>gibbs@freefall.FReebsd.ORG (Justin T. Gibbs) wrote:

>>As for Buslogic, their cards (until the Flashpoint) do not use downloaded 
>>firmware so the driver can use a well defined, high level, interface to the 
>>card. This is just the same way the 1542 and 1742 cards were designed, and 
>>since both Buslogic and Adaptec can give free software driver writers the 
>>information to talk to that high-level interface without exposing their 
>>"trade secrets" in the firmware, they do so.

>Sorry, I didn't get it. Do the Buslogic cards have some kind of
>OS-independent abstraction layer over the hardware? Or is it just the
>hardware that is so simple that no effort needs to be taken to hide the
>details?

The BT742-based BusLogic cards, like the Adaptec 154x and 174x, have
their firmware in ROM, and a well-documented interface.

I have no intimate knowledge of the FlashPoint, but there's a good
chance it downloads firmware like the aic7xxx-based Adaptec cards.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Michael L. VanLoon                                 michaelv@HeadCandy.com
       --<  Free your mind and your machine -- NetBSD free un*x  >--
     NetBSD working ports: 386+PC, Mac 68k, Amiga, HP300, Sun3, Sun4,
                           DEC PMAX (MIPS), DEC Alpha, PC532
     NetBSD ports in progress: VAX, Atari 68k, others...
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