only to | |
82 | discover that the FlashPoint was not supported and would not be for quite | |
83 | some time, if ever. | |
84 | ||
85 | After this problem was identified, BusLogic contacted its major OEM | |
86 | customers to make sure the BT-946C/956C MultiMaster cards would still be | |
87 | made available, and that Linux users who mistakenly ordered systems with | |
88 | the FlashPoint would be able to upgrade to the BT-946C. While this helped | |
89 | many purchasers of new systems, it was only a partial solution to the | |
90 | overall problem of FlashPoint support for Linux users. It did nothing to | |
91 | assist the people who initially purchased a FlashPoint for a supported | |
92 | operating system and then later decided to run Linux, or those who had | |
93 | ended up with a FlashPoint LT, believing it was supported, and were unable | |
94 | to return it. | |
95 | ||
96 | In the middle of December, I asked to meet with BusLogic's senior | |
97 | management to discuss the issues related to Linux and free software support | |
98 | for the FlashPoint. Rumors of varying accuracy had been circulating | |
99 | publicly about BusLogic's attitude toward the Linux community, and I felt | |
100 | it was best that these issues be addressed directly. I sent an email | |
101 | message after 11pm one evening, and the meeting took place the next | |
102 | afternoon. Unfortunately, corporate wheels sometimes grind slowly, | |
103 | especially when a company is being acquired, and so it's taken until now | |
104 | before the details were completely determined and a public statement could | |
105 | be made. | |
106 | ||
107 | BusLogic is not prepared at this time to release the information necessary | |
108 | for third parties to write drivers for the FlashPoint. The only existing | |
109 | FlashPoint drivers have been written directly by BusLogic Engineering, and | |
110 | there is no FlashPoint documentation sufficiently detailed to allow outside | |
111 | developers to write a driver without substantial assistance. While there | |
112 | are people at BusLogic who would rather not release the details of the | |
113 | FlashPoint architecture at all, that debate has not yet been settled either | |
114 | way. In any event, even if documentation were available today it would | |
115 | take quite a while for a usable driver to be written, especially since I'm | |
116 | not convinced that the effort required would be worthwhile. | |
117 | ||
118 | However, BusLogic does remain committed to providing a high performance | |
119 | SCSI solution for the Linux community, and does not want to see anyone left | |
120 | unable to run Linux because they have a Flashpoint LT. Therefore, BusLogic | |
121 | has put in place a direct upgrade program to allow any Linux user worldwide | |
122 | to trade in their FlashPoint LT for the new BT-948 MultiMaster PCI Ultra | |
123 | SCSI Host Adapter. The BT-948 is the Ultra SCSI successor to the BT-946C | |
124 | and has all the best features of both the BT-946C and FlashPoint LT, | |
125 | including smart termination and a flash PROM for easy firmware updates, and | |
126 | is of course compatible with the present Linux driver. The price for this | |
127 | upgrade has been set at US $45 plus shipping and handling, and the upgrade | |
128 | program will be administered through BusLogic Technical Support, which can | |
129 | be reached by electronic mail at techsup@buslogic.com, by Voice at +1 408 | |
130 | 654-0760, or by FAX at +1 408 492-1542. | |
131 | ||
132 | As of 14 June 1996, the original BusLogic FlashPoint LT to BT-948 upgrade | |
133 | program has now been extended to encompass the FlashPoint LW Wide Ultra | |
134 | SCSI Host Adapter. Any Linux user worldwide may trade in their FlashPoint | |
135 | LW (BT-950) for a BT-958 MultiMaster PCI Ultra SCSI Host Adapter. The | |
136 | price for this upgrade has been set at US $65 plus shipping and handling. | |
137 | ||
138 | I was a beta test site for the BT-948/958, and versions 1.2.1 and 1.3.1 of | |
139 | my BusLogic driver already included latent support for the BT-948/958. | |
140 | Additional cosmetic support for the Ultra SCSI MultiMaster cards was added | |
141 | subsequent releases. As a result of this cooperative testing process, | |
142 | several firmware bugs were found and corrected. My heavily loaded Linux | |
143 | test system provided an ideal environment for testing error recovery | |
144 | processes that are much more rarely exercised in production systems, but | |
145 | are crucial to overall system stability. It was especially convenient | |
146 | being able to work directly with their firmware engineer in demonstrating | |
147 | the problems under control of the firmware debugging environment; things | |
148 | sure have come a long way since the last time I worked on firmware for an | |
149 | embedded system. I am presently working on some performance testing and | |
150 | expect to have some data to report in the not too distant future. | |
151 | ||
152 | BusLogic asked me to send this announcement since a large percentage of the | |
153 | questions regarding support for the FlashPoint have either been sent to me | |
154 | directly via email, or have appeared in the Linux newsgroups in which I | |
155 | participate. To summarize, BusLogic is offering Linux users an upgrade | |
156 | from the unsupported FlashPoint LT (BT-930) to the supported BT-948 for US | |
157 | $45 plus shipping and handling, or from the unsupported FlashPoint LW | |
158 | (BT-950) to the supported BT-958 for $65 plus shipping and handling. | |
159 | Contact BusLogic Technical Support at techsup@buslogic.com or +1 408 | |
160 | 654-0760 to take advantage of their offer. | |
161 | ||
162 | Leonard N. Zubkoff | |
163 | lnz@dandelion.com |