Adding upstream version 4.19.249.upstream/4.19.249upstream

Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>

1 files changed, 592 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/scsi/st.txt b/Documentation/scsi/st.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ec0acf6ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/scsi/st.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,592 @@
+This file contains brief information about the SCSI tape driver.
+The driver is currently maintained by Kai Mäkisara (email
+Kai.Makisara@kolumbus.fi)
+
+Last modified: Tue Feb  9 21:54:16 2016 by kai.makisara
+
+
+BASICS
+
+The driver is generic, i.e., it does not contain any code tailored
+to any specific tape drive. The tape parameters can be specified with
+one of the following three methods:
+
+1. Each user can specify the tape parameters he/she wants to use
+directly with ioctls. This is administratively a very simple and
+flexible method and applicable to single-user workstations. However,
+in a multiuser environment the next user finds the tape parameters in
+state the previous user left them.
+
+2. The system manager (root) can define default values for some tape
+parameters, like block size and density using the MTSETDRVBUFFER ioctl.
+These parameters can be programmed to come into effect either when a
+new tape is loaded into the drive or if writing begins at the
+beginning of the tape. The second method is applicable if the tape
+drive performs auto-detection of the tape format well (like some
+QIC-drives). The result is that any tape can be read, writing can be
+continued using existing format, and the default format is used if
+the tape is rewritten from the beginning (or a new tape is written
+for the first time). The first method is applicable if the drive
+does not perform auto-detection well enough and there is a single
+"sensible" mode for the device. An example is a DAT drive that is
+used only in variable block mode (I don't know if this is sensible
+or not :-).
+
+The user can override the parameters defined by the system
+manager. The changes persist until the defaults again come into
+effect.
+
+3. By default, up to four modes can be defined and selected using the minor
+number (bits 5 and 6). The number of modes can be changed by changing
+ST_NBR_MODE_BITS in st.h. Mode 0 corresponds to the defaults discussed
+above. Additional modes are dormant until they are defined by the
+system manager (root). When specification of a new mode is started,
+the configuration of mode 0 is used to provide a starting point for
+definition of the new mode.
+
+Using the modes allows the system manager to give the users choices
+over some of the buffering parameters not directly accessible to the
+users (buffered and asynchronous writes). The modes also allow choices
+between formats in multi-tape operations (the explicitly overridden
+parameters are reset when a new tape is loaded).
+
+If more than one mode is used, all modes should contain definitions
+for the same set of parameters.
+
+Many Unices contain internal tables that associate different modes to
+supported devices. The Linux SCSI tape driver does not contain such
+tables (and will not do that in future). Instead of that, a utility
+program can be made that fetches the inquiry data sent by the device,
+scans its database, and sets up the modes using the ioctls. Another
+alternative is to make a small script that uses mt to set the defaults
+tailored to the system.
+
+The driver supports fixed and variable block size (within buffer
+limits). Both the auto-rewind (minor equals device number) and
+non-rewind devices (minor is 128 + device number) are implemented.
+
+In variable block mode, the byte count in write() determines the size
+of the physical block on tape. When reading, the drive reads the next
+tape block and returns to the user the data if the read() byte count
+is at least the block size. Otherwise, error ENOMEM is returned.
+
+In fixed block mode, the data transfer between the drive and the
+driver is in multiples of the block size. The write() byte count must
+be a multiple of the block size. This is not required when reading but
+may be advisable for portability.
+
+Support is provided for changing the tape partition and partitioning
+of the tape with one or two partitions. By default support for
+partitioned tape is disabled for each driver and it can be enabled
+with the ioctl MTSETDRVBUFFER.
+
+By default the driver writes one filemark when the device is closed after
+writing and the last operation has been a write. Two filemarks can be
+optionally written. In both cases end of data is signified by
+returning zero bytes for two consecutive reads.
+
+Writing filemarks without the immediate bit set in the SCSI command block acts
+as a synchronization point, i.e., all remaining data form the drive buffers is
+written to tape before the command returns. This makes sure that write errors
+are caught at that point, but this takes time. In some applications, several
+consecutive files must be written fast. The MTWEOFI operation can be used to
+write the filemarks without flushing the drive buffer. Writing filemark at
+close() is always flushing the drive buffers. However, if the previous
+operation is MTWEOFI, close() does not write a filemark. This can be used if
+the program wants to close/open the tape device between files and wants to
+skip waiting.
+
+If rewind, offline, bsf, or seek is done and previous tape operation was
+write, a filemark is written before moving tape.
+
+The compile options are defined in the file linux/drivers/scsi/st_options.h.
+
+4. If the open option O_NONBLOCK is used, open succeeds even if the
+drive is not ready. If O_NONBLOCK is not used, the driver waits for
+the drive to become ready. If this does not happen in ST_BLOCK_SECONDS
+seconds, open fails with the errno value EIO. With O_NONBLOCK the
+device can be opened for writing even if there is a write protected
+tape in the drive (commands trying to write something return error if
+attempted).
+
+
+MINOR NUMBERS
+
+The tape driver currently supports up to 2^17 drives if 4 modes for
+each drive are used.
+
+The minor numbers consist of the following bit fields:
+
+dev_upper non-rew mode dev-lower
+  20 -  8     7    6 5  4      0
+The non-rewind bit is always bit 7 (the uppermost bit in the lowermost
+byte). The bits defining the mode are below the non-rewind bit. The
+remaining bits define the tape device number. This numbering is
+backward compatible with the numbering used when the minor number was
+only 8 bits wide.
+
+
+SYSFS SUPPORT
+
+The driver creates the directory /sys/class/scsi_tape and populates it with
+directories corresponding to the existing tape devices. There are autorewind
+and non-rewind entries for each mode. The names are stxy and nstxy, where x
+is the tape number and y a character corresponding to the mode (none, l, m,
+a). For example, the directories for the first tape device are (assuming four
+modes): st0  nst0  st0l  nst0l  st0m  nst0m  st0a  nst0a.
+
+Each directory contains the entries: default_blksize  default_compression
+default_density  defined  dev  device  driver. The file 'defined' contains 1
+if the mode is defined and zero if not defined. The files 'default_*' contain
+the defaults set by the user. The value -1 means the default is not set. The
+file 'dev' contains the device numbers corresponding to this device. The links
+'device' and 'driver' point to the SCSI device and driver entries.
+
+Each directory also contains the entry 'options' which shows the currently
+enabled driver and mode options. The value in the file is a bit mask where the
+bit definitions are the same as those used with MTSETDRVBUFFER in setting the
+options.
+
+A link named 'tape' is made from the SCSI device directory to the class
+directory corresponding to the mode 0 auto-rewind device (e.g., st0). 
+
+
+SYSFS AND STATISTICS FOR TAPE DEVICES
+
+The st driver maintains statistics for tape drives inside the sysfs filesystem.
+The following method can be used to locate the statistics that are
+available (assuming that sysfs is mounted at /sys):
+
+1. Use opendir(3) on the directory /sys/class/scsi_tape
+2. Use readdir(3) to read the directory contents
+3. Use regcomp(3)/regexec(3) to match directory entries to the extended
+        regular expression "^st[0-9]+$"
+4. Access the statistics from the /sys/class/scsi_tape/<match>/stats
+        directory (where <match> is a directory entry from /sys/class/scsi_tape
+        that matched the extended regular expression)
+
+The reason for using this approach is that all the character devices
+pointing to the same tape drive use the same statistics. That means
+that st0 would have the same statistics as nst0.
+
+The directory contains the following statistics files:
+
+1.  in_flight - The number of I/Os currently outstanding to this device.
+2.  io_ns - The amount of time spent waiting (in nanoseconds) for all I/O
+        to complete (including read and write). This includes tape movement
+        commands such as seeking between file or set marks and implicit tape
+        movement such as when rewind on close tape devices are used.
+3.  other_cnt - The number of I/Os issued to the tape drive other than read or
+        write commands. The time taken to complete these commands uses the
+        following calculation io_ms-read_ms-write_ms.
+4.  read_byte_cnt - The number of bytes read from the tape drive.
+5.  read_cnt - The number of read requests issued to the tape drive.
+6.  read_ns - The amount of time (in nanoseconds) spent waiting for read
+        requests to complete.
+7.  write_byte_cnt - The number of bytes written to the tape drive.
+8.  write_cnt - The number of write requests issued to the tape drive.
+9.  write_ns - The amount of time (in nanoseconds) spent waiting for write
+        requests to complete.
+10. resid_cnt - The number of times during a read or write we found
+	the residual amount to be non-zero. This should mean that a program
+	is issuing a read larger thean the block size on tape. For write
+	not all data made it to tape.
+
+Note: The in_flight value is incremented when an I/O starts the I/O
+itself is not added to the statistics until it completes.
+
+The total of read_cnt, write_cnt, and other_cnt may not total to the same
+value as iodone_cnt at the device level. The tape statistics only count
+I/O issued via the st module.
+
+When read the statistics may not be temporally consistent while I/O is in
+progress. The individual values are read and written to atomically however
+when reading them back via sysfs they may be in the process of being
+updated when starting an I/O or when it is completed.
+
+The value shown in in_flight is incremented before any statstics are
+updated and decremented when an I/O completes after updating statistics.
+The value of in_flight is 0 when there are no I/Os outstanding that are
+issued by the st driver. Tape statistics do not take into account any
+I/O performed via the sg device.
+
+BSD AND SYS V SEMANTICS
+
+The user can choose between these two behaviours of the tape driver by
+defining the value of the symbol ST_SYSV. The semantics differ when a
+file being read is closed. The BSD semantics leaves the tape where it
+currently is whereas the SYS V semantics moves the tape past the next
+filemark unless the filemark has just been crossed.
+
+The default is BSD semantics.
+
+
+BUFFERING
+
+The driver tries to do transfers directly to/from user space. If this
+is not possible, a driver buffer allocated at run-time is used. If
+direct i/o is not possible for the whole transfer, the driver buffer
+is used (i.e., bounce buffers for individual pages are not
+used). Direct i/o can be impossible because of several reasons, e.g.:
+- one or more pages are at addresses not reachable by the HBA
+- the number of pages in the transfer exceeds the number of
+  scatter/gather segments permitted by the HBA
+- one or more pages can't be locked into memory (should not happen in
+  any reasonable situation)
+
+The size of the driver buffers is always at least one tape block. In fixed
+block mode, the minimum buffer size is defined (in 1024 byte units) by
+ST_FIXED_BUFFER_BLOCKS. With small block size this allows buffering of
+several blocks and using one SCSI read or write to transfer all of the
+blocks. Buffering of data across write calls in fixed block mode is
+allowed if ST_BUFFER_WRITES is non-zero and direct i/o is not used.
+Buffer allocation uses chunks of memory having sizes 2^n * (page
+size). Because of this the actual buffer size may be larger than the
+minimum allowable buffer size.
+
+NOTE that if direct i/o is used, the small writes are not buffered. This may
+cause a surprise when moving from 2.4. There small writes (e.g., tar without
+-b option) may have had good throughput but this is not true any more with
+2.6. Direct i/o can be turned off to solve this problem but a better solution
+is to use bigger write() byte counts (e.g., tar -b 64).
+
+Asynchronous writing. Writing the buffer contents to the tape is
+started and the write call returns immediately. The status is checked
+at the next tape operation. Asynchronous writes are not done with
+direct i/o and not in fixed block mode.
+
+Buffered writes and asynchronous writes may in some rare cases cause
+problems in multivolume operations if there is not enough space on the
+tape after the early-warning mark to flush the driver buffer.
+
+Read ahead for fixed block mode (ST_READ_AHEAD). Filling the buffer is
+attempted even if the user does not want to get all of the data at
+this read command. Should be disabled for those drives that don't like
+a filemark to truncate a read request or that don't like backspacing.
+
+Scatter/gather buffers (buffers that consist of chunks non-contiguous
+in the physical memory) are used if contiguous buffers can't be
+allocated. To support all SCSI adapters (including those not
+supporting scatter/gather), buffer allocation is using the following
+three kinds of chunks:
+1. The initial segment that is used for all SCSI adapters including
+those not supporting scatter/gather. The size of this buffer will be
+(PAGE_SIZE << ST_FIRST_ORDER) bytes if the system can give a chunk of
+this size (and it is not larger than the buffer size specified by
+ST_BUFFER_BLOCKS). If this size is not available, the driver halves
+the size and tries again until the size of one page. The default
+settings in st_options.h make the driver to try to allocate all of the
+buffer as one chunk.
+2. The scatter/gather segments to fill the specified buffer size are
+allocated so that as many segments as possible are used but the number
+of segments does not exceed ST_FIRST_SG.
+3. The remaining segments between ST_MAX_SG (or the module parameter
+max_sg_segs) and the number of segments used in phases 1 and 2
+are used to extend the buffer at run-time if this is necessary. The
+number of scatter/gather segments allowed for the SCSI adapter is not
+exceeded if it is smaller than the maximum number of scatter/gather
+segments specified. If the maximum number allowed for the SCSI adapter
+is smaller than the number of segments used in phases 1 and 2,
+extending the buffer will always fail.
+
+
+EOM BEHAVIOUR WHEN WRITING
+
+When the end of medium early warning is encountered, the current write
+is finished and the number of bytes is returned. The next write
+returns -1 and errno is set to ENOSPC. To enable writing a trailer,
+the next write is allowed to proceed and, if successful, the number of
+bytes is returned. After this, -1 and the number of bytes are
+alternately returned until the physical end of medium (or some other
+error) is encountered.
+
+
+MODULE PARAMETERS
+
+The buffer size, write threshold, and the maximum number of allocated buffers
+are configurable when the driver is loaded as a module. The keywords are:
+
+buffer_kbs=xxx             the buffer size for fixed block mode is set
+			   to xxx kilobytes
+write_threshold_kbs=xxx    the write threshold in kilobytes set to xxx
+max_sg_segs=xxx		   the maximum number of scatter/gather
+			   segments
+try_direct_io=x		   try direct transfer between user buffer and
+			   tape drive if this is non-zero
+
+Note that if the buffer size is changed but the write threshold is not
+set, the write threshold is set to the new buffer size - 2 kB.
+
+
+BOOT TIME CONFIGURATION
+
+If the driver is compiled into the kernel, the same parameters can be
+also set using, e.g., the LILO command line. The preferred syntax is
+to use the same keyword used when loading as module but prepended
+with 'st.'. For instance, to set the maximum number of scatter/gather
+segments, the parameter 'st.max_sg_segs=xx' should be used (xx is the
+number of scatter/gather segments).
+
+For compatibility, the old syntax from early 2.5 and 2.4 kernel
+versions is supported. The same keywords can be used as when loading
+the driver as module. If several parameters are set, the keyword-value
+pairs are separated with a comma (no spaces allowed). A colon can be
+used instead of the equal mark. The definition is prepended by the
+string st=. Here is an example:
+
+	st=buffer_kbs:64,write_threshold_kbs:60
+
+The following syntax used by the old kernel versions is also supported:
+
+           st=aa[,bb[,dd]]
+
+where
+  aa is the buffer size for fixed block mode in 1024 byte units
+  bb is the write threshold in 1024 byte units
+  dd is the maximum number of scatter/gather segments
+
+
+IOCTLS
+
+The tape is positioned and the drive parameters are set with ioctls
+defined in mtio.h The tape control program 'mt' uses these ioctls. Try
+to find an mt that supports all of the Linux SCSI tape ioctls and
+opens the device for writing if the tape contents will be modified
+(look for a package mt-st* from the Linux ftp sites; the GNU mt does
+not open for writing for, e.g., erase).
+
+The supported ioctls are:
+
+The following use the structure mtop:
+
+MTFSF   Space forward over count filemarks. Tape positioned after filemark.
+MTFSFM  As above but tape positioned before filemark.
+MTBSF	Space backward over count filemarks. Tape positioned before
+        filemark.
+MTBSFM  As above but ape positioned after filemark.
+MTFSR   Space forward over count records.
+MTBSR   Space backward over count records.
+MTFSS   Space forward over count setmarks.
+MTBSS   Space backward over count setmarks.
+MTWEOF  Write count filemarks.
+MTWEOFI	Write count filemarks with immediate bit set (i.e., does not
+	wait until data is on tape)
+MTWSM   Write count setmarks.
+MTREW   Rewind tape.
+MTOFFL  Set device off line (often rewind plus eject).
+MTNOP   Do nothing except flush the buffers.
+MTRETEN Re-tension tape.
+MTEOM   Space to end of recorded data.
+MTERASE Erase tape. If the argument is zero, the short erase command
+	is used. The long erase command is used with all other values
+	of the argument.
+MTSEEK	Seek to tape block count. Uses Tandberg-compatible seek (QFA)
+        for SCSI-1 drives and SCSI-2 seek for SCSI-2 drives. The file and
+	block numbers in the status are not valid after a seek.
+MTSETBLK Set the drive block size. Setting to zero sets the drive into
+        variable block mode (if applicable).
+MTSETDENSITY Sets the drive density code to arg. See drive
+        documentation for available codes.
+MTLOCK and MTUNLOCK Explicitly lock/unlock the tape drive door.
+MTLOAD and MTUNLOAD Explicitly load and unload the tape. If the
+	command argument x is between MT_ST_HPLOADER_OFFSET + 1 and
+	MT_ST_HPLOADER_OFFSET + 6, the number x is used sent to the
+	drive with the command and it selects the tape slot to use of
+	HP C1553A changer.
+MTCOMPRESSION Sets compressing or uncompressing drive mode using the
+	SCSI mode page 15. Note that some drives other methods for
+	control of compression. Some drives (like the Exabytes) use
+	density codes for compression control. Some drives use another
+	mode page but this page has not been implemented in the
+	driver. Some drives without compression capability will accept
+	any compression mode without error.
+MTSETPART Moves the tape to the partition given by the argument at the
+	next tape operation. The block at which the tape is positioned
+	is the block where the tape was previously positioned in the
+	new active partition unless the next tape operation is
+	MTSEEK. In this case the tape is moved directly to the block
+	specified by MTSEEK. MTSETPART is inactive unless
+	MT_ST_CAN_PARTITIONS set.
+MTMKPART Formats the tape with one partition (argument zero) or two
+	partitions (argument non-zero). If the argument is positive,
+	it specifies the size of partition 1 in megabytes. For DDS
+	drives and several early drives this is the physically first
+	partition of the tape. If the argument is negative, its absolute
+	value specifies the size of partition 0 in megabytes. This is
+	the physically first partition of many later drives, like the
+	LTO drives from LTO-5 upwards. The drive has to support partitions
+	with size specified by the initiator. Inactive unless
+	MT_ST_CAN_PARTITIONS set.
+MTSETDRVBUFFER
+	Is used for several purposes. The command is obtained from count
+        with mask MT_SET_OPTIONS, the low order bits are used as argument.
+	This command is only allowed for the superuser (root). The
+	subcommands are:
+	0
+           The drive buffer option is set to the argument. Zero means
+           no buffering.
+        MT_ST_BOOLEANS
+           Sets the buffering options. The bits are the new states
+           (enabled/disabled) the following options (in the
+	   parenthesis is specified whether the option is global or
+	   can be specified differently for each mode):
+	     MT_ST_BUFFER_WRITES write buffering (mode)
+	     MT_ST_ASYNC_WRITES asynchronous writes (mode)
+             MT_ST_READ_AHEAD  read ahead (mode)
+             MT_ST_TWO_FM writing of two filemarks (global)
+	     MT_ST_FAST_EOM using the SCSI spacing to EOD (global)
+	     MT_ST_AUTO_LOCK automatic locking of the drive door (global)
+             MT_ST_DEF_WRITES the defaults are meant only for writes (mode)
+	     MT_ST_CAN_BSR backspacing over more than one records can
+		be used for repositioning the tape (global)
+	     MT_ST_NO_BLKLIMS the driver does not ask the block limits
+		from the drive (block size can be changed only to
+		variable) (global)
+	     MT_ST_CAN_PARTITIONS enables support for partitioned
+		tapes (global)
+	     MT_ST_SCSI2LOGICAL the logical block number is used in
+		the MTSEEK and MTIOCPOS for SCSI-2 drives instead of
+		the device dependent address. It is recommended to set
+		this flag unless there are tapes using the device
+		dependent (from the old times) (global)
+	     MT_ST_SYSV sets the SYSV semantics (mode)
+	     MT_ST_NOWAIT enables immediate mode (i.e., don't wait for
+	        the command to finish) for some commands (e.g., rewind)
+	     MT_ST_NOWAIT_EOF enables immediate filemark mode (i.e. when
+	        writing a filemark, don't wait for it to complete). Please
+		see the BASICS note about MTWEOFI with respect to the
+		possible dangers of writing immediate filemarks.
+	     MT_ST_SILI enables setting the SILI bit in SCSI commands when
+		reading in variable block mode to enhance performance when
+		reading blocks shorter than the byte count; set this only
+		if you are sure that the drive supports SILI and the HBA
+		correctly returns transfer residuals
+	     MT_ST_DEBUGGING debugging (global; debugging must be
+		compiled into the driver)
+	MT_ST_SETBOOLEANS
+	MT_ST_CLEARBOOLEANS
+	   Sets or clears the option bits.
+        MT_ST_WRITE_THRESHOLD
+           Sets the write threshold for this device to kilobytes
+           specified by the lowest bits.
+	MT_ST_DEF_BLKSIZE
+	   Defines the default block size set automatically. Value
+	   0xffffff means that the default is not used any more.
+	MT_ST_DEF_DENSITY
+	MT_ST_DEF_DRVBUFFER
+	   Used to set or clear the density (8 bits), and drive buffer
+	   state (3 bits). If the value is MT_ST_CLEAR_DEFAULT
+	   (0xfffff) the default will not be used any more. Otherwise
+	   the lowermost bits of the value contain the new value of
+	   the parameter.
+	MT_ST_DEF_COMPRESSION
+	   The compression default will not be used if the value of
+	   the lowermost byte is 0xff. Otherwise the lowermost bit
+	   contains the new default. If the bits 8-15 are set to a
+	   non-zero number, and this number is not 0xff, the number is
+	   used as the compression algorithm. The value
+	   MT_ST_CLEAR_DEFAULT can be used to clear the compression
+	   default.
+	MT_ST_SET_TIMEOUT
+	   Set the normal timeout in seconds for this device. The
+	   default is 900 seconds (15 minutes). The timeout should be
+	   long enough for the retries done by the device while
+	   reading/writing.
+	MT_ST_SET_LONG_TIMEOUT
+	   Set the long timeout that is used for operations that are
+	   known to take a long time. The default is 14000 seconds
+	   (3.9 hours). For erase this value is further multiplied by
+	   eight.
+	MT_ST_SET_CLN
+	   Set the cleaning request interpretation parameters using
+	   the lowest 24 bits of the argument. The driver can set the
+	   generic status bit GMT_CLN if a cleaning request bit pattern
+	   is found from the extended sense data. Many drives set one or
+	   more bits in the extended sense data when the drive needs
+	   cleaning. The bits are device-dependent. The driver is
+	   given the number of the sense data byte (the lowest eight
+	   bits of the argument; must be >= 18 (values 1 - 17
+	   reserved) and <= the maximum requested sense data sixe), 
+	   a mask to select the relevant bits (the bits 9-16), and the
+	   bit pattern (bits 17-23). If the bit pattern is zero, one
+	   or more bits under the mask indicate cleaning request. If
+	   the pattern is non-zero, the pattern must match the masked
+	   sense data byte.
+
+	   (The cleaning bit is set if the additional sense code and
+	   qualifier 00h 17h are seen regardless of the setting of
+	   MT_ST_SET_CLN.)
+
+The following ioctl uses the structure mtpos:
+MTIOCPOS Reads the current position from the drive. Uses
+        Tandberg-compatible QFA for SCSI-1 drives and the SCSI-2
+        command for the SCSI-2 drives.
+
+The following ioctl uses the structure mtget to return the status:
+MTIOCGET Returns some status information.
+        The file number and block number within file are returned. The
+        block is -1 when it can't be determined (e.g., after MTBSF).
+        The drive type is either MTISSCSI1 or MTISSCSI2.
+        The number of recovered errors since the previous status call
+        is stored in the lower word of the field mt_erreg.
+        The current block size and the density code are stored in the field
+        mt_dsreg (shifts for the subfields are MT_ST_BLKSIZE_SHIFT and
+        MT_ST_DENSITY_SHIFT).
+	The GMT_xxx status bits reflect the drive status. GMT_DR_OPEN
+	is set if there is no tape in the drive. GMT_EOD means either
+	end of recorded data or end of tape. GMT_EOT means end of tape.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS COMPILE OPTIONS
+
+The recovered write errors are considered fatal if ST_RECOVERED_WRITE_FATAL
+is defined.
+
+The maximum number of tape devices is determined by the define
+ST_MAX_TAPES. If more tapes are detected at driver initialization, the
+maximum is adjusted accordingly.
+
+Immediate return from tape positioning SCSI commands can be enabled by
+defining ST_NOWAIT. If this is defined, the user should take care that
+the next tape operation is not started before the previous one has
+finished. The drives and SCSI adapters should handle this condition
+gracefully, but some drive/adapter combinations are known to hang the
+SCSI bus in this case.
+
+The MTEOM command is by default implemented as spacing over 32767
+filemarks. With this method the file number in the status is
+correct. The user can request using direct spacing to EOD by setting
+ST_FAST_EOM 1 (or using the MT_ST_OPTIONS ioctl). In this case the file
+number will be invalid.
+
+When using read ahead or buffered writes the position within the file
+may not be correct after the file is closed (correct position may
+require backspacing over more than one record). The correct position
+within file can be obtained if ST_IN_FILE_POS is defined at compile
+time or the MT_ST_CAN_BSR bit is set for the drive with an ioctl.
+(The driver always backs over a filemark crossed by read ahead if the
+user does not request data that far.)
+
+
+DEBUGGING HINTS
+
+Debugging code is now compiled in by default but debugging is turned off
+with the kernel module parameter debug_flag defaulting to 0.  Debugging
+can still be switched on and off with an ioctl.  To enable debug at
+module load time add debug_flag=1 to the module load options, the
+debugging output is not voluminous. Debugging can also be enabled
+and disabled by writing a '0' (disable) or '1' (enable) to the sysfs
+file /sys/bus/scsi/drivers/st/debug_flag.
+
+If the tape seems to hang, I would be very interested to hear where
+the driver is waiting. With the command 'ps -l' you can see the state
+of the process using the tape. If the state is D, the process is
+waiting for something. The field WCHAN tells where the driver is
+waiting. If you have the current System.map in the correct place (in
+/boot for the procps I use) or have updated /etc/psdatabase (for kmem
+ps), ps writes the function name in the WCHAN field. If not, you have
+to look up the function from System.map.
+
+Note also that the timeouts are very long compared to most other
+drivers. This means that the Linux driver may appear hung although the
+real reason is that the tape firmware has got confused.