path: root/drivers/scsi/README.ncr53c8xx

The Linux NCR53C8XX driver README file

Written by Gerard Roudier <groudier@club-internet.fr>
21 Rue Carnot
95170 DEUIL LA BARRE - FRANCE

23 August 1997
===============================================================================

1.  Introduction
2.  Supported chips and SCSI features
3.  Summary of other supported features
4.  Memory mapped I/O versus normal I/O
5.  Tagged command queueing
6.  Parity checking
7.  Profiling information
8.  Control commands
      8.1  Set minimum synchronous period
      8.2  Set wide size
      8.3  Set maximum number of concurrent tagged commands
      8.4  Set order type for tagged command
      8.5  Set debug mode
      8.6  Clear profile counters
      8.7  Set flag (no_sync)
      8.8  Debug error recovery
9.  Configuration parameters
10. Boot setup commands
      10.1 Syntax
      10.2 Available arguments
      10.3 Advised boot setup commands
      10.4 PCI configuration fix-up boot option
      10.5 Serial NVRAM support boot option
11. Some constants and flags of the ncr53c8xx.h header file
12. Installation
      12.1 Provided files
      12.2 Installation procedure
13. Control commands under linux-1.2.13
14. Known problems
      14.1 Tagged commands with Iomega Jaz device
      14.2 Device names change when another controller is added
15. SCSI problem troubleshooting
16. Synchonous transfer negotiation tables
      16.1 Synchronous timings for 53C875 and 53C860 Ultra-SCSI controllers
      16.2 Synchronous timings for fast SCSI-2 53C8XX controllers
17. Serial NVRAM support (by Richard Waltham)
      17.1 Features
      17.2 Symbios NVRAM layout
      17.3 Tekram  NVRAM layout
18. Support for Big Endian
      18.1 Big Endian CPU
      18.2 NCR chip in Big Endian mode of operations

===============================================================================

1. Introduction

This driver has been ported from FreeBSD to Linux and is currently 
maintained by:
          Gerard Roudier              <groudier@club-internet.fr>

The original driver has been written for 386bsd and FreeBSD by:
          Wolfgang Stanglmeier        <wolf@cologne.de>
          Stefan Esser                <se@mi.Uni-Koeln.de>

You can find technical information about the NCR 8xx family in the
PCI-HOWTO written by Michael Will and in the SCSI-HOWTO written by
Drew Eckhardt.

Information about new chips is available at SYMBIOS web server:

          http://www.symbios.com/

SCSI standard documentations are available at SYMBIOS ftp server:

          ftp://ftp.symbios.com/

Usefull SCSI tools written by Eric Youngdale are available at tsx-11:

          ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/ALPHA/scsi/scsiinfo-X.Y.tar.gz
          ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/ALPHA/scsi/scsidev-X.Y.tar.gz

These tools are not ALPHA but quite clean and work quite well.
It is essential you have the 'scsiinfo' package.

This short documentation only describes the features of the NCR53C8XX
driver, configuration parameters and control commands available
through the proc SCSI file system read / write operations.

This driver has been tested OK with linux/i386, Linux/Alpha and Linux/PPC.

Latest driver version and patches are available at:

          ftp://linux.wauug.org/pub/roudier

I am not a native speaker of English and there are probably lots of
mistakes in this README file. Any help will be welcome.


2. Supported chips and SCSI features

The following features are supported for all chips:

	Synchronous negotiation
	Disconnection
	Tagged command queuing
	SCSI parity checking
	Master parity checking

"Wide negotiation" is supported for chips that allow it.  The
following table shows some characteristics of NCR 8xx family chips:

       On board                        Supported by    Tested with
Chip   SDMS BIOS   Wide   Ultra SCSI   the driver      the driver
----   ---------   ----   ----------   ------------    -----------
810        N         N        N            Y             Y
810A       N         N        N            Y             Y
815        Y         N        N            Y             Y
825        Y         Y        N            Y             Y
825A       Y         Y        N            Y             Y
860        N         N        Y            Y             Y
875        Y         Y        Y            Y             Y
895        Y         Y        Y(1)         Y             not yet 

(1) The 895 chip is supported 'on paper'.

3. Summary of other supported features.

        Module:                allow to load the driver
        Memory mapped I/O:     increases performance
        Profiling information: read operations from the proc SCSI file system
        Control commands:      write operations to the proc SCSI file system
        Debugging information: written to syslog (expert only)
	Scatter / gather
	Shared interrupt
        Boot setup commands
        Serial NVRAM:          Symbios and Tekram formats


4. Memory mapped I/O versus normal I/O

Memory mapped I/O has less latency than normal I/O.  Since
linux-1.3.x, memory mapped I/O is used rather than normal I/O.  Memory
mapped I/O seems to work fine on most hardware configurations, but
some poorly designed motherboards may break this feature.

The configuration option CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_IOMAPPED forces the
driver to use normal I/O in all cases.


5. Tagged command queueing

Some SCSI devices do not properly support tagged command queuing.  A
safe configuration is to not enable tagged command queuing support at
boot-up, and to enable support of it with the control command
"settags" described further in this text.

Once you are sure that all your devices properly support tagged
command queuing, you can enable it by default with the
CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_TAGGED_QUEUE configuration option.

The maximum number of simultaneous tagged commands queued to a device
is currently set to 4 by default. It is defined in the file
ncr53c8xx.h by SCSI_NCR_MAX_TAGS. This value is suitable for most SCSI
disks.  With large SCSI disks (> 2GB, cache > 512KB average seek time
< 10 ms), 8 tagged commands may give better performance.

In some special conditions, some SCSI disk firmwares may return a
QUEUE FULL status for a SCSI command. This behaviour is managed by the
driver by the following heuristic:

- Each time a QUEUE FULL status is returned, tagged command queueing is 
  temporarily disabled. 

- Every 100 successfully completed SCSI commands, if allowed by the
  current limit, the maximum number of queueable commands is
  incremented and tagged command queueing is reenabled.


6. Parity checking

The driver supports SCSI parity checking and PCI bus master parity
checking.  These features must be enabled in order to ensure safe data
transfers.  However, some flawed devices or mother boards will have
problems with parity. You can disable parity by choosing first
"CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL".  Then, "make config" will allow to set the
following configuration options:

   CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_DISABLE_PARITY_CHECK  (disable SCSI parity checking)
   CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_DISABLE_MPARITY_CHECK (disable master parity checking)


7. Profiling information

Profiling information is available through the proc SCSI file system.
The device associated with a host has the following pathname:

          /proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/N     (N=0,1,2 ....)

Generally, only 1 board is used on hardware configuration, and that device is:
          /proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/0

However, if the driver has been made as module, the number of the
hosts is incremented each time the driver is loaded.

In order to display profiling information, just enter:

         cat /proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/0

and you will get something like the following text:

-------------------------------------------------------
General information:
  Chip NCR53C810, device id 0x1, revision id 0x2
  IO port address 0x6000, IRQ number 10
  Using memory mapped IO at virtual address 0x282c000
  Synchronous transfer period 25, max commands per lun 4
Profiling information:
  num_trans    = 18014
  num_kbytes   = 671314
  num_disc     = 25763
  num_break    = 1673
  num_int      = 1685
  num_fly      = 18038
  ms_setup     = 4940
  ms_data      = 369940
  ms_disc      = 183090
  ms_post      = 1320
-------------------------------------------------------

General information is easy to understand. The device ID and the
revision ID identify the SCSI chip as follows:

Chip    Device id     Revision Id
----    ---------     -----------
810       0x1            <  0x10
810A      0x1            >= 0x10
815       0x4
825       0x3            <  0x10
860       0x6
825A      0x3            >= 0x10
875       0xf
895       0xc

The profiling information is updated upon completion of SCSI commands.
A data structure is allocated and zeroed when the host adapter is
attached. So, if the driver is a module, the profile counters are
cleared each time the driver is loaded.  The "clearprof" command
allows you to clear these counters at any time.

The following counters are available:

("num" prefix means "number of",
"ms" means milli-seconds)

num_trans
	Number of completed commands
	Example above: 18014 completed commands

num_kbytes
	Number of kbytes transferred
	Example above: 671 MB transferred

num_disc
	Number of SCSI disconnections
	Example above: 25763 SCSI disconnections

num_break
	number of script interruptions (phase mismatch)
	Example above: 1673 script interruptions

num_int
	Number of interrupts other than "on the fly"
	Example above: 1685 interruptions not "on the fly"

num_fly
	Number of interrupts "on the fly"
	Example above: 18038 interruptions "on the fly"

ms_setup
	Elapsed time for SCSI commands setups
	Example above: 4.94 seconds

ms_data
	Elapsed time for data transfers
	Example above: 369.94 seconds spent for data transfer

ms_disc
	Elapsed time for SCSI disconnections
	Example above: 183.09 seconds spent disconnected

ms_post
	Elapsed time for command post processing
	(time from SCSI status get to command completion call)
	Example above: 1.32 seconds spent for post processing

Due to the 1/100 second tick of the system clock, "ms_post" time may
be wrong.

In the example above, we got 18038 interrupts "on the fly" and only
1673 script breaks generally due to disconnections inside a segment 
of the scatter list.


8. Control commands

Control commands can be sent to the driver with write operations to
the proc SCSI file system. The generic command syntax is the
following:

      echo "<verb> <parameters>" >/proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/0
      (assumes controller number is 0)

Using "all" for "<target>" parameter with the commands below will
apply to all targets of the SCSI chain (except the controller).

Available commands:

8.1 Set minimum synchronous period factor

    setsync <target> <period factor>

    target:    target number
    period:    minimum synchronous period.
               Maximum speed = 1000/(4*period factor) except for special
               cases below.

    Specify a period of 255, to force asynchronous transfer mode.

      10 means 25 nano-seconds synchronous period
      11 means 30 nano-seconds synchronous period
      12 means 50 nano-seconds synchronous period

8.2 Set wide size

    setwide <target> <size>

    target:    target number
    size:      0=8 bits, 1=16bits

8.3 Set maximum number of concurrent tagged commands
 
    settags <target> <tags>

    target:    target number
    tags:      number of concurrent tagged commands
               must not be greater than SCSI_NCR_MAX_TAGS (default: 4)

8.4 Set order type for tagged command

    setorder <order>

    order:     3 possible values:
               simple: use SIMPLE TAG for all operations (read and write)
               ordered: use ORDERED TAG for all operations
               default: use default tag type,
                        SIMPLE  TAG for read  operations
                        ORDERED TAG for write operations


8.5 Set debug mode

    setdebug <list of debug flags>

    Available debug flags:
        alloc:   print info about memory allocations (ccb, lcb)
        queue:   print info about insertions into the command start queue
        result:  print sense data on CHECK CONDITION status
        scatter: print info about the scatter process
        scripts: print info about the script binding process
	tiny:    print minimal debugging information
	timing:  print timing information of the NCR chip
	nego:    print information about SCSI negotiations
	phase:   print information on script interruptions

    Use "setdebug" with no argument to reset debug flags.


8.6 Clear profile counters

    clearprof

    The profile counters are automatically cleared when the amount of
    data transfered reaches 1000 GB in order to avoid overflow.
    The "clearprof" command allows you to clear these counters at any time.


8.7 Set flag (no_sync)
 
    setflag <target> <flag>

    target:    target number

    For the moment, only one flag is available:

        no_sync:   not allow target to disconnect.

    Do not specify any flag in order to reset the flag. For example:
    - setflag 4
      will reset no_sync flag for target 4, so will allow it disconnections.
    - setflag all
      will allow disconnection for all devices on the SCSI bus.


8.8 Debug error recovery

    debug_error_recovery <error to trigger>

    Available error type to trigger:
        sge:     SCSI gross error
        abort:   abort command from the middle-level driver
        reset:   reset command from the middle-level driver
        parity:  scsi parity detected in DATA IN phase
        none:    restore driver normal behaviour

    The code corresponding to this feature is normally not compiled.
    Its purpose is driver testing only. In order to compile the code 
    that allows to trigger error recovery you must define at compile time 
    SCSI_NCR_DEBUG_ERROR_RECOVERY.
    If you have compiled the driver with this option, nothing will happen 
    as long as you donnot use the control command 'debug_error_recovery' 
    with sge, abort, reset or parity as argument.
    If you select an error type, it will be triggered by the driver every 
    30 seconds.

9. Configuration parameters

If the firmware of all your devices is perfect enough, all the
features supported by the driver can be enabled at start-up.  However,
if only one has a flaw for some SCSI feature, you can disable the
support by the driver of this feature at linux start-up and enable
this feature after boot-up only for devices that support it safely.

CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_IOMAPPED       (default answer: n)
    Answer "y" if you suspect your mother board to not allow memory mapped I/O.
    May slow down performance a little.  This option is required by
    Linux/PPC and is used no matter what you select here.  Linux/PPC
    suffers no performance loss with this option since all IO is memory
    mapped anyway.

CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_TAGGED_QUEUE    (default answer: n)
    Answer "y" if you are sure that all your SCSI devices that are able to 
    accept tagged commands will proceed safely.

CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_MAX_TAGS         (default answer: 4)
    This option allows you to specify the maximum number of tagged commands 
    that can be queued to a device.

CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_SYNC            (default answer: 5)
    This option allows you to specify the frequency in MHz the driver 
    will use at boot time for synchronous data transfer negotiations.
    This frequency can be changed later with the "setsync" control command.
    0 means "asynchronous data transfers".

CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_FORCE_SYNC_NEGO (default answer: n)
    Force synchronous negotiation for all SCSI-2 devices.
    Some SCSI-2 devices do not report this feature in byte 7 of inquiry 
    response but do support it properly (TAMARACK scanners for example).

CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_NO_DISCONNECT   (default and only reasonnable answer: n)
    If you suspect a device of yours does not properly support disconnections,
    you can answer "y". Then, all SCSI devices will never disconnect the bus 
    even while performing long SCSI operations.

CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_SYMBIOS_COMPAT
    Genuine SYMBIOS boards use GPIO0 in output for controller LED and GPIO3 
    bit as a flag indicating singled-ended/differential interface.
    If all the boards of your system are genuine SYMBIOS boards or use
    BIOS and drivers from SYMBIOS, you would want to enable this option.
    This option must NOT be enabled if your system has at least one 53C8XX 
    based scsi board with a vendor-specific BIOS.
    For example, Tekram DC-390/U, DC-390/W and DC-390/F scsi controllers 
    use a vendor-specific BIOS and are known to not use SYMBIOS compatible 
    GPIO wiring. So, this option must not be enabled if your system has 
    such a board installed.

CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_NVRAM_DETECT
    Enable support for reading the serial NVRAM data on Symbios and
    some Symbios compatible cards, and Tekram DC390W/U/F cards. Useful for
    systems with more than one Symbios compatible controller where at least
    one has a serial NVRAM, or for a system with a mixture of Symbios and
    Tekram cards. Enables setting the boot order of host adaptors
    to something other than the default order or "reverse probe" order. 
    Also enables Symbios and Tekram cards to be distinguished so
    CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_SYMBIOS_COMPAT may be set in a system with a
    mixture of Symbios and Tekram cards so the Symbios cards can make use of
    the full range of Symbios features, differential, led pin, without
    causing problems for the Tekram card(s).

10. Boot setup commands

10.1 Syntax

Setup commands can be passed to the driver at boot time.
A boot setup command for the ncr53c8xx driver begins with the driver name 
"ncr53c8xx=". The kernel syntax parser then expects an optionnal list of
integers separated with comma followed by an optionnal list of  comma- 
separated strings. Example of boot setup command under lilo prompt:

lilo: linux root=/dev/hda2 ncr53c8xx=tags:4,sync:10,debug:0x200

- enable tagged commands, up to 4 tagged commands queued.
- set synchronous negotiation speed to 10 Mega-transfers / second.
- set DEBUG_NEGO flag.

For the moment, the integer list of arguments is disgarded by the driver. 
It will be used in the future in order to allow a per controller setup.

Each string argument must be specified as "keyword:value". Only lower-case 
characters and digits are allowed.

10.2 Available arguments

Master parity checking
      mpar:y     enabled
      mpar:n     disabled

Scsi parity checking
      spar:y     enabled
      spar:n     disabled

Scsi disconnections
      disc:y     enabled
      disc:n     disabled
 
Special features
   Only apply to 810A, 825A, 860 and 875 controllers.
   Have no effect with normal 810 and 825.
      specf:y    enabled
      specf:n    disabled

Ultra SCSI support
   Only apply to 860 and 875 controllers.
   Have no effect with other ones.
      ultra:y    enabled
      ultra:n    disabled

Number of tagged commands
      tags:0     (or tags:1 ) tagged command queuing disabled
      tags:#tags (#tags  > 1) tagged command queuing enabled
  #tags will be truncated to the max queued commands configuration parameter.
  If the driver is configured with a maximum of 4 queued commands, tags:4 is 
  the right argument to specify.

Default synchronous period factor
      sync:255     disabled (asynchronous transfer mode)
      sync:#factor
  #factor = 10     Ultra-2 SCSI 40 Mega-transfers / second
  #factor = 11     Ultra-2 SCSI 33 Mega-transfers / second
  #factor < 25     Ultra   SCSI 20 Mega-transfers / second
  #factor < 50     Fast    SCSI-2

  In all cases, the driver will use the minimum transfer period supported by 
  controllers according to NCR53C8XX chip type.

Negotiate synchronous with all devices
  (force sync nego)
      fsn:y      enabled
      fsn:n      disabled

Verbosity level
      verb:0     minimal
      verb:1     normal
      verb:2     too much

Debug mode
      debug:0	 clear debug flags
      debug:#x   set debug flags
  #x is an integer value combining the following power-of-2 values:
  DEBUG_ALLOC       0x1
  DEBUG_PHASE       0x2
  DEBUG_POLL        0x4
  DEBUG_QUEUE       0x8
  DEBUG_RESULT     0x10
  DEBUG_SCATTER    0x20
  DEBUG_SCRIPT     0x40
  DEBUG_TINY       0x80
  DEBUG_TIMING    0x100
  DEBUG_NEGO      0x200
  DEBUG_TAGS      0x400
  DEBUG_FREEZE    0x800
  DEBUG_RESTART  0x1000

  You can play safely with DEBUG_NEGO. However, some of these flags may 
  generate bunches of syslog messages. 

Burst max
      burst:0    burst disabled
      burst:255  get burst length from initial IO register settings.
      burst:#x   burst enabled (1<<#x burst transfers max)
  #x is an integer value which is log base 2 of the burst transfers max.
  The NCR53C875 and NCR53C825A support up to 128 burst transfers (#x = 7).
  Other chips only support up to 16 (#x = 4).
  This is a maximum value. The driver set the burst length according to chip 
  and revision ids. By default the driver uses the maximum value supported 
  by the chip.

LED support
     led:1      enable  LED support
     led:0      disable LED support
  Donnot enable LED support if your scsi board does not use SDMS BIOS.
  (See 'Configuration parameters')

Max wide
    wide:1      wide scsi enabled
    wide:0      wide scsi disabled
  Some scsi boards use a 875 (ultra wide) and only supply narrow connectors.
  If you have connected a wide device with a 50 pins to 68 pins cable 
  converter, any accepted wide negotiation will break further data transfers.
  In such a case, using "wide:0" in the bootup command will be helpfull. 

Differential mode
    diff:0	never set up diff mode
    diff:1	set up diff mode if BIOS set it
    diff:2	always set up diff mode
    diff:3	set diff mode if GPIO3 is not set

IRQ mode
    irqm:0	always open drain
    irqm:1	same as initial settings (assumed BIOS settings)
    irqm:2	always totem pole

Reverse probe
    revprob:n   probe chip ids from the PCI configuration in this order:
                810, 815, 820, 860, 875, 885, 895, 896
    revprob:y   probe chip ids in the reverse order.

Fix up PCI configuration space
    pcifix:<option bits>

    Available option bits:
        0x1:   Set PCI cache-line size register if not set.
        0x2:   Set write and invalidate bit in PCI command register.
        0x4:   Increase if necessary PCI latency timer according to burst max.

    Use 'pcifix:7' in order to allow the driver to fix up all PCI features.

Serial NVRAM
    nvram:n     do not look for serial NVRAM
    nvram:y     test controllers for onboard serial NVRAM

Boot fail safe
    safe:y	load the following assumed fail safe initial setup

  master parity			disabled		mpar:n
  scsi parity			enabled			spar:y
  disconnections		not allowed		disc:n
  special features		disabled		specf:n
  ultra scsi			disabled		ultra:n
  force sync negotiation	disabled		fsn:n
  reverse probe			disabled		revprob:n
  PCI fix up                    disabled                pcifix:0
  serial NVRAM                  enabled                 nvram:y
  verbosity level		2			verb:2
  tagged command queuing	disabled		tags:0
  synchronous negotiation	disabled		sync:255
  debug flags			none			debug:0
  burst length			from BIOS settings	burst:255
  LED support			disabled		led:0
  wide support			disabled		wide:0
  settle time			10 seconds		settle:10
  differential support		from BIOS settings	diff:1
  irq mode			from BIOS settings	irqm:1

10.3 Advised boot setup commands

If the driver has been configured with default options, the equivalent 
boot setup is:

   ncr53c8xx=mpar:y,spar:y,disc:y,specf:y,fsn:n,ultra:y,fsn:n,revprob:n,verb:1\
             tags:0,sync:50,debug:0,burst:7,led:0,wide:1,settle:2,diff:0,irqm:0

For an installation diskette or a safe but not fast system,
boot setup can be:

    ncr53c8xx=safe:y,mpar:y,disc:y
    ncr53c8xx=safe:y,disc:y
    ncr53c8xx=safe:y,mpar:y
    ncr53c8xx=safe:y

My personnal system works flawlessly with the following equivalent setup:

   ncr53c8xx=mpar:y,spar:y,disc:y,specf:y,fsn:n,ultra:y,fsn:n,revprob:n,verb:1\
             tags:8,sync:12,debug:0,burst:7,led:1,wide:1,settle:2,diff:0,irqm:0

The driver prints its actual setup when verbosity level is 2. You can try 
"ncr53c8xx=verb:2" to get the "static" setup of the driver, or add "verb:2" 
to your boot setup command in order to check the actual setup the driver is 
using.

10.4 PCI configuration fix-up boot option

pcifix:<option bits>

Available option bits:
    0x1:     Set PCI cache-line size register if not set.
    0x2:     Set write and invalidate bit in PCI command register.

Use 'pcifix:3' in order to allow the driver to fix both PCI features.

These options only apply to new SYMBIOS chips 810A, 825A, 860 and 875 
and are only supported for Pentium and 486 class processors.
Recent SYMBIOS 53C8XX scsi processors are able to use PCI read multiple 
and PCI write and invalidate commands. These features require the 
cache line size register to be properly set in the PCI configuration 
space of the chips. On the other hand, chips will use PCI write and 
invalidate commands only if the corresponding bit is set to 1 in the 
PCI command register.

Not all PCI bioses set the PCI cache line register and the PCI write and 
invalidate bit in the PCI configuration space of 53C8XX chips.
Optimized PCI accesses may be broken for some PCI/memory controllers or 
make problems with some PCI boards.

This fix-up works flawlessly on my system.
(MB Triton HX / 53C875 / 53C810A)
I use these options at my own risks as you will do if you decide to 
use them too.


10.5 Serial NVRAM support boot option

nvram:n     do not look for serial NVRAM
nvram:y     test controllers for onboard serial NVRAM

This option is described below (see 17. Serial NVRAM support).
When this option is enabled, the driver tries to detect all boards using 
a Serial NVRAM. This memory is used to hold user set up parameters.

The parameters the driver is able to get from the NVRAM depend on the 
data format used, as follow:

                                 Tekram format      Symbios format
General and host parameters
    Boot order                         N                   Y
    Host SCSI ID                       Y                   Y
    SCSI parity checking               Y                   Y
    Verbose boot messages              N                   Y
SCSI devices parameters
    Synchronous transfer speed         Y                   Y
    Wide 16 / Narrow                   Y                   Y
    Tagged Command Queuing enabled     Y                   Y
    Disconnections enabled             Y                   Y
    Scan at boot time                  N                   Y

In order to speed up the system boot, for each device configured without 
the "scan at boot time" option, the driver forces an error on the 
first TEST UNIT READY command received for this device.

Some SDMS BIOS revisions seem to be unable to boot cleanly with very fast 
hard disks. In such a situation you cannot configure the NVRAM with 
optimized parameters value.

The 'nvram' boot option can be entered in hexadecimal form in order 
to ignore some options configured in the NVRAM, as follow:

mvram=<bits options>
      0x01   look for NVRAM  (equivalent to nvram=y)
      0x02   ignore NVRAM "Synchronous negotiation" parameters for all devices
      0x04   ignore NVRAM "Wide negotiation"  parameter for all devices
      0x08   ignore NVRAM "Scan at boot time" parameter for all devices

My Atlas Wide only boots cleanly in 8 bits asynchronous data transfer 
mode. However, it works flawlessly at 20 MB/second with the driver.
Using "nvram=0x7" allows me to boot in 8 bits/async and to let the driver 
use its setup for synchronous and wide negotiations.


11. Some constants and flags of the ncr53c8xx.h header file

Some of these are defined from the configuration parameters.  To
change other "defines", you must edit the header file.  Do that only
if you know what you are doing.

SCSI_NCR_SETUP_ULTRA_SUPPORT	(default: defined)
	Ultra SCSI support.
	Can be changed by the following boot setup command:
		ncr53c8xx=ultra:n

SCSI_NCR_SETUP_SPECIAL_FEATURES	(default: defined)
	If defined, the driver will enable some special features according  
	to chip and revision id.
        For 810A, 860, 825A and 875 scsi chips, this option enables support 
        of features that reduce load of PCI bus and memory accesses during  
        scsi transfer processing: burst op-code fetch, read multiple, 
        read line, prefetch, cache line line, write and invalidate, 
        burst 128 (875 only), large dma fifo (875 only), offset 16 (875 only).
	Can be changed by the following boot setup command:
		ncr53c8xx=specf:n

SCSI_NCR_IOMAPPED		(default: not defined)
	If defined, normal I/O is forced.

SCSI_NCR_SHARE_IRQ		(default: defined)
	If defined, request shared IRQ.
	
SCSI_NCR_MAX_TAGS		(default: 4)
	Maximum number of simultaneous tagged commands to a device.
	Can be changed by "settags <target> <maxtags>"

SCSI_NCR_SETUP_DEFAULT_SYNC     (default: 50)
	Transfer period factor the driver will use at boot time for synchronous 
	negotiation. 0 means asynchronous.
	Can be changed by "setsync <target> <period factor>"

SCSI_NCR_SETUP_DEFAULT_TAGS     (default: 4)
	Default number of simultaneous tagged commands to a device.
	< 1 means tagged command queuing disabled at start-up.

SCSI_NCR_ALWAYS_SIMPLE_TAG	(default: defined)
	Use SIMPLE TAG for read and write commands.
	Can be changed by "setorder <ordered|simple|default>"

SCSI_NCR_SETUP_DISCONNECTION	(default: defined)
	If defined, targets are allowed to disconnect.

SCSI_NCR_SETUP_FORCE_SYNC_NEGO	(default: not defined)
	If defined, synchronous negotiation is tried for all SCSI-2 devices.
	Can be changed by "setsync <target> <period>"

SCSI_NCR_SETUP_MASTER_PARITY	(default: defined)
	If defined, master parity checking is enabled.

SCSI_NCR_SETUP_MASTER_PARITY	(default: defined)
	If defined, SCSI parity checking is enabled.

SCSI_NCR_PROFILE		(default: defined)
	If defined, profiling information is gathered.

SCSI_NCR_MAX_SCATTER		(default: 128)
	Scatter list size of the driver ccb.

SCSI_NCR_MAX_TARGET		(default: 16)
	Max number of targets per host.

SCSI_NCR_MAX_HOST		(default: 2)
	Max number of host controllers.

SCSI_NCR_SETTLE_TIME		(default: 2)
	Number of seconds the driver will wait after reset.

SCSI_NCR_TIMEOUT_ALERT		(default: 3)
	If a pending command will time out after this amount of seconds,
	an ordered tag is used for the next command.
	Avoids timeouts for unordered tagged commands.

SCSI_NCR_CAN_QUEUE		(default: 7*SCSI_NCR_MAX_TAGS)
	Max number of commands that can be queued to a host.

SCSI_NCR_CMD_PER_LUN		(default: SCSI_NCR_MAX_TAGS)
	Max number of commands queued to a host for a device.

SCSI_NCR_SG_TABLESIZE		(default: SCSI_NCR_MAX_SCATTER-1)
	Max size of the Linux scatter/gather list.

SCSI_NCR_MAX_LUN	(default: 8)
	Max number of LUNs per target.


12. Installation

12.1 Provided files

Driver and common files:

	README.ncr53c8xx	: this file
	ChangeLog.ncr53c8xx	: change log
	ConfigHelp.ncr53c8xx	: Part of Configure.help about the driver
	ncr53c8xx.h		: definitions
	ncr53c8xx.c		: the driver code
	scsitag.c		: command tool to enable tagged queue
	conf.modules		: sample of /etc/conf.modules

	Install.ncr53c8xx	: installation script

	Patch-1.2.13.ncr53c8xx  : patch for linux-1.2.13
	Patch-2.0.29.ncr53c8xx  : patch for linux-2.0.29

You must untar the distribution with the following command:

	tar zxvf ncrBsd2Linux-2.2b-src.tar.gz

The sub-directory ncr53c8xx-2.2b will be created. Change to this directory.


12.2 Installation procedure

This install script has been tested with linux-1.2.13 and 2.0.29.

This procedure copies the new driver files to the kernel tree and
applies a patch to some files of the kernel tree.

	If your linux directory is at the standard location
	"/usr/src/linux", just enter:
		Install.ncr53c8xx

	Else enter:
		Install.ncr53c8xx <your_linux_directory>

	Make the kernel:
		Change to linux source directory
		Configure with NCR53C7,8XX support = N
		Configure with NCR53C8XX   support = Y (or m)
		Make dependancies
		Make the kernel (use make zdisk first)
		Make and install modules if you have configured with 'm'


13. Control commands under linux-1.2.13

Profiling data and control commands using the proc SCSI file system
are not available for linux-1.2.13.  The only control command
available is "scsitag" which allows you to enable tagged command
queuing support after linux boot-up.

Tagged command queueing is disabled by default at system startup.

You can enable tagged queue per device with the following command:

	scsitag device_name (ex: scsitag /dev/sda)

Use "cc -o scsitag scsitag.c" to create the "scsitag" executable.


14. Known problems

14.1 Tagged commands with Iomega Jaz device

I have not tried this device, however it has been reported to me the
following: This device is capable of Tagged command queuing. However
while spinning up, it rejects Tagged commands. This behaviour is
conforms to 6.8.2 of SCSI-2 specifications. The current behaviour of
the driver in that situation is not satisfying. So do not enable
Tagged command queuing for devices that are able to spin down.  The
other problem that may appear is timeouts. The only way to avoid
timeouts seems to edit linux/drivers/scsi/sd.c and to increase the
current timeout values.

14.2 Device names change when another controller is added.

When you add a new NCR53C8XX chip based controller to a system that already 
has one or more controllers of this family, it may happen that the order 
the driver registers them to the kernel causes problems due to device 
name changes.
When at least one controller uses NvRAM, SDMS BIOS version 4 allows you to 
define the order the BIOS will scan the scsi boards. The driver attaches 
controllers according to BIOS information if NvRAM detect option is set.

If your controllers do not have NvRAM, you can:

- Ask the driver to probe chip ids in reverse order from the boot command
  line: ncr53c8xx=revprob:y
- Make appropriate changes in the fstab.
- Use the 'scsidev' tool from Eric Youngdale.

15. SCSI problem troubleshooting

Most SCSI problems are due to a non conformant SCSI bus or to buggy
devices.  If infortunately you have SCSI problems, you can check the
following things:

- SCSI bus cables
- terminations at both end of the SCSI chain
- linux syslog messages (some of them may help you)

If you donnot find the source of problems, you can configure the
driver with no features enabled.

- only asynchronous data transfers
- tagged commands disabled
- disconnections not allowed

Now, if your SCSI bus is ok, your system have every chance to work
with this safe configuration but performances will not be optimal.

If it still fails, then you can send your problem description to
appropriate mailing lists or news-groups.  Send me a copy in order to
be sure I will receive it.  Obviously, a bug in the driver code is
possible.

     My email address: Gerard Roudier <groudier@club-internet.fr>

Allowing disconnections is important if you use several devices on
your SCSI bus but often causes problems with buggy devices.
Synchronous data transfers increases throughput of fast devices like
hard disks.  Good SCSI hard disks with a large cache gain advantage of
tagged commands queuing.

Try to enable one feature at a time with control commands.  For example:

- echo "setsync all 25" >/proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/0
  Will enable fast synchronous data transfer negotiation for all targets.

- echo "setflag 3" >/proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/0
  Will reset flags (no_sync) for target 3, and so will allow it to disconnect 
  the SCSI Bus.

- echo "settags 3 4" >/proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/0
  Will enable tagged command queuing for target 3 if that device supports it.

Once you have found the device and the feature that cause problems, just 
disable that feature for that device.


16. Synchonous transfer negotiation tables

Tables below have been created by calling the routine the driver uses
for synchronisation negotiation timing calculation and chip setting.
The first table corresponds to Ultra chips 53875 and 53C860 with 80 MHz 
clock and 5 clock divisors.
The second one has been calculated by setting the scsi clock to 40 Mhz 
and using 4 clock divisors and so applies to all NCR53C8XX chips in fast 
SCSI-2 mode.

Periods are in nano-seconds and speeds are in Mega-transfers per second.
1 Mega-transfers/second means 1 MB/s with 8 bits SCSI and 2 MB/s with 
Wide16 SCSI.

16.1 Synchronous timings for 53C875 and 53C860 Ultra-SCSI controllers

 ----------------------------------------------
 Negotiated                     NCR settings
 Factor   Period   Speed        Period   Speed
 ------   ------   ------       ------   ------
 12       50       20.000       50       20.000
 13       52       19.230       62       16.000
 14       56       17.857       62       16.000
 15       60       16.666       62       16.000
 16       64       15.625       75       13.333
 17       68       14.705       75       13.333
 18       72       13.888       75       13.333
 19       76       13.157       87       11.428
 20       80       12.500       87       11.428
 21       84       11.904       87       11.428
 22       88       11.363       93       10.666
 23       92       10.869       93       10.666
 24       96       10.416      100       10.000
 25      100       10.000      100       10.000
 26      104        9.615      112        8.888
 27      108        9.259      112        8.888
 28      112        8.928      112        8.888
 29      116        8.620      125        8.000
 30      120        8.333      125        8.000
 31      124        8.064      125        8.000
 32      128        7.812      131        7.619
 33      132        7.575      150        6.666
 34      136        7.352      150        6.666
 35      140        7.142      150        6.666
 36      144        6.944      150        6.666
 37      148        6.756      150        6.666
 38      152        6.578      175        5.714
 39      156        6.410      175        5.714
 40      160        6.250      175        5.714
 41      164        6.097      175        5.714
 42      168        5.952      175        5.714
 43      172        5.813      175        5.714
 44      176        5.681      187        5.333
 45      180        5.555      187        5.333
 46      184        5.434      187        5.333
 47      188        5.319      200        5.000
 48      192        5.208      200        5.000
 49      196        5.102      200        5.000


16.2 Synchronous timings for fast SCSI-2 53C8XX controllers

 ----------------------------------------------
 Negotiated                     NCR settings
 Factor   Period   Speed        Period   Speed
 ------   ------   ------       ------   ------
 25      100       10.000      100       10.000
 26      104        9.615      125        8.000
 27      108        9.259      125        8.000
 28      112        8.928      125        8.000
 29      116        8.620      125        8.000
 30      120        8.333      125        8.000
 31      124        8.064      125        8.000
 32      128        7.812      131        7.619
 33      132        7.575      150        6.666
 34      136        7.352      150        6.666
 35      140        7.142      150        6.666
 36      144        6.944      150        6.666
 37      148        6.756      150        6.666
 38      152        6.578      175        5.714
 39      156        6.410      175        5.714
 40      160        6.250      175        5.714
 41      164        6.097      175        5.714
 42      168        5.952      175        5.714
 43      172        5.813      175        5.714
 44      176        5.681      187        5.333
 45      180        5.555      187        5.333
 46      184        5.434      187        5.333
 47      188        5.319      200        5.000
 48      192        5.208      200        5.000
 49      196        5.102      200        5.000


17. Serial NVRAM (added by Richard Waltham: dormouse@farsrobt.demon.co.uk)

17.1 Features

Enabling serial NVRAM support enables detection of the serial NVRAM included
on Symbios and some Symbios compatible host adaptors, and Tekram boards. The 
serial NVRAM is used by Symbios and Tekram to hold set up parameters for the 
host adaptor and it's attached drives.

The Symbios NVRAM also holds data on the boot order of host adaptors in a
system with more than one host adaptor. This enables the order of scanning
the cards for drives to be changed from the default used during host adaptor
detection.

This can be done to a limited extent at the moment using "reverse probe" but
this only changes the order of detection of different types of cards. The
NVRAM boot order settings can do this as well as change the order the same
types of cards are scanned in, something "reverse probe" cannot do.

Tekram boards using Symbios chips, DC390W/F/U, which have NVRAM are detected
and this is used to distinguish between Symbios compatible and Tekram host 
adaptors. This is used to disable the Symbios compatible "diff" setting
incorrectly set on Tekram boards if the CONFIG_SCSI_53C8XX_SYMBIOS_COMPAT 
configuration parameter is set enabling both Symbios and Tekram boards to be 
used together with the Symbios cards using all their features, including
"diff" support. ("led pin" support for Symbios compatible cards can remain
enabled when using Tekram cards. It does nothing useful for Tekram host
adaptors but does not cause problems either.)


17.2 Symbios NVRAM layout

typical data at NVRAM address 0x100 (53c810a NVRAM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
00 00
64 01
8e 0b

00 30 00 00 00 00 07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 04 10 04 00 00 

04 00 0f 00 00 10 00 50 00 00 01 00 00 62 
04 00 03 00 00 10 00 58 00 00 01 00 00 63 
04 00 01 00 00 10 00 48 00 00 01 00 00 61 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 

0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 

0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 

fe fe
00 00
00 00
-----------------------------------------------------------
NVRAM layout details

NVRAM Address 0x000-0x0ff not used
              0x100-0x26f initialised data
              0x270-0x7ff not used

general layout

        header  -   6 bytes,
        data    - 356 bytes (checksum is byte sum of this data)
        trailer -   6 bytes
                  ---
        total     368 bytes

data area layout

        controller set up  -  20 bytes
        boot configuration -  56 bytes (4x14 bytes)
        device set up      - 128 bytes (16x8 bytes)
        unused (spare?)    - 152 bytes (19x8 bytes)
                             ---
        total                356 bytes

-----------------------------------------------------------
header

00 00   - ?? start marker
64 01   - byte count (lsb/msb excludes header/trailer)
8e 0b   - checksum (lsb/msb excludes header/trailer)
-----------------------------------------------------------
controller set up

00 30 00 00 00 00 07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 04 10 04 00 00
                   |     |                 |
                   |     |                  -- host ID
                   |      --flag bits 2
                   |        0x00000001= scan order hi->low
                   |            (default 0x00 - scan low->hi)
                    --flag bits 1
                       0x00000001 scam enable
                       0x00000010 parity enable
                       0x00000100 verbose boot msgs

remaining bytes unknown - they do not appear to change in my
current set up for any of the controllers.

default set up is identical for 53c810a and 53c875 NVRAM
-----------------------------------------------------------
boot configuration

boot order set by order of the devices in this table

04 00 0f 00 00 10 00 50 00 00 01 00 00 62 -- 1st controller
04 00 03 00 00 10 00 58 00 00 01 00 00 63    2nd controller
04 00 01 00 00 10 00 48 00 00 01 00 00 61    3rd controller
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00    4th controller
       |  |  |  |     |        |     |  |
       |  |  |  |     |        |      ---- PCI io port adr
       |  |  |  |     |         --0x01 init/scan at boot time
       |  |  |  |      --PCI device/function number (0xdddddfff)
       |  |   ----- ?? PCI vendor ID (lsb/msb)
        ----PCI device ID (lsb/msb)

?? use of this data is a guess but seems reasonable

remaining bytes unknown - they do not appear to change in my
current set up

default set up is identical for 53c810a and 53c875 NVRAM
-----------------------------------------------------------
device set up (up to 16 devices - includes controller)

0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 - id 0
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 

0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 
0f 00 08 08 64 00 0a 00 - id 15
 |     |  |  |     |  |
 |     |  |  |      ----timeout (lsb/msb)
 |     |  |   --synch period (0x?? 40 Mtrans/sec- fast 40) (probably 0x28)
 |     |  |                  (0x30 20 Mtrans/sec- fast 20)
 |     |  |                  (0x64 10 Mtrans/sec- fast )
 |     |  |                  (0xc8  5 Mtrans/sec)
 |     |  |                  (0x00  asynchronous)
 |     |   -- ?? max sync offset (0x08 in NVRAM on 53c810a) 
 |     |                         (0x10 in NVRAM on 53c875)
 |      --device bus width (0x08 narrow)
 |                         (0x10 16 bit wide)
  --flag bits
    0x00000001 - disconnect enabled
    0x00000010 - scan at boot time
    0x00000100 - scan luns
    0x00001000 - queue tags enabled

remaining bytes unknown - they do not appear to change in my
current set up

?? use of this data is a guess but seems reasonable 
(but it could be max bus width)

default set up for 53c810a NVRAM
default set up for 53c875 NVRAM - bus width     - 0x10
                                - sync offset ? - 0x10
                                - sync period   - 0x30
-----------------------------------------------------------
?? spare device space (32 bit bus ??)

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  (19x8bytes)
.
.
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

default set up is identical for 53c810a and 53c875 NVRAM
-----------------------------------------------------------
trailer

fe fe   - ? end marker ?
00 00
00 00

default set up is identical for 53c810a and 53c875 NVRAM
-----------------------------------------------------------



17.3 Tekram NVRAM layout

nvram 64x16 (1024 bit)

Drive settings

Drive ID 0-15 (addr 0x0yyyy0 = device setup, yyyy = ID)
              (addr 0x0yyyy1 = 0x0000)

    x x x x  x x x x  x x x x  x x x x
               | | |      | |  | | | |
               | | |      | |  | | |  ----- parity check   0 - off
               | | |      | |  | | |                       1 - on
               | | |      | |  | | |
               | | |      | |  | |  ------- sync neg       0 - off
               | | |      | |  | |                         1 - on
               | | |      | |  | |
               | | |      | |  |  --------- disconnect     0 - off
               | | |      | |  |                           1 - on
               | | |      | |  |
               | | |      | |   ----------- start cmd      0 - off
               | | |      | |                              1 - on
               | | |      | |
               | | |      |  -------------- tagged cmds    0 - off
               | | |      |                                1 - on
               | | |      | 
               | | |       ---------------- wide neg       0 - off
               | | |                                       1 - on
               | | |
                --------------------------- sync rate      0 - 10.0 Mtrans/sec
                                                           1 -  8.0
                                                           2 -  6.6
                                                           3 -  5.7
                                                           4 -  5.0
                                                           5 -  4.0
                                                           6 -  3.0
                                                           7 -  2.0
                                                           7 -  2.0
                                                           8 - 20.0
                                                           9 - 16.7
                                                           a - 13.9
                                                           b - 11.9

Global settings

Host flags 0 (addr 0x100000, 32) 

    x x x x  x x x x  x x x x  x x x x
    | | | |  | | | |           | | | |
    | | | |  | | | |            ----------- host ID    0x00 - 0x0f
    | | | |  | | | |
    | | | |  | | |  ----------------------- support for    0 - off
    | | | |  | | |                          > 2 drives     1 - on
    | | | |  | | | 
    | | | |  | |  ------------------------- support drives 0 - off
    | | | |  | |                            > 1Gbytes      1 - on
    | | | |  | |
    | | | |  |  --------------------------- bus reset on   0 - off
    | | | |  |                                power on     1 - on
    | | | |  |
    | | | |   ----------------------------- active neg     0 - off
    | | | |                                                1 - on
    | | | |
    | | |  -------------------------------- imm seek       0 - off
    | | |                                                  1 - on
    | | |
    | |  ---------------------------------- scan luns      0 - off
    | |                                                    1 - on
    | |
     -------------------------------------- removable      0 - disable
                                            as BIOS dev    1 - boot device
                                                           2 - all

Host flags 1 (addr 0x100001, 33)

    x x x x  x x x x  x x x x  x x x x
               | | |             | | | 
               | | |              --------- boot delay     0 -   3 sec
               | | |                                       1 -   5
               | | |                                       2 -  10
               | | |                                       3 -  20
               | | |                                       4 -  30
               | | |                                       5 -  60
               | | |                                       6 - 120
               | | |
                --------------------------- max tag cmds   0 -  2
                                                           1 -  4
                                                           2 -  8
                                                           3 - 16
                                                           4 - 32

Host flags 2 (addr 0x100010, 34)

    x x x x  x x x x  x x x x  x x x x
                                     |
                                      ----- F2/F6 enable   0 - off ???
                                                           1 - on  ???

checksum (addr 0x111111)

checksum = 0x1234 - (sum addr 0-63)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

default nvram data:

0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000
0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000
0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000
0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 0x0037 0x0000 

0x0f07 0x0400 0x0001 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000
0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000
0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000
0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0x0000 0xfbbc


18. Support for Big Endian

The PCI local bus has been primarily designed for x86 architecture.
As a consequence, PCI devices generally expect DWORDS using little endian 
byte ordering.

18.1 Big Endian CPU

In order to support NCR chips on a Big Endian architecture the driver has to 
perform byte reordering each time it is needed. This feature has been 
added to the driver by Cort <cort@cs.nmt.edu> and is available in driver 
version 2.5 and later ones. For the moment Big Endian support has only 
been tested on Linux/PPC (PowerPC).

18.2 NCR chip in Big Endian mode of operations

It can be read in SYMBIOS documentation that some chips support a special 
Big Endian mode, on paper: 53C815, 53C825A, 53C875, 53C875N, 53C895.
This mode of operations is not software-selectable, but needs pin named 
BigLit to be pulled-up. Using this mode, most of byte reorderings should 
be avoided when the driver is running on a Big Endian CPU.
Driver version 2.5 is also, in theory, ready for this feature.

===============================================================================
End of NCR53C8XX driver README file