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1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" []>
4
5<book id="libataDevGuide">
6 <bookinfo>
7 <title>libATA Developer's Guide</title>
8
9 <authorgroup>
10 <author>
11 <firstname>Jeff</firstname>
12 <surname>Garzik</surname>
13 </author>
14 </authorgroup>
15
16 <copyright>
780a87f7 17 <year>2003-2005</year>
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18 <holder>Jeff Garzik</holder>
19 </copyright>
20
21 <legalnotice>
22 <para>
23 The contents of this file are subject to the Open
24 Software License version 1.1 that can be found at
25 <ulink url="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/osl-1.1.txt">http://www.opensource.org/licenses/osl-1.1.txt</ulink> and is included herein
26 by reference.
27 </para>
28
29 <para>
30 Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the terms
31 of the GNU General Public License version 2 (the "GPL") as distributed
32 in the kernel source COPYING file, in which case the provisions of
33 the GPL are applicable instead of the above. If you wish to allow
34 the use of your version of this file only under the terms of the
35 GPL and not to allow others to use your version of this file under
36 the OSL, indicate your decision by deleting the provisions above and
37 replace them with the notice and other provisions required by the GPL.
38 If you do not delete the provisions above, a recipient may use your
39 version of this file under either the OSL or the GPL.
40 </para>
41
42 </legalnotice>
43 </bookinfo>
44
45<toc></toc>
46
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47 <chapter id="libataIntroduction">
48 <title>Introduction</title>
49 <para>
50 libATA is a library used inside the Linux kernel to support ATA host
51 controllers and devices. libATA provides an ATA driver API, class
52 transports for ATA and ATAPI devices, and SCSI&lt;-&gt;ATA translation
53 for ATA devices according to the T10 SAT specification.
54 </para>
55 <para>
56 This Guide documents the libATA driver API, library functions, library
57 internals, and a couple sample ATA low-level drivers.
58 </para>
59 </chapter>
60
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61 <chapter id="libataDriverApi">
62 <title>libata Driver API</title>
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63 <para>
64 struct ata_port_operations is defined for every low-level libata
65 hardware driver, and it controls how the low-level driver
66 interfaces with the ATA and SCSI layers.
67 </para>
68 <para>
69 FIS-based drivers will hook into the system with ->qc_prep() and
70 ->qc_issue() high-level hooks. Hardware which behaves in a manner
71 similar to PCI IDE hardware may utilize several generic helpers,
72 defining at a bare minimum the bus I/O addresses of the ATA shadow
73 register blocks.
74 </para>
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75 <sect1>
76 <title>struct ata_port_operations</title>
77
92bab26b 78 <sect2><title>Disable ATA port</title>
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79 <programlisting>
80void (*port_disable) (struct ata_port *);
81 </programlisting>
82
83 <para>
84 Called from ata_bus_probe() and ata_bus_reset() error paths,
85 as well as when unregistering from the SCSI module (rmmod, hot
86 unplug).
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87 This function should do whatever needs to be done to take the
88 port out of use. In most cases, ata_port_disable() can be used
89 as this hook.
90 </para>
91 <para>
92 Called from ata_bus_probe() on a failed probe.
93 Called from ata_bus_reset() on a failed bus reset.
94 Called from ata_scsi_release().
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95 </para>
96
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97 </sect2>
98
99 <sect2><title>Post-IDENTIFY device configuration</title>
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100 <programlisting>
101void (*dev_config) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
102 </programlisting>
103
104 <para>
105 Called after IDENTIFY [PACKET] DEVICE is issued to each device
106 found. Typically used to apply device-specific fixups prior to
107 issue of SET FEATURES - XFER MODE, and prior to operation.
108 </para>
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109 <para>
110 Called by ata_device_add() after ata_dev_identify() determines
111 a device is present.
112 </para>
113 <para>
114 This entry may be specified as NULL in ata_port_operations.
115 </para>
1da177e4 116
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117 </sect2>
118
119 <sect2><title>Set PIO/DMA mode</title>
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120 <programlisting>
121void (*set_piomode) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
122void (*set_dmamode) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
123void (*post_set_mode) (struct ata_port *ap);
124 </programlisting>
125
126 <para>
127 Hooks called prior to the issue of SET FEATURES - XFER MODE
128 command. dev->pio_mode is guaranteed to be valid when
129 ->set_piomode() is called, and dev->dma_mode is guaranteed to be
130 valid when ->set_dmamode() is called. ->post_set_mode() is
131 called unconditionally, after the SET FEATURES - XFER MODE
132 command completes successfully.
133 </para>
134
135 <para>
136 ->set_piomode() is always called (if present), but
137 ->set_dma_mode() is only called if DMA is possible.
138 </para>
139
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140 </sect2>
141
142 <sect2><title>Taskfile read/write</title>
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143 <programlisting>
144void (*tf_load) (struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
145void (*tf_read) (struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
146 </programlisting>
147
148 <para>
149 ->tf_load() is called to load the given taskfile into hardware
150 registers / DMA buffers. ->tf_read() is called to read the
151 hardware registers / DMA buffers, to obtain the current set of
152 taskfile register values.
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153 Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware (PIO or MMIO) use
154 ata_tf_load() and ata_tf_read() for these hooks.
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155 </para>
156
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157 </sect2>
158
159 <sect2><title>ATA command execute</title>
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160 <programlisting>
161void (*exec_command)(struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
162 </programlisting>
163
164 <para>
165 causes an ATA command, previously loaded with
166 ->tf_load(), to be initiated in hardware.
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167 Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use ata_exec_command()
168 for this hook.
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169 </para>
170
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171 </sect2>
172
173 <sect2><title>Per-cmd ATAPI DMA capabilities filter</title>
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174 <programlisting>
175int (*check_atapi_dma) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
176 </programlisting>
177
178 <para>
179Allow low-level driver to filter ATA PACKET commands, returning a status
180indicating whether or not it is OK to use DMA for the supplied PACKET
181command.
182 </para>
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183 <para>
184 This hook may be specified as NULL, in which case libata will
185 assume that atapi dma can be supported.
186 </para>
780a87f7 187
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188 </sect2>
189
190 <sect2><title>Read specific ATA shadow registers</title>
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191 <programlisting>
192u8 (*check_status)(struct ata_port *ap);
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193u8 (*check_altstatus)(struct ata_port *ap);
194u8 (*check_err)(struct ata_port *ap);
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195 </programlisting>
196
197 <para>
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198 Reads the Status/AltStatus/Error ATA shadow register from
199 hardware. On some hardware, reading the Status register has
200 the side effect of clearing the interrupt condition.
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201 Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use
202 ata_check_status() for this hook.
203 </para>
204 <para>
205 Note that because this is called from ata_device_add(), at
206 least a dummy function that clears device interrupts must be
207 provided for all drivers, even if the controller doesn't
208 actually have a taskfile status register.
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209 </para>
210
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211 </sect2>
212
213 <sect2><title>Select ATA device on bus</title>
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214 <programlisting>
215void (*dev_select)(struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int device);
216 </programlisting>
217
218 <para>
219 Issues the low-level hardware command(s) that causes one of N
220 hardware devices to be considered 'selected' (active and
780a87f7 221 available for use) on the ATA bus. This generally has no
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222 meaning on FIS-based devices.
223 </para>
224 <para>
225 Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use
226 ata_std_dev_select() for this hook. Controllers which do not
227 support second drives on a port (such as SATA contollers) will
228 use ata_noop_dev_select().
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229 </para>
230
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231 </sect2>
232
233 <sect2><title>Reset ATA bus</title>
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234 <programlisting>
235void (*phy_reset) (struct ata_port *ap);
236 </programlisting>
237
238 <para>
239 The very first step in the probe phase. Actions vary depending
240 on the bus type, typically. After waking up the device and probing
241 for device presence (PATA and SATA), typically a soft reset
242 (SRST) will be performed. Drivers typically use the helper
243 functions ata_bus_reset() or sata_phy_reset() for this hook.
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244 Many SATA drivers use sata_phy_reset() or call it from within
245 their own phy_reset() functions.
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246 </para>
247
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248 </sect2>
249
250 <sect2><title>Control PCI IDE BMDMA engine</title>
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251 <programlisting>
252void (*bmdma_setup) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
253void (*bmdma_start) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
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254void (*bmdma_stop) (struct ata_port *ap);
255u8 (*bmdma_status) (struct ata_port *ap);
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256 </programlisting>
257
258 <para>
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259When setting up an IDE BMDMA transaction, these hooks arm
260(->bmdma_setup), fire (->bmdma_start), and halt (->bmdma_stop)
261the hardware's DMA engine. ->bmdma_status is used to read the standard
262PCI IDE DMA Status register.
263 </para>
264
265 <para>
266These hooks are typically either no-ops, or simply not implemented, in
267FIS-based drivers.
1da177e4 268 </para>
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269 <para>
270Most legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_setup() for the bmdma_setup()
271hook. ata_bmdma_setup() will write the pointer to the PRD table to
272the IDE PRD Table Address register, enable DMA in the DMA Command
273register, and call exec_command() to begin the transfer.
274 </para>
275 <para>
276Most legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_start() for the bmdma_start()
277hook. ata_bmdma_start() will write the ATA_DMA_START flag to the DMA
278Command register.
279 </para>
280 <para>
281Many legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_stop() for the bmdma_stop()
282hook. ata_bmdma_stop() clears the ATA_DMA_START flag in the DMA
283command register.
284 </para>
285 <para>
286Many legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_status() as the bmdma_status() hook.
287 </para>
1da177e4 288
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289 </sect2>
290
291 <sect2><title>High-level taskfile hooks</title>
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292 <programlisting>
293void (*qc_prep) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
294int (*qc_issue) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
295 </programlisting>
296
297 <para>
298 Higher-level hooks, these two hooks can potentially supercede
299 several of the above taskfile/DMA engine hooks. ->qc_prep is
300 called after the buffers have been DMA-mapped, and is typically
301 used to populate the hardware's DMA scatter-gather table.
302 Most drivers use the standard ata_qc_prep() helper function, but
303 more advanced drivers roll their own.
304 </para>
305 <para>
306 ->qc_issue is used to make a command active, once the hardware
307 and S/G tables have been prepared. IDE BMDMA drivers use the
308 helper function ata_qc_issue_prot() for taskfile protocol-based
780a87f7 309 dispatch. More advanced drivers implement their own ->qc_issue.
1da177e4 310 </para>
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311 <para>
312 ata_qc_issue_prot() calls ->tf_load(), ->bmdma_setup(), and
313 ->bmdma_start() as necessary to initiate a transfer.
314 </para>
1da177e4 315
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316 </sect2>
317
318 <sect2><title>Timeout (error) handling</title>
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319 <programlisting>
320void (*eng_timeout) (struct ata_port *ap);
321 </programlisting>
322
323 <para>
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324This is a high level error handling function, called from the
325error handling thread, when a command times out. Most newer
326hardware will implement its own error handling code here. IDE BMDMA
327drivers may use the helper function ata_eng_timeout().
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328 </para>
329
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330 </sect2>
331
332 <sect2><title>Hardware interrupt handling</title>
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333 <programlisting>
334irqreturn_t (*irq_handler)(int, void *, struct pt_regs *);
335void (*irq_clear) (struct ata_port *);
336 </programlisting>
337
338 <para>
339 ->irq_handler is the interrupt handling routine registered with
340 the system, by libata. ->irq_clear is called during probe just
341 before the interrupt handler is registered, to be sure hardware
342 is quiet.
343 </para>
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344 <para>
345 The second argument, dev_instance, should be cast to a pointer
346 to struct ata_host_set.
347 </para>
348 <para>
349 Most legacy IDE drivers use ata_interrupt() for the
350 irq_handler hook, which scans all ports in the host_set,
351 determines which queued command was active (if any), and calls
352 ata_host_intr(ap,qc).
353 </para>
354 <para>
355 Most legacy IDE drivers use ata_bmdma_irq_clear() for the
356 irq_clear() hook, which simply clears the interrupt and error
357 flags in the DMA status register.
358 </para>
1da177e4 359
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360 </sect2>
361
362 <sect2><title>SATA phy read/write</title>
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363 <programlisting>
364u32 (*scr_read) (struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int sc_reg);
365void (*scr_write) (struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int sc_reg,
366 u32 val);
367 </programlisting>
368
369 <para>
370 Read and write standard SATA phy registers. Currently only used
371 if ->phy_reset hook called the sata_phy_reset() helper function.
8b2af8f0 372 sc_reg is one of SCR_STATUS, SCR_CONTROL, SCR_ERROR, or SCR_ACTIVE.
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373 </para>
374
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375 </sect2>
376
377 <sect2><title>Init and shutdown</title>
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378 <programlisting>
379int (*port_start) (struct ata_port *ap);
380void (*port_stop) (struct ata_port *ap);
381void (*host_stop) (struct ata_host_set *host_set);
382 </programlisting>
383
384 <para>
385 ->port_start() is called just after the data structures for each
386 port are initialized. Typically this is used to alloc per-port
387 DMA buffers / tables / rings, enable DMA engines, and similar
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388 tasks. Some drivers also use this entry point as a chance to
389 allocate driver-private memory for ap->private_data.
390 </para>
391 <para>
392 Many drivers use ata_port_start() as this hook or call
393 it from their own port_start() hooks. ata_port_start()
394 allocates space for a legacy IDE PRD table and returns.
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395 </para>
396 <para>
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397 ->port_stop() is called after ->host_stop(). It's sole function
398 is to release DMA/memory resources, now that they are no longer
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399 actively being used. Many drivers also free driver-private
400 data from port at this time.
401 </para>
402 <para>
403 Many drivers use ata_port_stop() as this hook, which frees the
404 PRD table.
1da177e4 405 </para>
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406 <para>
407 ->host_stop() is called after all ->port_stop() calls
408have completed. The hook must finalize hardware shutdown, release DMA
409and other resources, etc.
8b2af8f0 410 This hook may be specified as NULL, in which case it is not called.
780a87f7 411 </para>
1da177e4 412
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413 </sect2>
414
1da177e4 415 </sect1>
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416 <sect1>
417 <title>Error handling</title>
418
419 <para>
420 This chapter describes how errors are handled under libata.
421 Readers are advised to read SCSI EH
422 (Documentation/scsi/scsi_eh.txt) and ATA exceptions doc first.
423 </para>
424
425 <sect2><title>Origins of commands</title>
426 <para>
427 In libata, a command is represented with struct ata_queued_cmd
428 or qc. qc's are preallocated during port initialization and
429 repetitively used for command executions. Currently only one
430 qc is allocated per port but yet-to-be-merged NCQ branch
431 allocates one for each tag and maps each qc to NCQ tag 1-to-1.
432 </para>
433 <para>
434 libata commands can originate from two sources - libata itself
435 and SCSI midlayer. libata internal commands are used for
436 initialization and error handling. All normal blk requests
437 and commands for SCSI emulation are passed as SCSI commands
438 through queuecommand callback of SCSI host template.
439 </para>
440 </sect2>
441
442 <sect2><title>How commands are issued</title>
443
444 <variablelist>
445
446 <varlistentry><term>Internal commands</term>
447 <listitem>
448 <para>
449 First, qc is allocated and initialized using
450 ata_qc_new_init(). Although ata_qc_new_init() doesn't
451 implement any wait or retry mechanism when qc is not
452 available, internal commands are currently issued only during
453 initialization and error recovery, so no other command is
454 active and allocation is guaranteed to succeed.
455 </para>
456 <para>
457 Once allocated qc's taskfile is initialized for the command to
458 be executed. qc currently has two mechanisms to notify
459 completion. One is via qc->complete_fn() callback and the
460 other is completion qc->waiting. qc->complete_fn() callback
461 is the asynchronous path used by normal SCSI translated
462 commands and qc->waiting is the synchronous (issuer sleeps in
463 process context) path used by internal commands.
464 </para>
465 <para>
466 Once initialization is complete, host_set lock is acquired
467 and the qc is issued.
468 </para>
469 </listitem>
470 </varlistentry>
471
472 <varlistentry><term>SCSI commands</term>
473 <listitem>
474 <para>
475 All libata drivers use ata_scsi_queuecmd() as
476 hostt->queuecommand callback. scmds can either be simulated
477 or translated. No qc is involved in processing a simulated
478 scmd. The result is computed right away and the scmd is
479 completed.
480 </para>
481 <para>
482 For a translated scmd, ata_qc_new_init() is invoked to
483 allocate a qc and the scmd is translated into the qc. SCSI
484 midlayer's completion notification function pointer is stored
485 into qc->scsidone.
486 </para>
487 <para>
488 qc->complete_fn() callback is used for completion
489 notification. ATA commands use ata_scsi_qc_complete() while
490 ATAPI commands use atapi_qc_complete(). Both functions end up
491 calling qc->scsidone to notify upper layer when the qc is
492 finished. After translation is completed, the qc is issued
493 with ata_qc_issue().
494 </para>
495 <para>
496 Note that SCSI midlayer invokes hostt->queuecommand while
497 holding host_set lock, so all above occur while holding
498 host_set lock.
499 </para>
500 </listitem>
501 </varlistentry>
502
503 </variablelist>
504 </sect2>
505
506 <sect2><title>How commands are processed</title>
507 <para>
508 Depending on which protocol and which controller are used,
509 commands are processed differently. For the purpose of
510 discussion, a controller which uses taskfile interface and all
511 standard callbacks is assumed.
512 </para>
513 <para>
514 Currently 6 ATA command protocols are used. They can be
515 sorted into the following four categories according to how
516 they are processed.
517 </para>
518
519 <variablelist>
520 <varlistentry><term>ATA NO DATA or DMA</term>
521 <listitem>
522 <para>
523 ATA_PROT_NODATA and ATA_PROT_DMA fall into this category.
524 These types of commands don't require any software
525 intervention once issued. Device will raise interrupt on
526 completion.
527 </para>
528 </listitem>
529 </varlistentry>
530
531 <varlistentry><term>ATA PIO</term>
532 <listitem>
533 <para>
534 ATA_PROT_PIO is in this category. libata currently
535 implements PIO with polling. ATA_NIEN bit is set to turn
536 off interrupt and pio_task on ata_wq performs polling and
537 IO.
538 </para>
539 </listitem>
540 </varlistentry>
541
542 <varlistentry><term>ATAPI NODATA or DMA</term>
543 <listitem>
544 <para>
545 ATA_PROT_ATAPI_NODATA and ATA_PROT_ATAPI_DMA are in this
546 category. packet_task is used to poll BSY bit after
547 issuing PACKET command. Once BSY is turned off by the
548 device, packet_task transfers CDB and hands off processing
549 to interrupt handler.
550 </para>
551 </listitem>
552 </varlistentry>
553
554 <varlistentry><term>ATAPI PIO</term>
555 <listitem>
556 <para>
557 ATA_PROT_ATAPI is in this category. ATA_NIEN bit is set
558 and, as in ATAPI NODATA or DMA, packet_task submits cdb.
559 However, after submitting cdb, further processing (data
560 transfer) is handed off to pio_task.
561 </para>
562 </listitem>
563 </varlistentry>
564 </variablelist>
565 </sect2>
566
567 <sect2><title>How commands are completed</title>
568 <para>
569 Once issued, all qc's are either completed with
570 ata_qc_complete() or time out. For commands which are handled
571 by interrupts, ata_host_intr() invokes ata_qc_complete(), and,
572 for PIO tasks, pio_task invokes ata_qc_complete(). In error
573 cases, packet_task may also complete commands.
574 </para>
575 <para>
576 ata_qc_complete() does the following.
577 </para>
578
579 <orderedlist>
580
581 <listitem>
582 <para>
583 DMA memory is unmapped.
584 </para>
585 </listitem>
586
587 <listitem>
588 <para>
589 ATA_QCFLAG_ACTIVE is clared from qc->flags.
590 </para>
591 </listitem>
592
593 <listitem>
594 <para>
595 qc->complete_fn() callback is invoked. If the return value of
596 the callback is not zero. Completion is short circuited and
597 ata_qc_complete() returns.
598 </para>
599 </listitem>
600
601 <listitem>
602 <para>
603 __ata_qc_complete() is called, which does
604 <orderedlist>
605
606 <listitem>
607 <para>
608 qc->flags is cleared to zero.
609 </para>
610 </listitem>
611
612 <listitem>
613 <para>
614 ap->active_tag and qc->tag are poisoned.
615 </para>
616 </listitem>
617
618 <listitem>
619 <para>
620 qc->waiting is claread &amp; completed (in that order).
621 </para>
622 </listitem>
623
624 <listitem>
625 <para>
626 qc is deallocated by clearing appropriate bit in ap->qactive.
627 </para>
628 </listitem>
629
630 </orderedlist>
631 </para>
632 </listitem>
633
634 </orderedlist>
635
636 <para>
637 So, it basically notifies upper layer and deallocates qc. One
638 exception is short-circuit path in #3 which is used by
639 atapi_qc_complete().
640 </para>
641 <para>
642 For all non-ATAPI commands, whether it fails or not, almost
643 the same code path is taken and very little error handling
644 takes place. A qc is completed with success status if it
645 succeeded, with failed status otherwise.
646 </para>
647 <para>
648 However, failed ATAPI commands require more handling as
649 REQUEST SENSE is needed to acquire sense data. If an ATAPI
650 command fails, ata_qc_complete() is invoked with error status,
651 which in turn invokes atapi_qc_complete() via
652 qc->complete_fn() callback.
653 </para>
654 <para>
655 This makes atapi_qc_complete() set scmd->result to
656 SAM_STAT_CHECK_CONDITION, complete the scmd and return 1. As
657 the sense data is empty but scmd->result is CHECK CONDITION,
658 SCSI midlayer will invoke EH for the scmd, and returning 1
659 makes ata_qc_complete() to return without deallocating the qc.
660 This leads us to ata_scsi_error() with partially completed qc.
661 </para>
662
663 </sect2>
664
665 <sect2><title>ata_scsi_error()</title>
666 <para>
667 ata_scsi_error() is the current hostt->eh_strategy_handler()
668 for libata. As discussed above, this will be entered in two
669 cases - timeout and ATAPI error completion. This function
670 calls low level libata driver's eng_timeout() callback, the
671 standard callback for which is ata_eng_timeout(). It checks
672 if a qc is active and calls ata_qc_timeout() on the qc if so.
673 Actual error handling occurs in ata_qc_timeout().
674 </para>
675 <para>
676 If EH is invoked for timeout, ata_qc_timeout() stops BMDMA and
677 completes the qc. Note that as we're currently in EH, we
678 cannot call scsi_done. As described in SCSI EH doc, a
679 recovered scmd should be either retried with
680 scsi_queue_insert() or finished with scsi_finish_command().
681 Here, we override qc->scsidone with scsi_finish_command() and
682 calls ata_qc_complete().
683 </para>
684 <para>
685 If EH is invoked due to a failed ATAPI qc, the qc here is
686 completed but not deallocated. The purpose of this
687 half-completion is to use the qc as place holder to make EH
688 code reach this place. This is a bit hackish, but it works.
689 </para>
690 <para>
691 Once control reaches here, the qc is deallocated by invoking
692 __ata_qc_complete() explicitly. Then, internal qc for REQUEST
693 SENSE is issued. Once sense data is acquired, scmd is
694 finished by directly invoking scsi_finish_command() on the
695 scmd. Note that as we already have completed and deallocated
696 the qc which was associated with the scmd, we don't need
697 to/cannot call ata_qc_complete() again.
698 </para>
699
700 </sect2>
701
702 <sect2><title>Problems with the current EH</title>
703
704 <itemizedlist>
705
706 <listitem>
707 <para>
708 Error representation is too crude. Currently any and all
709 error conditions are represented with ATA STATUS and ERROR
710 registers. Errors which aren't ATA device errors are treated
711 as ATA device errors by setting ATA_ERR bit. Better error
712 descriptor which can properly represent ATA and other
713 errors/exceptions is needed.
714 </para>
715 </listitem>
716
717 <listitem>
718 <para>
719 When handling timeouts, no action is taken to make device
720 forget about the timed out command and ready for new commands.
721 </para>
722 </listitem>
723
724 <listitem>
725 <para>
726 EH handling via ata_scsi_error() is not properly protected
727 from usual command processing. On EH entrance, the device is
728 not in quiescent state. Timed out commands may succeed or
729 fail any time. pio_task and atapi_task may still be running.
730 </para>
731 </listitem>
732
733 <listitem>
734 <para>
735 Too weak error recovery. Devices / controllers causing HSM
736 mismatch errors and other errors quite often require reset to
737 return to known state. Also, advanced error handling is
738 necessary to support features like NCQ and hotplug.
739 </para>
740 </listitem>
741
742 <listitem>
743 <para>
744 ATA errors are directly handled in the interrupt handler and
745 PIO errors in pio_task. This is problematic for advanced
746 error handling for the following reasons.
747 </para>
748 <para>
749 First, advanced error handling often requires context and
750 internal qc execution.
751 </para>
752 <para>
753 Second, even a simple failure (say, CRC error) needs
754 information gathering and could trigger complex error handling
755 (say, resetting &amp; reconfiguring). Having multiple code
756 paths to gather information, enter EH and trigger actions
757 makes life painful.
758 </para>
759 <para>
760 Third, scattered EH code makes implementing low level drivers
761 difficult. Low level drivers override libata callbacks. If
762 EH is scattered over several places, each affected callbacks
763 should perform its part of error handling. This can be error
764 prone and painful.
765 </para>
766 </listitem>
767
768 </itemizedlist>
769 </sect2>
770
771 </sect1>
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772 </chapter>
773
774 <chapter id="libataExt">
775 <title>libata Library</title>
776!Edrivers/scsi/libata-core.c
777 </chapter>
778
779 <chapter id="libataInt">
780 <title>libata Core Internals</title>
781!Idrivers/scsi/libata-core.c
782 </chapter>
783
784 <chapter id="libataScsiInt">
785 <title>libata SCSI translation/emulation</title>
786!Edrivers/scsi/libata-scsi.c
787!Idrivers/scsi/libata-scsi.c
788 </chapter>
789
790 <chapter id="PiixInt">
791 <title>ata_piix Internals</title>
792!Idrivers/scsi/ata_piix.c
793 </chapter>
794
795 <chapter id="SILInt">
796 <title>sata_sil Internals</title>
797!Idrivers/scsi/sata_sil.c
798 </chapter>
799
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800 <chapter id="libataThanks">
801 <title>Thanks</title>
802 <para>
803 The bulk of the ATA knowledge comes thanks to long conversations with
804 Andre Hedrick (www.linux-ide.org), and long hours pondering the ATA
805 and SCSI specifications.
806 </para>
807 <para>
808 Thanks to Alan Cox for pointing out similarities
809 between SATA and SCSI, and in general for motivation to hack on
810 libata.
811 </para>
812 <para>
813 libata's device detection
814 method, ata_pio_devchk, and in general all the early probing was
815 based on extensive study of Hale Landis's probe/reset code in his
816 ATADRVR driver (www.ata-atapi.com).
817 </para>
818 </chapter>
819
1da177e4 820</book>