Re: I did a test on a DEC AlphaStation 600 and the SCSI driver seems borked

[Dennis Clarke <dclarke%blastwave.org@localhost>]

On 2/15/26 07:52, Jason Thorpe wrote:
> > On Feb 14, 2026, at 3:23 PM, Dennis Clarke <dclarke%blastwave.org@localhost> wrote:
> >
> > The OpenBSD stuff "just works"(tm) so the driver from OpenBSD would be
> > a better way to go.
>
> Which driver does OpenBSD use on your machine?  They no longer have the “isp” driver.  And the OpenBSD driver would not be a drop-in replacement; their SCSI subsystem is different from ours.
>
> -- thorpej

Here is what NetBSD looks like when it boots and runs just fine :

>>>boot dkb200
(boot dkb200.2.0.1002.0 -flags A)
block 0 of dkb200.2.0.1002.0 is a valid boot block
reading 15 blocks from dkb200.2.0.1002.0
bootstrap code read in
base = 142000, image_start = 0, image_bytes = 1e00
initializing HWRPB at 2000
initializing page table at 134000
initializing machine state
setting affinity to the primary CPU
jumping to bootstrap code

OpenBSD/Alpha Primary Boot
VMS PAL rev: 0x1000000010114
OSF PAL rev: 0x1000000020116
Switch to OSF PAL code succeeded.
>> OpenBSD/alpha BOOT 2.0
boot>
booting disk:/bsd: 8651104+696648 [339910+106+502104+322491]=0xa06bb8
[ using 1165584 bytes of bsd ELF symbol table ]
Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
        The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 1995-2025 OpenBSD. All rights reserved. 
https://www.OpenBSD.org

OpenBSD 7.8 (GENERIC) #628: Thu Oct  9 07:28:02 MDT 2025
    deraadt%alpha.openbsd.org@localhost:/usr/src/sys/arch/alpha/compile/GENERIC
Digital AlphaStation 600 5/266, 266MHz
8192 byte page size, 1 processor.
real mem = 134217728 (128MB)
rsvd mem = 2277376 (2MB)
avail mem = 119275520 (113MB)
random: good seed from bootblocks
mainbus0 at root
cpu0 at mainbus0: ID 0 (primary), 21164-0 (unknown minor type 0)
cia0 at mainbus0: DECchip 2117x Core Logic Chipset (ALCOR/ALCOR2), pass 2
pci0 at cia0 bus 0
tga0 at pci0 dev 7 function 0 "DEC 21030" rev 0x03: DC21030 step C, 
board type T8-02
tga0: 1280 x 1024, 8bpp, Bt485 RAMDAC
tga0: interrupting at kn20aa irq 8
wsdisplay0 at tga0 mux 1
wsdisplay0: screen 0 added (std, vt100 emulation)
ppb0 at pci0 dev 8 function 0 "DEC 21050" rev 0x02
pci1 at ppb0 bus 1
de0 at pci1 dev 0 function 0 "DEC 21040" rev 0x23, DEC 21040 pass 2.3: 
kn20aa irq 16, address 08:00:2b:e7:d4:57
qlw0 at pci1 dev 1 function 0 "QLogic ISP1020" rev 0x01: kn20aa irq 17
qlw0: nvram corrupt
qlw0: firmware rev 4.66.0, attrs 0x0
scsibus0 at qlw0: 16 targets, initiator 7
cd0 at scsibus0 targ 5 lun 0: <DEC, RRD45 (C) DEC, 1645> removable
qlw1 at pci1 dev 2 function 0 "QLogic ISP1020" rev 0x01: kn20aa irq 18
qlw1: nvram corrupt
qlw1: firmware rev 4.66.0, attrs 0x0
scsibus1 at qlw1: 16 targets, initiator 7
sd0 at scsibus1 targ 1 lun 0: <FUJITSU, MAW3073NCSUN72G, 1703> 
serial.FUJITSU_MAW3073NCSUN72G_000630B0FJ9A_DAN0P670FJ9A
sd0: 70007MB, 512 bytes/sector, 143374738 sectors
sd1 at scsibus1 targ 2 lun 0: <SEAGATE, ST336704LSUN36G, 032C> 
serial.SEAGATE_ST336704LSUN36G_3CD0YW1T000071200CST
sd1: 34732MB, 512 bytes/sector, 71132959 sectors
sd2 at scsibus1 targ 3 lun 0: <SEAGATE, ST336704LSUN36G, 032C> 
serial.SEAGATE_ST336704LSUN36G_3CD0ZHE200007120K5BC
sd2: 34732MB, 512 bytes/sector, 71132959 sectors
sd3 at scsibus1 targ 4 lun 0: <SEAGATE, ST336704LSUN36G, 032C> 
serial.SEAGATE_ST336704LSUN36G_3CD0Z3MK0000712009FV
sd3: 34732MB, 512 bytes/sector, 71132959 sectors
pceb0 at pci0 dev 10 function 0 "Intel 82375EB EISA" rev 0x05
eisa0 at pceb0: DEC5100, 4 slots
isa0 at pceb0
isadma0 at isa0
fdc0 at isa0 port 0x3f0/6 irq 6 drq 2
com0 at isa0 port 0x3f8/8 irq 4: ns16550a, 16 byte fifo
com0: console
com1 at isa0 port 0x2f8/8 irq 3: ns16550a, 16 byte fifo
pckbc0 at isa0 port 0x60/5 irq 1 irq 12
pckbd0 at pckbc0 (kbd slot)
wskbd0 at pckbd0 mux 1
wskbd0: connecting to wsdisplay0
pcppi0 at isa0 port 0x61
spkr0 at pcppi0
lpt0 at isa0 port 0x3bc/4 irq 7
mcclock0 at isa0 port 0x70/2: mc146818 or compatible
stray isa irq 3
vscsi0 at root
scsibus2 at vscsi0: 256 targets
softraid0 at root
scsibus3 at softraid0: 256 targets
root on sd1a (e16662c3e6dbdc82.a) swap on sd1b dump on sd1b
fd0 at fdc0 drive 0: 1.44MB 80 cyl, 2 head, 18 sec
Automatic boot in progress: starting file system checks.
/dev/sd1a (e16662c3e6dbdc82.a): file system is clean; not checking
/dev/sd1k (e16662c3e6dbdc82.k): file system is clean; not checking
/dev/sd1d (e16662c3e6dbdc82.d): file system is clean; not checking
/dev/sd1f (e16662c3e6dbdc82.f): file system is clean; not checking
/dev/sd1g (e16662c3e6dbdc82.g): file system is clean; not checking
/dev/sd1h (e16662c3e6dbdc82.h): file system is clean; not checking
/dev/sd1j (e16662c3e6dbdc82.j): file system is clean; not checking
/dev/sd1i (e16662c3e6dbdc82.i): file system is clean; not checking
/dev/sd1e (e16662c3e6dbdc82.e): file system is clean; not checking
stray isa irq 3
pf enabled
starting network
reordering: ld.so libc libcrypto sshd sshd-session sshd-auth ssh-agent.
starting early daemons: syslogd pflogd ntpd.
starting RPC daemons:.
savecore: no core dump
checking quotas: done.
clearing /tmp
kern.securelevel: 0 -> 1
creating runtime link editor directory cache.
preserving editor files.
starting network daemons: sshd smtpd sndiod.
starting local daemons: cron.
Mon Feb 16 00:28:29 UTC 2026

OpenBSD/alpha (centauri.bw.genunix.com) (tty00)

login: root
Password:
Last login: Sat Feb 14 19:32:12 on tty00
OpenBSD 7.8 (GENERIC) #628: Thu Oct  9 07:28:02 MDT 2025

Welcome to OpenBSD: The proactively secure Unix-like operating system.

Please use the sendbug(1) utility to report bugs in the system.
Before reporting a bug, please try to reproduce it with the latest
version of the code.  With bug reports, please try to ensure that
enough information to reproduce the problem is enclosed, and if a
known fix for it exists, include that as well.

You have mail.
centauri#
centauri# uname -a
OpenBSD centauri.bw.genunix.com 7.8 GENERIC#628 alpha
centauri#
centauri# sysctl hw.model
hw.model=Digital AlphaStation 600 5/266
centauri#


Given what you say about the NetBSD SCSI subsystem this pretty much
means OpenBSD works just fine out of the box and NetBSD it no longer
viable at all.  At least not on this old museum piece hardware.

Thanks anyways.

--
--
Dennis Clarke
RISC-V/SPARC/PPC/ARM/CISC
UNIX and Linux spoken