1 files changed, 966 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/drivers/char/ftape/RELEASE-NOTES b/drivers/char/ftape/RELEASE-NOTES
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..03799dbc05a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/char/ftape/RELEASE-NOTES
@@ -0,0 +1,966 @@
+Hey, Emacs, we're -*-Text-*- mode!
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.04d 25/11/97 =====
+- The correct pre-processor statement for "else if" is "#elif" not
+  "elsif".
+- Need to call zft_reset_position() when overwriting cartridges
+  previously written with ftape-2.x, sftape, or ancient
+  (pre-ftape-3.x) versions of zftape.
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.04c 16/11/97 =====
+- fdc_probe() was calling DUMPREGS with a result length of "1" which
+  was just fine. Undo previous change.
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.04b 14/11/97 =====
+- patches/2.x.x/floppy.c.diff was somewhat broken, releasing i/o
+  regions it never had allocated.
+- fdc_probe() was calling DUMPREGS with a result length of "1" instead
+  of "10"
+- Writing deleted data marks if the first segents on track zero are
+  should work now.
+- ftformat should now be able to handle those cases where the tape
+  drive sets the read only status bit (QIC-40/80 cartridges with
+  QIC-3010/3020 tape drives) because the header segment is damaged.
+- the MTIOCFTCMD ioctl may now be issued by the superuser ONLY.
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.04a 12/11/97 =====
+- Fix an "infinite loop can't be killed by signal" bug in
+  ftape_get_drive_status(). Only relevant when trying to access
+  buggy/misconfigured hardware
+- Try to compensate a bug in the HP Colorado T3000's firmware: it
+  doesn't set the write protect bit for QIC80/QIC40 cartridges.
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.04 06/11/97 =====
+- If positioning with fast seeking fails fall back to a slow seek
+  before giving up.
+- (nearly) no retries on "no data errors" when verifying after
+  formatting. Improved tuning of the bad sector map after formatting.
+- the directory layout has changed again to allow for easier kernel
+  integration
+- Module parameter "ftape_tracing" now is called "ft_tracing" because
+  the "ftape_tracing" variable has the version checksum attached to it.
+- `/proc/ftape' interface for 2.0.* kernels. `/proc/ftape' no longer
+  is a directory but a file that contains all the information formerly
+  provided in separate files under the `/proc/ftape/' directory.
+- Most of the configuration options have been prefixed by "CONFIG_FT_"
+  in preparation of the kernel inclusion. The Makefiles under
+  "./ftape/" should be directly usable by the kernel.
+- The MODVERSIONS stuff is now auto-detected.
+- Broke backslashed multi line options in MCONFIG into separate lines
+  using GNU-make's "+=" feature.
+- The html and dvi version of the manual is now installed under
+  '/usr/doc/ftape` with 'make install`
+- New SMP define in MCONFIG. ftape works with SMP if this is defined.
+- attempt to cope with "excessive overrun errors" by gradually
+  increasing FDC FIFO threshold. But this doesn't seem to have too
+  much an effect.
+- New load time configuration parameter "ft_fdc_rate_limit". If you
+  encounter too many overrun errors with a 2Mb controller then you
+  might want to set this to 1000.
+- overrun errors on the last sector in a segment sometimes result in
+  a zero DMA residue. Dunno why, but compensate for it.
+- there were still fdc_read() timeout errors. I think I have fixed it
+  now, please FIXME.
+- Sometimes ftape_write() failed to re-start the tape drive when a
+  segment without a good sector was reached ("wait for empty segment
+  failed"). This is fixed. Especially important for > QIC-3010.
+- sftape (aka ftape-2.x) has vanished. I didn't work on it for
+  ages. It is probably still possible to use the old code with
+  ftape-3.04, if one really needs it (BUT RECOMPILE IT)
+- zftape no longer alters the contents of already existing volume
+  table entries, which makes it possible to fill in missing fields,
+  like time stamps using some user space program.
+- ./contrib/vtblc/ contains such a program.
+- new perl script ./contrib/scripts/listtape that list the contents of a
+  floppy tape cartridge parsing the output of "mt volinfo" + "mt fsf"
+- the MTWEOF implementation has changed a little bit (after I had a
+  look at amanda). Calling MTWEOF while the tape is still held open
+  after writing something to the tape now will terminate the current
+  volume, and start a new one at the current position.
+- the volume table maintained by zftape now is a doubly linked list
+  that grows dynamically as needed.
+  formatting floppy tape cartridges
+  ---------------------------------
+  * there is a new user space formatting program that does most of the
+    dirty work in user space (auto-detect, computing the sector
+    coordinates, adjusting time stamps and statistics). It has a
+    simple command line interface.
+  * ftape-format.o has vanished, it has been folded into the low level
+    ftape.o module, and the ioctl interface into zftape.o. Most of the
+    complicated stuff has been moved to user space, so there was no
+    need for a separate module anymore.
+  * there is a new ioctl MTIOCFTCMD that sends a bare QIC-117 command
+    to the tape drive.
+  * there is a new mmap() feature to map the dma buffers into user
+    space to be used by the user level formatting program.
+  * Formatting of yet unformatted or totally degaussed cartridges
+    should be possible now. FIXME.
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.03b, <forgot the exact date> ====
+ftape-3.03b was released as a beta release only. Its main new feature
+was support of the DITTO-2GB drive. This was made possible by reverse
+engineering done by <fill in his name> after Iomega failed to support
+ftape. Although they had promised to do so (this makes me feel a bit
+sad and uncomfortable about Iomega).
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.03a, 22/05/97 ====
+- Finally fixed auto-un-loading of modules for kernels > 2.1.18
+- Add an "uninstall" target to the Makefile
+- removed the kdtime hack
+- texi2www didn't properly set the back-reference from a footnote back
+  to the regular text.
+  zftape specific
+  ---------------
+  * hide the old compression map volume. Taper doesn't accept the
+    presence of non-Taper volumes and Taper-written volume on the same
+    tape.
+  * EOD (End Of Data) handling was still broken: the expected behavior
+    is to return a zero byte count at the first attempt to read past
+    EOD, return a zero byte count at the second attempt to read past
+    EOD and THEN return -EIO.
+  
+  ftape-format specific
+  ---------------------
+  * Detection of QIC-40 cartridges in select_tape_format() was broken
+    and made it impossible to format QIC-3010/3020 cartridges.
+  * There are strange "TR-1 Extra" cartridges out there which weren't
+    detected properly because the don't strictly conform to the
+    QIC-80, Rev. N, spec.
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.03, 30/04/97 =====
+- Removed kernel integration code from the package. I plan to provide
+  a package that can be integrated into the stock kernel separately
+  (hopefully soon).
+  As a result, a simple `make' command now will build everything.
+- ALL compile time configuration options have been moved to the file
+  `MCONFIG'.
+- Quite a few `low level' changes to allow formatting of cartridges.
+- formatting is implemented as a separate module `ftape-format.o'. The
+  modified `mt' program contains sample code that shows how to use it.
+- The VFS interface has been moved from the `ftape.o' module to the
+  high level modules `zftape.o' resp. `sftape.o'. `ftape.o' contains
+  the hardware support only.
+- A bit of /proc support for kernels > 2.1.28
+- Moved documentation to Doc subdir. INSTALL now contains some real
+  installation notes.
+- `install' target in Makefile.
+zftape specific:
+----------------
+- zftape works for large cartridges now ( > 2^31 bytes)
+- MTIOCVOLINFO and MTIOCGETSIZE now return the size in KILOBYTES,
+  NO LONGER in bytes.
+- permissions for write access to a cartridge have changed:
+  * zftape now also takes the file access mode into account
+  * zftape no longer allows writing in the middle of the recorded
+    media. The tape has to be positioned at BOT or EOD for write
+    access.
+- MTBSF has changed. It used to position at the beginning of the
+  previous file when called with count 1. This was different from the
+  expected behavior for other Un*x tape drivers (i.e. SCSI). MTBSF
+  with count 1 should merely position at the beginning of the current
+  volume. Fixed. As a result, `tar --verify' now produces the desired
+  result: it verifies the last written volume, not the pre-last
+  written volume.
+- The compression map has vanished --> no need for `mt erase' any
+  more. Fast seeking in a compressed volume is still be possible, but
+  takes slightly longer. As a side effect, you may experience an
+  additional volume showing up in front of all others for old
+  cartridges. This is the tape volume that holds the compression map.
+- The compression support for zftape has been moved to a separate
+  module `zft-compressor'. DON'T forget to load it before trying to
+  read back compressed volumes. The stock `zftape.o' module probes for
+  the module `zft-compressor' using the kerneld message channel; you
+  have to install `zft-compressor.o' in a place where modprobe can
+  find it if you want to use this.
+- New experimental feature that tries to get the broken down GMT time
+  from user space via a kernel daemon message channel. You need to
+  compile and start the `kdtime' daemon contained in the contrib
+  directory to use it. Needed (?) for time stamps in the header
+  segments and the volume table.
+- variable block size mode via MTSETBLK 0
+- keep modules locked in memory after the block size has been changed
+sftape specific:
+----------------
+- end of tape handling should be fixed, i.e. multi volume archives
+  written with `afio' can be read back now.
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.02a, 09/01/97 =====
+No big news:
+- call zft_init() resp. sft_init() when compiling the entire stuff
+  into the kernel image.
+- fix bug in ftape-setup.c when NO_TRACE_AT_ALL was defined.
+- fix bug in sftape-eof.c/zftape-eof.c for old kernels (1.2.*)
+- add support for new module interface for recent kernels
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.02, 16/12/96 =====
+- Fixed the `FDC unlock command failed' bug in fdc-io.c. When the FIFO
+  was already locked when ftape was loaded, ftape failed to unlock it.
+- Fixed compilation of `contrib/gnumt'. It now finds `mtio.h' even if
+  ftape is NOT included into the kernel source tree.
+- fc-10.c: include <asm/io.h> for inb() and outb().
+- ftape/sftape/zftape: all global variable now have either a `ftape_',
+  a `ft_', `sft_', `zft_' or `qic_' prefix to prevent name clashes
+  with other parts of the kernel when including ftape into the kernel
+  source tree.
+- Kerneld support has changed. `ftape' now searches for a module
+  `ftape-frontend' when none of the frontend (`sftape' or `zftape') is
+  loaded. Please refer to the `Installation/Loading ftape' section of
+  the TeXinfo manual.
+- Add load resp. boot-time configuration of ftape. There are now
+  variables ft_fdc_base, ft_fdc_dma and ft_fdc_irq corresponding to
+  the former FDC_BASE etc. compile time definitions. One can also use
+  the kernel command line parameters to configure the driver if it is
+  compiled into the kernel. Also, the FC-10/FC-20 support is load-time
+  configurable now as well as the MACH-II hack (ft_probe_fc10,
+  resp. ft_mach2). Please refer to the section `Installation/Configure
+  ftape' of the TeXinfo manual.
+- I removed the MODVERSIONS option from `Makefile.module'. Let me alone
+  with ftape and MODVERSIONS unless you include the ftape sources into
+  the kernel source tree.
+- new vendors in `vendors.h':
+  * HP Colorado T3000 
+  * ComByte DoublePlay (including a bug fix for their broken
+    formatting software, thanks to whraven@njackn.com)
+  * Iomega DITTO 2GIG. NOTE: this drive cannot work with ftape because
+    the logical data layout of the cartridges used by this drive does
+    NOT conform to the QIC standards, it is a special Iomega specific
+    format. I've sent mail to Iomega but didn't receive an answer
+    yet. If you want this drive to be supported by ftape, ask Iomega
+    to give me information about it.
+- zftape:
+  * re-introduced the MTIOC_ZFTAPE_GETBLKSZ ioctl for compatibility
+    with zftape 1.06a and earlier. Please don't use it when writing
+    new software, use the MTIOCVOLINFO ioctl instead.
+  * Major overhaul of the code that updates the header segments. Never
+    change the tape label unless erasing the tape. Thus we almost
+    never need to write the header segments, unless we would modify
+    the bad sector map which isn't done yet. Updating of volume table
+    and compression map more secure now although it takes a bit
+    longer.
+  * Fixed bug when aborting a write operation with a signal: zftape
+    now finishes the current volume (i.e. writes an eof marker) at the
+    current position. It didn't before which led to somehow *strange*
+    behavior in this cases.
+  * Keep module locked in memory when using it with  the non-rewinding
+    devices and the tape is not logical at BOT. Needed for kerneld
+    support.
+- sftape:
+  * Keep module locked in memory when using it with  the non-rewinding
+    devices and the tape is not logical at BOT. Needed for kerneld
+    support.
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.01, 14/11/96 =====
+- Fixed silly bugs in ftape-3.00:
+  * MAKEDEV.ftape: major device number must be 27, not 23 
+  * sftape/sftape-read.c: sftape_read_header_segments() called 
+    itself recursively instead of calling ftape_read_header_segment()
+  * zftape/qic-vtbl.h: conversion of ftape's file marks to zftape's
+    internal volume table was broken.
+  * patches/2.x.x/linux-2.0.21.dif: my RCS (resp. CVS) system replaced
+    the `$Revison:' etc. macros in the `ftape.h' concerning part of the
+    patch :-( Fixed.
+  * info/ftape.info: Fixed misspellings (`cp' <-> `cp -r' etc.)
+  * when ftape/sftape or ftape/zftape was compiled into the kernel the
+    variable ftape_status was declared twice. Fixed.
+  * removed reference to undeclared variable kernel_version when not
+    compiling as module
+  * fixed a bug introduced by the use of bit-fields for some flags
+    (i.e. write_protected, no_cartridge, formatted)
+  * flag `header_read' is now reset correctly to zero when tape is
+    removed.
+- fixed a bug in sftape/sftape-eof.c that was already in the original
+  ftape code. MTFSF/BSF was not handled correctly when positioned
+  right before the file mark (think of tar)
+- Changed TRACE macros (following a suggestion of Marcin Dalecki) to use
+  the predefined __FUNCTION__ macro of GCC. Spares about 4k of code.
+- added new vendor id for Iomega DITTO 2GIG
+- fixed a bug already present in zftape-1.06 when aborting a write
+  with a signal: we now finish the current volume at that
+  position. Header segments remain NOT up to date until an explicit call
+  to MTREW or MTOFFL is done.  
+===== Release notes for ftape-3.00, 14/10/96 =====
+- Merged ftape with zftape. There are three modules now:
+  ftape for the hardware support, sftape for the implementation of the
+  original ftape eof mark stuff and zftape that implements zftape's way
+  of handling things (compression, volume table, tape blocks of
+  constant length)
+- Documentation in TeXinfo format in the `info' subdirectory.
+- New ioctls for zftape. See zftape/zftape.h
+- Dummy formatting ioctl for ftape. See ftape.h
+- Kernel patch files for the 2.*.* series to include ftape-3.00 in the
+  kernel source tree. These includes a kernel compatible Config.in
+  script and fairly large online information for the kernel configure
+  script.
+- Support for compiling with Linux-1.2.13. 
+- Modified GNU mt from their cpio package that can handle the new
+  ioctls.
+- ftape/sftape/zftape is kerneld save now!
+Notes on sftape:
+- sftape implements the eof handling code of the original ftape. If
+  you like to stick with the original ftape stuff, you have to use
+  this module, not zftape.
+- sftape is kerneld save, unlike the original ftape.
+- we keep the entire header segment now in memory, so no need to read
+  it before updating the header segments. Additional memory
+  consumption: 256 bytes. 
+Notes for zftape:
+- zftape has support for tapes with format code 6 now, which use a
+  slightly different volume table format compared with other floppy
+  tapes.
+- new ioctls for zftape. Have a look at zftape/zftape.h
+- The internal volume table representation has changed for zftape. Old
+  cartridges are converted automatically.
+- zftape no longer uses compression map segments, which have vanished
+  from the QIC specs, but creates volume table entry that reserves
+  enough space for the compression map. 
+- zftape is kerneld save now.
+- we keep the entire header segment now in memory, so no need to read
+  it before updating the header segments. Additional memory
+  consumption: 256 bytes. 
+Notes for contrib/gnumt:
+- modified mt from the GNU cpio package that supports all the new
+  ioctls of zftape.
+Notes for contrib/swapout:
+- This contains the swapout.c program that was written by Kai
+  Harrekilde-Pederson. I simply added a Makefile.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.10, 14/10/96 =====
+The ftape maintainer has changed. 
+Kai Harrekilde-Petersen <khp@dolphinics.no>
+has resigned from maintaining ftape, and I,
+Claus-Justus Heine <claus@momo.math.rwth-aachen.de>,
+have taken over.
+- Added support for tapes with `format code 6', i.e. QIC-3020 tapes
+  with more than 2^16 segments.
+- merged changes made by Bas Laarhoven with ftape-2.09. Refer
+  to his release notes below. I've included them into this
+  file unchanged for your reference.
+- disabled call stack back trace for now. This new feature
+  introduced by the interim release 2.0.x still seems to
+  be buggy.
+- Tried to minimize differences between the ftape version
+  to be included into the kernel source tree and the standalone
+  module version.
+- Reintroduced support for Linux-1.2.13. Please refer to the
+  Install-guide. 
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.09, 16/06/96 =====
+There aren't any really big news in this release, mostly just that I
+(the maintainer) have changed my email address (due to a new job).  My
+new address is <khp@dolphinics.no>
+- The CLK_48MHZ and FDC_82078SL options has gone (all 2Mbps cards seem
+  to use a 48MHz oscillator anyway and I haven't heard of an 'SL
+  chip out there).
+- The S82078B has been `downgraded' to i82077AA compability.
+- TESTING option revived.  Right now, it'll enable the (seriously broken)
+  2Mbps code.  If you enable it, you'll experience a tape drive that's
+  *really* out to lunch!
+- Some (bold) changes in the init code.  Please notify me if they
+  break things for you.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.08, 14/03/96 =====
+If you correct a problem with ftape, please send your patch to
+khp@dolphinics.no too.
+- Updated to reflect that NR_MEM_LISTS is gone in 1.3.74
+- Teac 700 added to list of known drives.
+- The registered device name is now "ft" rather than "ftape".
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.07a, 14/03/96 =====
+Bugfixes by Marcin Dalecki <dalecki@namu03.gwdg.de>:
+- In the last release it just compiled against 1.3.70;
+  now the params to request_irq() and free_irq are() are fixed, so it also 
+  works in 1.3.73 :-)
+- Support for modules is now correct for newer kernels.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.07, 04/03/96 =====
+- ftape updated to compile against 1.3.70.
+- Iomega 700 and Wangtek 3200 recognised.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.06b, 13/02/96 =====
+Another simple bugfix version.
+- Jumbo 700 recognised.
+- Typo in vendors.h fixed.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.06a, 10/02/96 =====
+This release is a simple bugfix version.
+- Linux/SMP: ftape *should* work.
+- FC-10/20: Only accepts IRQs 3-7, or 9.  If IRQ 9, properly tell the card
+  to use IRQ 2.  Thanks to Greg Crider (gcrider@iclnet.org) for finding and
+  locating this bug and testing the patch.
+- Insight drive recognised correctly again.
+- Motor-on wakeup version of the Iomega 250 drive added
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.06, 28/01/96 =====
+Special thanks go to Neal Friedman and Steven Sorbom for their
+help in producing and testing this release.
+I have continued to clean up the code, with an eye towards inclusion
+of ftape in Linus' official kernel (In fact, as I type this, I am
+running on a kernel with ftape support statically linked).  I have
+test-compiled ftape against my 1.2.13 tree without problems.
+Hopefully, everything should be OK for the v1.2.x people.
+WARNING! Alan Cox has mailed me that ftape does *NOT* work with
+Linux/SMP.  If you try to run ftape under Linux/SMP, it will cause a
+kernel deadlock (which is worse than a panic).
+- QIC-3020/TR-3: 1Mbps support works.  Neal is capable of reading and
+  writing data to a tape.  ftape will automatically detect the type of
+  tape (e.g. TR-3 vs QIC-80) and move the fdc in and out of
+  "perpendicular mode" as necessary.
+- 2Mbps support is disabled by default, since it is not fully
+  debugged.  If you are adventurous, remove -DFDC_82078SL in the
+  Makefile and see what happens :-)
+- fdc detection: silly bugs removed (Only 2Mbps fdcs were affected)
+  and added detection of the National Semiconductors PC8744 fdc chip
+  (used in the PC873xx "super-IO" chips).
+- Removed warning about incompatible types when compiling with Linux
+  1.2.x.
+- README.PCI updated with info about the DELL Dimension XPS P90.
+- Connor TST3200R added to detected drives.
+- `swapout' utility added to distribution.  It will dirty 5Meg of
+  memory, trying to swap out other programs.  Just say `make swapout'
+  to build it.  ftape will do this automatically Real Soon Now (ie:
+  when I have found out which kernel memory alloc function to call).
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.05, 08/01/96 =====
+- For v1.2.x Kernels, you must apply the patch linux-1.2/ksyms.patch to
+  the kernel and rebuild it (it adds the __get_dma_pages symbol to
+  ksyms.c).
+- Included new asm-i386/io.h file from v1.3.x kernel series, to enable
+  gcc v.2.7.[12] to compile v1.2.x kernels (linux-1.2/io.h).
+- Module versions: If you wish to compile ftape as a versioned module,
+  you must first compile your kernel with CONFIG_MODVERSIONS=y.
+  Otherwise, you will get complaints that <linux/modversions.h> does not
+  exist (if that happens, a `touch modversions.h' will help you out).
+- CLK_48MHZ: new define in the Makefile (default: non-zero).  If you have
+  a tape controller card that uses the i82078(-1) chip, but cannot get
+  it to work with ftape, try set it to 0 (and please report this).
+- QIC-3010/3020: Complete support is still missing, but will hopefully
+  come soon.  Steven Sorbom has kindly provided me with hints about
+  this.  Writing of QIC-3020 tapes definitely does NOT work (do not try
+  it! - the drive will not be in "perpendicular mode" and this will ruin
+  the formatting info on the tape).
+- ftape_num_buffers is out of fashion: use NR_BUFFERS instead (and
+  recompile if you want to change it :-).
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.04, 01/01/96 =====
+This version by Kai Harrekilde-Petersen <khp@dolphinics.no>
+- ALERT! Support for Kernels earlier then v1.1.85 is about to go away.
+  I intend to clean up some of the code (getting rid of an annoyingly
+  large numbers of #ifdef mostly), which means that support for
+  pre-1.1.85 kernels must go as well.
+- NR_FTAPE_BUFFERS is gone; You can instead select the number of dma
+  buffers by saying `insmod ftape.o ftape_num_buffer=<n>' instead.
+- Configure script gone.  ftape will now automagically determine your
+  kernel version by /usr/include/linux/version.h instead.
+- CONFIG_MODVERSIONS now work.  All combinations of versioned /
+  unversioned kernel and ftape module works (at least with my 1.3.52
+  kernel).
+- If you have problems with inserting ftape into an old (1.2.x)
+  kernel (e.g. insmod says "1.2.8 does not match 1.2.8), recompile
+  your modules utilities with your new compiler.
+- Reveal TB1400 drive added to vendors.h
+- Support for the i82078-1 (2Mbps) chip is coming along.  The
+  biggest problem is that I don't have such a card, which makes
+  testing / debugging somewhat problematic.  The second biggest
+  problem is that I do not have the QIC-3010/3020 standards either.
+  Status right now is that the chip is detected, and it should be
+  possible to put it into 2Mbps mode.  However, I do not know what
+  "extras" are needed to complete the support.  Although putting the
+  i82078 into 1Mbps mode ought to work out of the box, it doesn't
+  (right now, ftape complains about id am errors).
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.04beta5, 29/12/95 =====
+Bas offline linux-tape
+----------------------
+For reasons only known to the majordomo mail list processor, Bas was
+kicked off the linux-tape list sometime during the summer.  Being
+overworked at his for-pay job, he didn't notice it much.  Instead I
+(Kai, khp@dolphinics.no) has worked on ftape to produce the 2.04(beta)
+version.
+zftape
+------
+Note that there exists a much improved version of ftape, written by
+Claus-Justus Heine <claus@willi.math.rwth-aachen.de> which is named
+zftape, which conforms to the QIC-80 specs on how to mark backups, and
+is capable of doing automatic compression.  However, zftape makes
+substantial changes to ftape, and I (Kai) have therefore declined to
+integrate zftape into ftape.  Hopefully, this will happen soon.
+CONFIG_QIC117 removed from the kernel
+-------------------------------------
+The biggest change of all is that ftape now will allocate its dma
+buffers when it is inserted.  The means that the CONFIG_QIC117 option
+has disappeared from the Linux kernel as of v1.3.34.  If you have an
+earlier kernel, simply answer 'no' to the question will do the trick
+(if you get complains about __get_free_pages() missing, contact the
+linux-tape mailing list).
+Note that ftape-2.04beta will work equally well on kernels with and
+without `ftape support'.  The only catch is, that you will waste
+around 96-128Kb of precious DMA'able memory on a box that has ftape
+support compiled in.
+Now for the real changes:
+- FC-20 can now use DMA channels 1, 2, and 3. Thanks to Daniel
+  Cohen, catman@wpi.edu.
+- ftape no longer requires a (gigantic) 96Kb buffer to be statically
+  allocated by the kernel.
+- Added new Iomega drive (8882) to vendors.h
+- -fno-strength-reduce added to Makefile, since GCC is broken.
+- i82078-1 (2Mbps) FDC support started.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.03b, 27/05/95 =====
+- Prevented verify_area to return error if called with zero length.
+- Fixed a bug in flush_buffers that caused too much padding to be
+  written when a final segment had bad sectors.
+- Increased maximum fast-seek overshoot value from 5 to 10 segments.
+- Breaking loop after 5 retries when positioning fails.
+- Fixed wrong calculation of tape length for QIC-3010 and QIC-3020
+  tapes (densities were swapped).
+- Fixed wrong calculation of overshoot on seek_forward: Wrong sign
+  of error.
+- Suppress (false) error message due to new tape loaded.
+- Added two new CMS drives (11c3 and 11c5) to vendors.h.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.03a, 09/05/95 =====
+- Fixed display of old error (even if already cleared) in ftape_open.
+- Improved tape length detection, ioctls would fail for 425 ft tapes.
+  Until the tape length is calculated with data from the header
+  segment, we'll use worst-case values.
+- Clear eof_mark after rewinding ioctls.
+- Fixed wrong version message (2.03 had 2.02g id).
+- Fixed bug that caused the fdc to be reset very frequently.
+  This shouldn't affect normal operation but the timing of the
+  report routines has changed again and that may cause problems.
+  We'll just have to find out....
+- Implemented correct write precompensation setting for QIC-3010/3020.
+- Cleaned up fdc_interrupt_wait routine. Hope it still works :-)
+- Finally removed (already disabled) special eof mark handling for
+  gnu tar.
+- Changed order of get_dma_residue and disable_dma in fdc-isr.c
+  because the current order would fail on at least one system.
+  We're back to the original order again, hope (and expect) this
+  doesn't break any other system.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.03, 07/05/95 =====
+(Changes refer to the first ftape-2.02 release)
+Support for wide and extended length tapes
+------------------------------------------
+The Conner TSM 420 and 850 drives are reported to be working.
+I haven't received any reports about other brands; the TSM 420
+and 850 seem to be the most widely used wide drives.
+Extended length tapes (425 ft) with normal QIC-80 drives
+are operating too (At least I've had no reports stating otherwise).
+_Not_ yet completely supported (although they may work) are
+QIC-3020 drives and 2 Mbps floppy disk controllers won't work at
+the highest speed.
+If someone is kind enough to send me one of these, I'll include
+support for it too ;-)
+Easier configuration
+--------------------
+Problems due to wrong settings in the Makefile are prevented
+by using a configuration script that sets the necessary (kernel
+version dependent) compile time options.
+This kernel version is now determined from the sources found
+at /usr/src/linux, or if not found, the old way using
+/proc/version.
+Versioned modules will be used automatically when supported
+by- and configured in- the kernel.
+Note that the current modules code (1.1.87) is still broken
+and _needs_ the fix included in the insmod directory.
+Please don't send me any more Oops reports caused by insmod :-(
+Reduced module size
+-------------------
+The standard module size is much reduced and some compile time
+options can even reduce it further. (I don't recommend this
+for normal use but it can be handy for rescue diskettes)
+Option:           Approx. module size:
+<standard>             150 Kb
+NO_TRACE               125 Kb
+NO_TRACE_AT_ALL         67 Kb
+Much improved driver interruption
+---------------------------------
+Most possible loops have been broken and signal detection
+has been improved.
+In most cases the driver can be aborted by ^C (SIGINT) and
+SIGKILL (kill -9) will generate be a sure kill.
+(Note that aborting a tape operation may damage the last
+data written to tape)
+Improved error recovery
+-----------------------
+Ftape now returns an error (ENODATA) to the application if
+a segment proves to be unrecoverable and then skips the
+bad segment.
+This causes most applications to continue to work (tar
+and afio) loosing only a small amount (up to 29 Kb) of data.
+Retried read operations will now be done slightly off-track
+to improve the chance of success. Serious head off-track
+errors will be detected.
+FC-10 and FC-20 controllers
+---------------------------
+Ftape now supports both the old CMS FC-10 and the newer FC-20
+controllers.
+Because the operation of these cards is still undocumented,
+thus far they will only work with the default settings (See
+Makefile). Any feed-back on how to use them with other settings
+will be welcome !
+Compilation will fail if one changes the settings to illegal
+values.
+Kernels and compilers
+---------------------
+Ftape is currently being developed using the 2.5.8 compiler.
+The older 2.4.5 probably works too (Set option in Makefile!).
+I have no experience with any later compilers nor Elf support.
+Any information on this is welcome.
+The latest kernel I have tested ftape with is 1.2.6.
+Compression
+-----------
+An impressive collection of changes for ftape including
+on-the-fly compression is still lying on my desk.
+If 2.03 proves to be reliable I might start integrating these
+but as usual, I'm short in time :-(
+Formatting
+----------
+There is still no way to format tapes under Linux. As far as
+I know all attempts to write such a program have died now.
+Since formatted tapes are rather common now, I think all we
+need is a utility that writes a worst case pattern and verifies
+that with the drive put in verify mode, reducing margins.
+Any takers ?
+Furthermore
+-----------
+Cleaned up messages.
+Prepared to support multiple tape drives on one fdc.
+Thanks to all the people who sent bug reports and helped me
+improve the driver. Without trying to be complete I'll mention
+Gary Anderson (without his accurate reports and unreliable
+hardware there wouldn't be a 2.03), Stefan Kneifel (FC-20),
+Robert Broughton (FC-20, you were almost there ;-), Bjorn
+Ekwall (for the versioned modules and buggy insmod ;-), Peter
+Fox, Christopher Oliver, Ralph Whittaker and not the least
+Linus Torvalds (for Linux and keeping me busy because of
+changes to the kernel ;-)
+Thanks to anyone I forgot, for the bug reports, the ftape
+bashing and the mental support...
+That's it for now. Have Fun,
+Bas.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.02g, 06/05/95 =====
+- Added extra test to break read-id loop with signal.
+- Changed rewind code to handle negative overshoot for drives
+  that take very long to start or stop.
+- Let use of get/set i/o-regions depend on kernel version.
+- Changed code to use a more general test for conditional
+  compilations depending on kernel version.
+- Improved micro-step functionality to go off-track only
+  while reading (id & data).
+- Added failure on tape-not-referenced bit in ftape_command.
+- Added FOREVER option to read-wait routine.
+- Changed read-id to use shorter timeout causing smaller
+  rewinds on timeout.
+- Made kernel-interface functions static.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.02f, 03/05/95 =====
+- Added support for dual tape drives on my system, extended Configure
+  script to detect host 'dodo'.
+- Log media defect in history if ecc failed and no data was returned.
+- Fixed Configure script that was failing for kernel versions with
+  double digit version or revision numbers.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.02e, 01/05/95 =====
+- Fixed reposition loop at logical eot (failing read_id).
+- Fixed 34 segment offset when rewinding.
+- Added fast seek capability for more than 255 segments.
+- Fixed wrong busy result from ftape_command causing reverse
+  seek to fail.
+- Added breakout from infinite rewind loop (if something fails).
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.02d, 30/04/95 =====
+- Improved abortion on signals: Interrupt will make a graceful
+  exit, Kill will be less nice and should be used if everything
+  else fails.
+- Included check for tape-head off track.
+- Implemented exit from tape-start loop.
+- Added kernel io-port registration.
+- Implemented skip of failing segment (ENODATA) on ecc failure.
+  This allows afio and tar to continue when the tape is damaged.
+- Made distinction between drive names with different codes.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.02c, 22/04/95 =====
+- Fixed too tight command queueing after tape stop/pause command
+  issued from within interrupt service routine (Showed as timeout
+  on Acknowledge errors during retries on some systems)
+- Tried to fix timeouts when using 425 ft tape because the extended
+  length doesn't seem to be detected by the hardware.
+  We now use the format code from the header segment so adjust the
+  timing after reading the header segment.
+- Fixed some messages stating 'unexpected something...' being not
+  unexpected anymore.
+- Started preparations for merge of dynamic buffer allocation and
+  compression code.
+- Changed some debug messages to include relevant segment information
+  at level 4.
+- Included early bail-out when drive offline, preventing a lot of
+  false messages.
+- Moved ftape_parameter_xxx() offsets into function instead of in calls.
+- Removed 'weird, drive busy but no data' error when caused by
+  an error during a read-id.
+- Improved 'timeout on acknowledge' diagnostics.
+- Moved MODULE option into Configure.
+- Reduced code size when no tracing at all was set (Claus Heine).
+- No longer log error code 0 (no error) as an error.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.02b, 09/04/95 =====
+- Relaxed timing for status operation and displaying
+  abnormal results. Hopefully this shows what's going
+  wrong with the Conner TSM850R drives.
+- Created script for configuration, using version number
+  of kernel source if available, otherwise /proc/version.
+- Fixed conditionals in kernel-interface.c.
+- Removed unavoidable TRACE output.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.02a, 01/04/95 =====
+- Implemented `new-style' (versioned) modules support for new
+  kernels.
+- Reduced size of module by moving static data to bss.
+- Now using version number of kernel source instead of running
+  kernel for kernel versions >= 1.1.82
+- Added feedback on drive speeds to vendor information.
+- Included fixed insmod sources to distribution (Let's hope
+  the modules distribution get fixed soon :-/).
+Note that I haven't yet implemented any of the code extension I
+received. I hope to find some time to do this soon.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.02, 15/01/95 =====
+- Fixed failing repositioning when overshoot was incremented.
+- Fixed rate selection: Because of a deficiency in the QIC-117
+  specification one cannot distinguish between a not implemented
+  and a failing command. Therefor we now try to find out if the
+  drive does support this command before usage.
+- Fixed error retry using wrong offset in fdc-isr.
+- Improved retry code to retry only once on a single no-data
+  error in a segment.
+- Validate sector number extracted from eof mark because an
+  invalid file mark (due to ???) could cause kernel panic.
+- Split ftape-io.c into ftape-io.c and ftape-ctl.c files.
+- Corrected too high media error count after writing to
+  a bad tape.
+- Added #include <asm/segment.h> again because old kernel versions
+  need it.
+- Fixed fdc not being disabled when open failed because no tape
+  drive was found.
+- Fixed problem with soft error in sector 32 (shift operator with
+  shiftcount 32 is not defined).
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.01, 08/01/95 =====
+- Removed TESTING setting from distributed Makefile.
+- Fixed `mt asf' failure: Rewind was deferred to close which
+  overruled the fsf ioctl.
+- Prevented non-interruptible commands being interrupted.
+- Added missing timeout.pause setting.
+- Maximum tape speed read from drive type information table.
+  If the information is not in the table (0) the drive will
+  determine the speed itself and put a message in the logfile.
+  This information should then be added to the table in the
+  vendors.h file (and reported to me).
+- Added call to ftape_init_drive after soft reset for those
+  (antique) drives that don't do an implicit seek_load_point
+  after a reset or power up.
+- Don't try to set data rate if reset failed.
+- Prevent update of seek variables when starting from the
+  beginning or the end of the tape.
+- Fixed wrong adjustment of overshoot in seek_forward().
+- Added sync to Makefile (again).
+- Added code to diagnose timer problems (calibr.c).
+- Replaced time differences by timediff calls.
+- Removed reference to do_floppy from object for recent kernels.
+- Fixed wrong display of 'failing dma controller' message.
+- Removed various no longer used #include statements.
+- Added max. tape speed value to vendor-struct.
+- Changed ftape-command to check pre-conditions and wait
+  if needed.
+- Further updated qic117.h to rev G.
+- Combined command name table and restrictions table to one.
+  Extended this table with some new fields.
+- Increased timeout on Ack timer value and included code to
+  report out of spec behaviour.
+- Increased rewind timeout margin to calculated + 20%.
+- Improved data rate selection so it won't fail on some
+  older (pre standard) drives.
+- Changed initialisation code so drive will be rewound if the
+  driver is reloaded and the tape is not at bot.
+- Moved some of the flush operations from close to the ioctls.
+- Added exit code value to failing verify area message.
+- Loop until tape halted in smart-stop.
+- Fast seek handled specially if located at bot or eot.
+- Being more conservative on overshoot value.
+===== Release notes for ftape-2.00, 31/12/94 =====
+  The Install-guide is completely rewritten and now also includes
+some information on how to use the driver. If you're either new
+to ftape or new to Unix tape devices make sure to read it !
+  If you own a pci system and experience problems with the
+ftape driver make sure to read the README.PCI file. It contains
+some hints on how to fix your hardware.
+  For anybody who hasn't noticed: The version number of the
+driver has been incremented (The latest released version has
+been version 1.14d).
+  This has been done for two major reasons:
+  o  A new (better) error recovery scheme is implemented.
+  o  Support for new drive types has been added.
+  All these improvements/changes will probably include a couple
+of new (and old?) bugs. If you encounter any problems that you think
+I'm not yet aware of, feel free to send a report to <bas@vimec.nl>.
+  I recommend keeping a version of ftape-1.14d available, just
+in case ;-)
+  This version should work with all kernel versions from 1.0.9 up
+to 1.1.72 (and probably earlier and later versions too).
+Major new features:
+- Better handling of tapes with defects: When a sector repeatedly
+  (SOFT_RETRIES in ftape.h) cannot be written to or read from it is
+  marked as an hard error and gets skipped.
+  The error correction code can handle up to three of these hard
+  errors provided there are no other errors in that segment (32 Kb).
+  
+- Allows writing to tapes with defects (although the risk of loosing
+  data increases !)
+  Look for the media-defects entry printed with the statistics when
+  the tape is closed. A non-zero value here shows a bad tape.
+  [the actual count is wrong (too high), this is a known bug].
+- Use of backup header segment if first one is failing.
+- Support for extended length tapes with QIC-80: both 425 and 1100 ft.
+  0.25 inch tapes are now recognized and handled.
+- Support for new QIC-80 drives with 8 mm `wide' tapes (e.g. Conner
+  TSM 420).
+- Support for new QIC-3010 and QIC-3020 drives (experimental) with
+  both 0.25 inch and 8 mm tapes.
+Some minor features were added, a couple of small bugs were fixed and
+probably some new ones introduced ;-).
+[lseek() didn't make it into this version]
+Have fun,
+Bas.
+----
+ LocalWords:  ftape MCONFIG mt VFS zftape resp sftape proc subdir MTIOCVOLINFO
+ LocalWords:  MTIOCGETSIZE BOT EOD MTBSF zft kerneld modprobe kdtime contrib TR
+ LocalWords:  MTSETBLK afio uninstall texi www EIO QIC init sft eof aka dma GB
+ LocalWords:  SIGKILL MTIOCFTCMD mmap Iomega FDC fdc io gnumt mtio fc asm inb
+ LocalWords:  outb ft qic frontend TeXinfo irq mach MODVERSIONS CONFIG html dvi
+ LocalWords:  usr doc SMP Mb Dunno FIXME vtblc perl listtape volinfo fsf MTWEOF
+ LocalWords:  amanda degaussed ComByte DoublePlay whraven njackn com MTIOC vtbl
+ LocalWords:  GETBLKSZ MAKEDEV zftape's linux dif CVS Revison cp MTREW MTOFFL
+ LocalWords:  MTFSF BSF Marcin Dalecki GCC Config cpio swapout Kai Harrekilde
+ LocalWords:  Pederson khp dolphinics Justus claus momo rwth aachen Laarhoven