Re: [2.6.18,19] SATA boot problems (ICH6/ICH6W)

[Jeff Garzik <jgarzik@pobox.com>]

Tejun Heo wrote:
> Alan wrote:
>>> Some SATA controllers use 0xff to indicate empty port.  This seldomly
>>> matters as we have the almighty SStatus register to check device
>>> presence (there is a bug regarding this, patch pending).
>>>
>>> This GoVault drive fails because ata_piix doesn't have SCR while using
>>> 0xff to indicate port not ready (dunno exact which state causes 0xff
>>> status tho) while the GoVault drive fails to clear that state in 150ms
>>> (not 30s).  The libata sees 0xff after SRST if GoVault drive is attached
>> So we can also cut this down by only doing the extra polling on a device
>> which is SATA and lacks SCR ?
> 
> That's true but the offending one is ata_piix, so the cutting down is
> not as effective.  If we can live with the extra two secs per empty port
> for some of ata_piix for the time being (maybe two or three releases),
> the delay can be added now.  One more thing to consider is GoVault is
> the only known device to show this behavior till now.
> 
> Hmm... What do you (Alan and Jeff) think?

That last factor weighs on my mind.

While I don't mind making changes for this device, and taking into 
consideration Alan's recent comments that some ATAPI workarounds are 
still yet to appear for libata, I still dislike making changes for one 
specific device with non-standard behavior.

	Jeff