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
16 http://www.dandelion.com/Linux/.
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
30 http://www.linux.org and http://www.ssc.com/linux.
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
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
74 drivers have been available for this new Ultra SCSI product. Despite it's
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
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