Re: I/O bus reset to fix CMD MSCP controllers (and probably others)

  Hans, this is great news, thank you so much for figuring this out. It has been a problem for many years. I'm very excited for this to finally get fixed!

                   -Dave

On May 23, 2025 3:40:05 PM Hans Rosenfeld <[email protected]> wrote:
> I was able to root-cause the issue. It was introduced in r1.11 of
> uba_mainbus.c when scanning for Qbus/Unibus memories was added.
>
> When NetBSD is booted from a MSCP controller, the boot loader sets up
> the Qbus map to provide the controller with a small command/response
> ring in memory to be used for I/O. Once the kernel is loaded and uba(4)
> is attaching, the Qbus map is cleared while scanning for memories. It
> appears that sudden loss of access to the command/response ring causes
> the firmware of these CMD controllers to drop dead.
>
> As a result, these controllers don't react in a reasonable time (100ms
> by the spec) when their IP register is written to re-initialze the
> controller. Even though uda(4)'s udamatch() waits up to 10s for a sign
> of life from the controller, that's usually not enough for it to wake
> up and it is assumed to be absent. Which, of course, causes the kernel
> to fail booting as the boot device can't be found.
>
> This needs to be addressed both in the kernel and the bootloader.
>
> We can work around this issue in the kernel by restoring the Qbus map
> registers to their original values after we've used them for detecting
> Qbus memories. The code to do that is already there but commented out,
> it just needs uncommenting.
>
> To fix this properly, the standalone ra.c driver in the boot loader
> should provide a close() entry point which clears the IP register to
> issue a controller reset. Thus when the kernel is loaded, the firmware
> of the MSCP controller is again in reset state and can't get confused
> anymore by the initialization of the Qbus map in uba(4).
>
>
> In case anyone wants to review them, I've attached two patches, one with
> a kernel workaround and another with a proper fix for the boot loader. I
> intend to commit them some time next week and request pullups into -10.
>
>
> Hans
>
>
>
> --
> %SYSTEM-F-ANARCHISM, The operating system has been overthrown


--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA