cvs commit: src/sys/dev/fdc fdc.c

[Maxim Sobolev]

Nate Lawson wrote:
> Maxim Sobolev wrote:
>> Jung-uk Kim wrote:
>>> On Tuesday 11 July 2006 08:49 pm, Jung-uk Kim wrote:
>>>> jkim        2006-07-12 00:49:47 UTC
>>>>
>>>>   FreeBSD src repository
>>>>
>>>>   Modified files:
>>>>     sys/dev/fdc          fdc.c
>>>>   Log:
>>>>   Assume floppy disk is not inserted when we have exhausted
>>>> retries.  This significantly reduces booting time when there is
>>>> broken floppy disk drive, controller, cable, BIOS, etc.
>>>>   When the floppy controller interface is correctly implemented,
>>>> disk change signal (DSKCHG) is reflected in the Digital Input
>>>> Register (DIR) at 0x3f7. However, there are many cases that the
>>>> signal is unusable.  Moreover, some BIOS does not reserve the port
>>>> at all.  In those cases, the register may not function.
>>>>
>>>>   Revision  Changes    Path
>>>>   1.311     +3 -0      src/sys/dev/fdc/fdc.c
>>>
>>> Linux device driver seems to have 'broken_dcl' boot time option to 
>>> work around this issue, i.e., assuming disk change for every floppy 
>>> disk access, which is quite ugly, IMHO.  Does anybody have better 
>>> idea to fix these cases?
>>
>> Not really relevant, but who cares about floppy in 2006 when one can 
>> buy 256MB USB flash for the price of the pack of floppies? ;-)
>>
>> No offense intended, just curious.
>>
>> -Maxim
> 
> You CAN'T get rid of the fdc, even if you want to.  It's an embedded 
> part of the Super I/O chips even if your machine has no floppy drive 
> (i.e. laptop).  So anything that slows down probing of it will slow down 
> your boot.
> 
> That's why it's great Jung-uk has done this work.

Ah, makes sense!

-Maxim