1 ========================
2 libATA Developer's Guide
3 ========================
10 libATA is a library used inside the Linux kernel to support ATA host
11 controllers and devices. libATA provides an ATA driver API, class
12 transports for ATA and ATAPI devices, and SCSI<->ATA translation for ATA
13 devices according to the T10 SAT specification.
15 This Guide documents the libATA driver API, library functions, library
16 internals, and a couple sample ATA low-level drivers.
21 :c:type:`struct ata_port_operations <ata_port_operations>`
22 is defined for every low-level libata
23 hardware driver, and it controls how the low-level driver interfaces
24 with the ATA and SCSI layers.
26 FIS-based drivers will hook into the system with ``->qc_prep()`` and
27 ``->qc_issue()`` high-level hooks. Hardware which behaves in a manner
28 similar to PCI IDE hardware may utilize several generic helpers,
29 defining at a bare minimum the bus I/O addresses of the ATA shadow
32 :c:type:`struct ata_port_operations <ata_port_operations>`
33 ----------------------------------------------------------
40 void (*port_disable) (struct ata_port *);
43 Called from :c:func:`ata_bus_probe` error path, as well as when unregistering
44 from the SCSI module (rmmod, hot unplug). This function should do
45 whatever needs to be done to take the port out of use. In most cases,
46 :c:func:`ata_port_disable` can be used as this hook.
48 Called from :c:func:`ata_bus_probe` on a failed probe. Called from
49 :c:func:`ata_scsi_release`.
51 Post-IDENTIFY device configuration
52 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
56 void (*dev_config) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
59 Called after IDENTIFY [PACKET] DEVICE is issued to each device found.
60 Typically used to apply device-specific fixups prior to issue of SET
61 FEATURES - XFER MODE, and prior to operation.
63 This entry may be specified as NULL in ata_port_operations.
70 void (*set_piomode) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
71 void (*set_dmamode) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *);
72 void (*post_set_mode) (struct ata_port *);
73 unsigned int (*mode_filter) (struct ata_port *, struct ata_device *, unsigned int);
76 Hooks called prior to the issue of SET FEATURES - XFER MODE command. The
77 optional ``->mode_filter()`` hook is called when libata has built a mask of
78 the possible modes. This is passed to the ``->mode_filter()`` function
79 which should return a mask of valid modes after filtering those
80 unsuitable due to hardware limits. It is not valid to use this interface
83 ``dev->pio_mode`` and ``dev->dma_mode`` are guaranteed to be valid when
84 ``->set_piomode()`` and when ``->set_dmamode()`` is called. The timings for
85 any other drive sharing the cable will also be valid at this point. That
86 is the library records the decisions for the modes of each drive on a
87 channel before it attempts to set any of them.
89 ``->post_set_mode()`` is called unconditionally, after the SET FEATURES -
90 XFER MODE command completes successfully.
92 ``->set_piomode()`` is always called (if present), but ``->set_dma_mode()``
93 is only called if DMA is possible.
100 void (*sff_tf_load) (struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
101 void (*sff_tf_read) (struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
104 ``->tf_load()`` is called to load the given taskfile into hardware
105 registers / DMA buffers. ``->tf_read()`` is called to read the hardware
106 registers / DMA buffers, to obtain the current set of taskfile register
107 values. Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware (PIO or MMIO) use
108 :c:func:`ata_sff_tf_load` and :c:func:`ata_sff_tf_read` for these hooks.
115 void (*sff_data_xfer) (struct ata_device *, unsigned char *, unsigned int, int);
118 All bmdma-style drivers must implement this hook. This is the low-level
119 operation that actually copies the data bytes during a PIO data
120 transfer. Typically the driver will choose one of
121 :c:func:`ata_sff_data_xfer`, or :c:func:`ata_sff_data_xfer32`.
128 void (*sff_exec_command)(struct ata_port *ap, struct ata_taskfile *tf);
131 causes an ATA command, previously loaded with ``->tf_load()``, to be
132 initiated in hardware. Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use
133 :c:func:`ata_sff_exec_command` for this hook.
135 Per-cmd ATAPI DMA capabilities filter
136 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
140 int (*check_atapi_dma) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
143 Allow low-level driver to filter ATA PACKET commands, returning a status
144 indicating whether or not it is OK to use DMA for the supplied PACKET
147 This hook may be specified as NULL, in which case libata will assume
148 that atapi dma can be supported.
150 Read specific ATA shadow registers
151 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
155 u8 (*sff_check_status)(struct ata_port *ap);
156 u8 (*sff_check_altstatus)(struct ata_port *ap);
159 Reads the Status/AltStatus ATA shadow register from hardware. On some
160 hardware, reading the Status register has the side effect of clearing
161 the interrupt condition. Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use
162 :c:func:`ata_sff_check_status` for this hook.
164 Write specific ATA shadow register
165 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
169 void (*sff_set_devctl)(struct ata_port *ap, u8 ctl);
172 Write the device control ATA shadow register to the hardware. Most
173 drivers don't need to define this.
175 Select ATA device on bus
176 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
180 void (*sff_dev_select)(struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int device);
183 Issues the low-level hardware command(s) that causes one of N hardware
184 devices to be considered 'selected' (active and available for use) on
185 the ATA bus. This generally has no meaning on FIS-based devices.
187 Most drivers for taskfile-based hardware use :c:func:`ata_sff_dev_select` for
190 Private tuning method
191 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
195 void (*set_mode) (struct ata_port *ap);
198 By default libata performs drive and controller tuning in accordance
199 with the ATA timing rules and also applies blacklists and cable limits.
200 Some controllers need special handling and have custom tuning rules,
201 typically raid controllers that use ATA commands but do not actually do
206 This hook should not be used to replace the standard controller
207 tuning logic when a controller has quirks. Replacing the default
208 tuning logic in that case would bypass handling for drive and bridge
209 quirks that may be important to data reliability. If a controller
210 needs to filter the mode selection it should use the mode_filter
213 Control PCI IDE BMDMA engine
214 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
218 void (*bmdma_setup) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
219 void (*bmdma_start) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
220 void (*bmdma_stop) (struct ata_port *ap);
221 u8 (*bmdma_status) (struct ata_port *ap);
224 When setting up an IDE BMDMA transaction, these hooks arm
225 (``->bmdma_setup``), fire (``->bmdma_start``), and halt (``->bmdma_stop``) the
226 hardware's DMA engine. ``->bmdma_status`` is used to read the standard PCI
227 IDE DMA Status register.
229 These hooks are typically either no-ops, or simply not implemented, in
232 Most legacy IDE drivers use :c:func:`ata_bmdma_setup` for the
233 :c:func:`bmdma_setup` hook. :c:func:`ata_bmdma_setup` will write the pointer
234 to the PRD table to the IDE PRD Table Address register, enable DMA in the DMA
235 Command register, and call :c:func:`exec_command` to begin the transfer.
237 Most legacy IDE drivers use :c:func:`ata_bmdma_start` for the
238 :c:func:`bmdma_start` hook. :c:func:`ata_bmdma_start` will write the
239 ATA_DMA_START flag to the DMA Command register.
241 Many legacy IDE drivers use :c:func:`ata_bmdma_stop` for the
242 :c:func:`bmdma_stop` hook. :c:func:`ata_bmdma_stop` clears the ATA_DMA_START
243 flag in the DMA command register.
245 Many legacy IDE drivers use :c:func:`ata_bmdma_status` as the
246 :c:func:`bmdma_status` hook.
248 High-level taskfile hooks
249 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
253 enum ata_completion_errors (*qc_prep) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
254 int (*qc_issue) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
257 Higher-level hooks, these two hooks can potentially supersede several of
258 the above taskfile/DMA engine hooks. ``->qc_prep`` is called after the
259 buffers have been DMA-mapped, and is typically used to populate the
260 hardware's DMA scatter-gather table. Some drivers use the standard
261 :c:func:`ata_bmdma_qc_prep` and :c:func:`ata_bmdma_dumb_qc_prep` helper
262 functions, but more advanced drivers roll their own.
264 ``->qc_issue`` is used to make a command active, once the hardware and S/G
265 tables have been prepared. IDE BMDMA drivers use the helper function
266 :c:func:`ata_sff_qc_issue` for taskfile protocol-based dispatch. More
267 advanced drivers implement their own ``->qc_issue``.
269 :c:func:`ata_sff_qc_issue` calls ``->sff_tf_load()``, ``->bmdma_setup()``, and
270 ``->bmdma_start()`` as necessary to initiate a transfer.
272 Exception and probe handling (EH)
273 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
277 void (*eng_timeout) (struct ata_port *ap);
278 void (*phy_reset) (struct ata_port *ap);
281 Deprecated. Use ``->error_handler()`` instead.
285 void (*freeze) (struct ata_port *ap);
286 void (*thaw) (struct ata_port *ap);
289 :c:func:`ata_port_freeze` is called when HSM violations or some other
290 condition disrupts normal operation of the port. A frozen port is not
291 allowed to perform any operation until the port is thawed, which usually
292 follows a successful reset.
294 The optional ``->freeze()`` callback can be used for freezing the port
295 hardware-wise (e.g. mask interrupt and stop DMA engine). If a port
296 cannot be frozen hardware-wise, the interrupt handler must ack and clear
297 interrupts unconditionally while the port is frozen.
299 The optional ``->thaw()`` callback is called to perform the opposite of
300 ``->freeze()``: prepare the port for normal operation once again. Unmask
301 interrupts, start DMA engine, etc.
305 void (*error_handler) (struct ata_port *ap);
308 ``->error_handler()`` is a driver's hook into probe, hotplug, and recovery
309 and other exceptional conditions. The primary responsibility of an
310 implementation is to call :c:func:`ata_do_eh` or :c:func:`ata_bmdma_drive_eh`
311 with a set of EH hooks as arguments:
313 'prereset' hook (may be NULL) is called during an EH reset, before any
314 other actions are taken.
316 'postreset' hook (may be NULL) is called after the EH reset is
317 performed. Based on existing conditions, severity of the problem, and
318 hardware capabilities,
320 Either 'softreset' (may be NULL) or 'hardreset' (may be NULL) will be
321 called to perform the low-level EH reset.
325 void (*post_internal_cmd) (struct ata_queued_cmd *qc);
328 Perform any hardware-specific actions necessary to finish processing
329 after executing a probe-time or EH-time command via
330 :c:func:`ata_exec_internal`.
332 Hardware interrupt handling
333 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
337 irqreturn_t (*irq_handler)(int, void *, struct pt_regs *);
338 void (*irq_clear) (struct ata_port *);
341 ``->irq_handler`` is the interrupt handling routine registered with the
342 system, by libata. ``->irq_clear`` is called during probe just before the
343 interrupt handler is registered, to be sure hardware is quiet.
345 The second argument, dev_instance, should be cast to a pointer to
346 :c:type:`struct ata_host_set <ata_host_set>`.
348 Most legacy IDE drivers use :c:func:`ata_sff_interrupt` for the irq_handler
349 hook, which scans all ports in the host_set, determines which queued
350 command was active (if any), and calls ata_sff_host_intr(ap,qc).
352 Most legacy IDE drivers use :c:func:`ata_sff_irq_clear` for the
353 :c:func:`irq_clear` hook, which simply clears the interrupt and error flags
354 in the DMA status register.
361 int (*scr_read) (struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int sc_reg,
363 int (*scr_write) (struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int sc_reg,
367 Read and write standard SATA phy registers. Currently only used if
368 ``->phy_reset`` hook called the :c:func:`sata_phy_reset` helper function.
369 sc_reg is one of SCR_STATUS, SCR_CONTROL, SCR_ERROR, or SCR_ACTIVE.
376 int (*port_start) (struct ata_port *ap);
377 void (*port_stop) (struct ata_port *ap);
378 void (*host_stop) (struct ata_host_set *host_set);
381 ``->port_start()`` is called just after the data structures for each port
382 are initialized. Typically this is used to alloc per-port DMA buffers /
383 tables / rings, enable DMA engines, and similar tasks. Some drivers also
384 use this entry point as a chance to allocate driver-private memory for
385 ``ap->private_data``.
387 Many drivers use :c:func:`ata_port_start` as this hook or call it from their
388 own :c:func:`port_start` hooks. :c:func:`ata_port_start` allocates space for
389 a legacy IDE PRD table and returns.
391 ``->port_stop()`` is called after ``->host_stop()``. Its sole function is to
392 release DMA/memory resources, now that they are no longer actively being
393 used. Many drivers also free driver-private data from port at this time.
395 ``->host_stop()`` is called after all ``->port_stop()`` calls have completed.
396 The hook must finalize hardware shutdown, release DMA and other
397 resources, etc. This hook may be specified as NULL, in which case it is
403 This chapter describes how errors are handled under libata. Readers are
404 advised to read SCSI EH (Documentation/scsi/scsi_eh.rst) and ATA
405 exceptions doc first.
410 In libata, a command is represented with
411 :c:type:`struct ata_queued_cmd <ata_queued_cmd>` or qc.
412 qc's are preallocated during port initialization and repetitively used
413 for command executions. Currently only one qc is allocated per port but
414 yet-to-be-merged NCQ branch allocates one for each tag and maps each qc
417 libata commands can originate from two sources - libata itself and SCSI
418 midlayer. libata internal commands are used for initialization and error
419 handling. All normal blk requests and commands for SCSI emulation are
420 passed as SCSI commands through queuecommand callback of SCSI host
423 How commands are issued
424 -----------------------
427 First, qc is allocated and initialized using :c:func:`ata_qc_new_init`.
428 Although :c:func:`ata_qc_new_init` doesn't implement any wait or retry
429 mechanism when qc is not available, internal commands are currently
430 issued only during initialization and error recovery, so no other
431 command is active and allocation is guaranteed to succeed.
433 Once allocated qc's taskfile is initialized for the command to be
434 executed. qc currently has two mechanisms to notify completion. One
435 is via ``qc->complete_fn()`` callback and the other is completion
436 ``qc->waiting``. ``qc->complete_fn()`` callback is the asynchronous path
437 used by normal SCSI translated commands and ``qc->waiting`` is the
438 synchronous (issuer sleeps in process context) path used by internal
441 Once initialization is complete, host_set lock is acquired and the
445 All libata drivers use :c:func:`ata_scsi_queuecmd` as
446 ``hostt->queuecommand`` callback. scmds can either be simulated or
447 translated. No qc is involved in processing a simulated scmd. The
448 result is computed right away and the scmd is completed.
450 For a translated scmd, :c:func:`ata_qc_new_init` is invoked to allocate a
451 qc and the scmd is translated into the qc. SCSI midlayer's
452 completion notification function pointer is stored into
455 ``qc->complete_fn()`` callback is used for completion notification. ATA
456 commands use :c:func:`ata_scsi_qc_complete` while ATAPI commands use
457 :c:func:`atapi_qc_complete`. Both functions end up calling ``qc->scsidone``
458 to notify upper layer when the qc is finished. After translation is
459 completed, the qc is issued with :c:func:`ata_qc_issue`.
461 Note that SCSI midlayer invokes hostt->queuecommand while holding
462 host_set lock, so all above occur while holding host_set lock.
464 How commands are processed
465 --------------------------
467 Depending on which protocol and which controller are used, commands are
468 processed differently. For the purpose of discussion, a controller which
469 uses taskfile interface and all standard callbacks is assumed.
471 Currently 6 ATA command protocols are used. They can be sorted into the
472 following four categories according to how they are processed.
475 ATA_PROT_NODATA and ATA_PROT_DMA fall into this category. These
476 types of commands don't require any software intervention once
477 issued. Device will raise interrupt on completion.
480 ATA_PROT_PIO is in this category. libata currently implements PIO
481 with polling. ATA_NIEN bit is set to turn off interrupt and
482 pio_task on ata_wq performs polling and IO.
485 ATA_PROT_ATAPI_NODATA and ATA_PROT_ATAPI_DMA are in this
486 category. packet_task is used to poll BSY bit after issuing PACKET
487 command. Once BSY is turned off by the device, packet_task
488 transfers CDB and hands off processing to interrupt handler.
491 ATA_PROT_ATAPI is in this category. ATA_NIEN bit is set and, as
492 in ATAPI NODATA or DMA, packet_task submits cdb. However, after
493 submitting cdb, further processing (data transfer) is handed off to
496 How commands are completed
497 --------------------------
499 Once issued, all qc's are either completed with :c:func:`ata_qc_complete` or
500 time out. For commands which are handled by interrupts,
501 :c:func:`ata_host_intr` invokes :c:func:`ata_qc_complete`, and, for PIO tasks,
502 pio_task invokes :c:func:`ata_qc_complete`. In error cases, packet_task may
503 also complete commands.
505 :c:func:`ata_qc_complete` does the following.
507 1. DMA memory is unmapped.
509 2. ATA_QCFLAG_ACTIVE is cleared from qc->flags.
511 3. :c:expr:`qc->complete_fn` callback is invoked. If the return value of the
512 callback is not zero. Completion is short circuited and
513 :c:func:`ata_qc_complete` returns.
515 4. :c:func:`__ata_qc_complete` is called, which does
517 1. ``qc->flags`` is cleared to zero.
519 2. ``ap->active_tag`` and ``qc->tag`` are poisoned.
521 3. ``qc->waiting`` is cleared & completed (in that order).
523 4. qc is deallocated by clearing appropriate bit in ``ap->qactive``.
525 So, it basically notifies upper layer and deallocates qc. One exception
526 is short-circuit path in #3 which is used by :c:func:`atapi_qc_complete`.
528 For all non-ATAPI commands, whether it fails or not, almost the same
529 code path is taken and very little error handling takes place. A qc is
530 completed with success status if it succeeded, with failed status
533 However, failed ATAPI commands require more handling as REQUEST SENSE is
534 needed to acquire sense data. If an ATAPI command fails,
535 :c:func:`ata_qc_complete` is invoked with error status, which in turn invokes
536 :c:func:`atapi_qc_complete` via ``qc->complete_fn()`` callback.
538 This makes :c:func:`atapi_qc_complete` set ``scmd->result`` to
539 SAM_STAT_CHECK_CONDITION, complete the scmd and return 1. As the
540 sense data is empty but ``scmd->result`` is CHECK CONDITION, SCSI midlayer
541 will invoke EH for the scmd, and returning 1 makes :c:func:`ata_qc_complete`
542 to return without deallocating the qc. This leads us to
543 :c:func:`ata_scsi_error` with partially completed qc.
545 :c:func:`ata_scsi_error`
546 ------------------------
548 :c:func:`ata_scsi_error` is the current ``transportt->eh_strategy_handler()``
549 for libata. As discussed above, this will be entered in two cases -
550 timeout and ATAPI error completion. This function calls low level libata
551 driver's :c:func:`eng_timeout` callback, the standard callback for which is
552 :c:func:`ata_eng_timeout`. It checks if a qc is active and calls
553 :c:func:`ata_qc_timeout` on the qc if so. Actual error handling occurs in
554 :c:func:`ata_qc_timeout`.
556 If EH is invoked for timeout, :c:func:`ata_qc_timeout` stops BMDMA and
557 completes the qc. Note that as we're currently in EH, we cannot call
558 scsi_done. As described in SCSI EH doc, a recovered scmd should be
559 either retried with :c:func:`scsi_queue_insert` or finished with
560 :c:func:`scsi_finish_command`. Here, we override ``qc->scsidone`` with
561 :c:func:`scsi_finish_command` and calls :c:func:`ata_qc_complete`.
563 If EH is invoked due to a failed ATAPI qc, the qc here is completed but
564 not deallocated. The purpose of this half-completion is to use the qc as
565 place holder to make EH code reach this place. This is a bit hackish,
568 Once control reaches here, the qc is deallocated by invoking
569 :c:func:`__ata_qc_complete` explicitly. Then, internal qc for REQUEST SENSE
570 is issued. Once sense data is acquired, scmd is finished by directly
571 invoking :c:func:`scsi_finish_command` on the scmd. Note that as we already
572 have completed and deallocated the qc which was associated with the
573 scmd, we don't need to/cannot call :c:func:`ata_qc_complete` again.
575 Problems with the current EH
576 ----------------------------
578 - Error representation is too crude. Currently any and all error
579 conditions are represented with ATA STATUS and ERROR registers.
580 Errors which aren't ATA device errors are treated as ATA device
581 errors by setting ATA_ERR bit. Better error descriptor which can
582 properly represent ATA and other errors/exceptions is needed.
584 - When handling timeouts, no action is taken to make device forget
585 about the timed out command and ready for new commands.
587 - EH handling via :c:func:`ata_scsi_error` is not properly protected from
588 usual command processing. On EH entrance, the device is not in
589 quiescent state. Timed out commands may succeed or fail any time.
590 pio_task and atapi_task may still be running.
592 - Too weak error recovery. Devices / controllers causing HSM mismatch
593 errors and other errors quite often require reset to return to known
594 state. Also, advanced error handling is necessary to support features
595 like NCQ and hotplug.
597 - ATA errors are directly handled in the interrupt handler and PIO
598 errors in pio_task. This is problematic for advanced error handling
599 for the following reasons.
601 First, advanced error handling often requires context and internal qc
604 Second, even a simple failure (say, CRC error) needs information
605 gathering and could trigger complex error handling (say, resetting &
606 reconfiguring). Having multiple code paths to gather information,
607 enter EH and trigger actions makes life painful.
609 Third, scattered EH code makes implementing low level drivers
610 difficult. Low level drivers override libata callbacks. If EH is
611 scattered over several places, each affected callbacks should perform
612 its part of error handling. This can be error prone and painful.
617 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/ata/libata-core.c
620 libata Core Internals
621 =====================
623 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/ata/libata-core.c
626 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
628 libata SCSI translation/emulation
629 =================================
631 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/ata/libata-scsi.c
634 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/ata/libata-scsi.c
637 ATA errors and exceptions
638 =========================
640 This chapter tries to identify what error/exception conditions exist for
641 ATA/ATAPI devices and describe how they should be handled in
642 implementation-neutral way.
644 The term 'error' is used to describe conditions where either an explicit
645 error condition is reported from device or a command has timed out.
647 The term 'exception' is either used to describe exceptional conditions
648 which are not errors (say, power or hotplug events), or to describe both
649 errors and non-error exceptional conditions. Where explicit distinction
650 between error and exception is necessary, the term 'non-error exception'
656 Exceptions are described primarily with respect to legacy taskfile + bus
657 master IDE interface. If a controller provides other better mechanism
658 for error reporting, mapping those into categories described below
659 shouldn't be difficult.
661 In the following sections, two recovery actions - reset and
662 reconfiguring transport - are mentioned. These are described further in
663 `EH recovery actions <#exrec>`__.
668 This error is indicated when STATUS value doesn't match HSM requirement
669 during issuing or execution any ATA/ATAPI command.
671 - ATA_STATUS doesn't contain !BSY && DRDY && !DRQ while trying to
674 - !BSY && !DRQ during PIO data transfer.
676 - DRQ on command completion.
678 - !BSY && ERR after CDB transfer starts but before the last byte of CDB
679 is transferred. ATA/ATAPI standard states that "The device shall not
680 terminate the PACKET command with an error before the last byte of
681 the command packet has been written" in the error outputs description
682 of PACKET command and the state diagram doesn't include such
685 In these cases, HSM is violated and not much information regarding the
686 error can be acquired from STATUS or ERROR register. IOW, this error can
687 be anything - driver bug, faulty device, controller and/or cable.
689 As HSM is violated, reset is necessary to restore known state.
690 Reconfiguring transport for lower speed might be helpful too as
691 transmission errors sometimes cause this kind of errors.
693 ATA/ATAPI device error (non-NCQ / non-CHECK CONDITION)
694 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
696 These are errors detected and reported by ATA/ATAPI devices indicating
697 device problems. For this type of errors, STATUS and ERROR register
698 values are valid and describe error condition. Note that some of ATA bus
699 errors are detected by ATA/ATAPI devices and reported using the same
700 mechanism as device errors. Those cases are described later in this
703 For ATA commands, this type of errors are indicated by !BSY && ERR
704 during command execution and on completion.
708 - !BSY && ERR && ABRT right after issuing PACKET indicates that PACKET
709 command is not supported and falls in this category.
711 - !BSY && ERR(==CHK) && !ABRT after the last byte of CDB is transferred
712 indicates CHECK CONDITION and doesn't fall in this category.
714 - !BSY && ERR(==CHK) && ABRT after the last byte of CDB is transferred
715 \*probably\* indicates CHECK CONDITION and doesn't fall in this
718 Of errors detected as above, the following are not ATA/ATAPI device
719 errors but ATA bus errors and should be handled according to
720 `ATA bus error <#excatATAbusErr>`__.
722 CRC error during data transfer
723 This is indicated by ICRC bit in the ERROR register and means that
724 corruption occurred during data transfer. Up to ATA/ATAPI-7, the
725 standard specifies that this bit is only applicable to UDMA
726 transfers but ATA/ATAPI-8 draft revision 1f says that the bit may be
727 applicable to multiword DMA and PIO.
729 ABRT error during data transfer or on completion
730 Up to ATA/ATAPI-7, the standard specifies that ABRT could be set on
731 ICRC errors and on cases where a device is not able to complete a
732 command. Combined with the fact that MWDMA and PIO transfer errors
733 aren't allowed to use ICRC bit up to ATA/ATAPI-7, it seems to imply
734 that ABRT bit alone could indicate transfer errors.
736 However, ATA/ATAPI-8 draft revision 1f removes the part that ICRC
737 errors can turn on ABRT. So, this is kind of gray area. Some
738 heuristics are needed here.
740 ATA/ATAPI device errors can be further categorized as follows.
743 This is indicated by UNC bit in the ERROR register. ATA devices
744 reports UNC error only after certain number of retries cannot
745 recover the data, so there's nothing much else to do other than
746 notifying upper layer.
748 READ and WRITE commands report CHS or LBA of the first failed sector
749 but ATA/ATAPI standard specifies that the amount of transferred data
750 on error completion is indeterminate, so we cannot assume that
751 sectors preceding the failed sector have been transferred and thus
752 cannot complete those sectors successfully as SCSI does.
754 Media changed / media change requested error
758 This is indicated by IDNF bit in the ERROR register. Report to upper
762 This can be invalid command or parameter indicated by ABRT ERROR bit
763 or some other error condition. Note that ABRT bit can indicate a lot
764 of things including ICRC and Address errors. Heuristics needed.
766 Depending on commands, not all STATUS/ERROR bits are applicable. These
767 non-applicable bits are marked with "na" in the output descriptions but
768 up to ATA/ATAPI-7 no definition of "na" can be found. However,
769 ATA/ATAPI-8 draft revision 1f describes "N/A" as follows.
772 A keyword the indicates a field has no defined value in this
773 standard and should not be checked by the host or device. N/A
774 fields should be cleared to zero.
776 So, it seems reasonable to assume that "na" bits are cleared to zero by
777 devices and thus need no explicit masking.
779 ATAPI device CHECK CONDITION
780 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
782 ATAPI device CHECK CONDITION error is indicated by set CHK bit (ERR bit)
783 in the STATUS register after the last byte of CDB is transferred for a
784 PACKET command. For this kind of errors, sense data should be acquired
785 to gather information regarding the errors. REQUEST SENSE packet command
786 should be used to acquire sense data.
788 Once sense data is acquired, this type of errors can be handled
789 similarly to other SCSI errors. Note that sense data may indicate ATA
790 bus error (e.g. Sense Key 04h HARDWARE ERROR && ASC/ASCQ 47h/00h SCSI
791 PARITY ERROR). In such cases, the error should be considered as an ATA
792 bus error and handled according to `ATA bus error <#excatATAbusErr>`__.
794 ATA device error (NCQ)
795 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
797 NCQ command error is indicated by cleared BSY and set ERR bit during NCQ
798 command phase (one or more NCQ commands outstanding). Although STATUS
799 and ERROR registers will contain valid values describing the error, READ
800 LOG EXT is required to clear the error condition, determine which
801 command has failed and acquire more information.
803 READ LOG EXT Log Page 10h reports which tag has failed and taskfile
804 register values describing the error. With this information the failed
805 command can be handled as a normal ATA command error as in
806 `ATA/ATAPI device error (non-NCQ / non-CHECK CONDITION) <#excatDevErr>`__
807 and all other in-flight commands must be retried. Note that this retry
808 should not be counted - it's likely that commands retried this way would
809 have completed normally if it were not for the failed command.
811 Note that ATA bus errors can be reported as ATA device NCQ errors. This
812 should be handled as described in `ATA bus error <#excatATAbusErr>`__.
814 If READ LOG EXT Log Page 10h fails or reports NQ, we're thoroughly
815 screwed. This condition should be treated according to
816 `HSM violation <#excatHSMviolation>`__.
821 ATA bus error means that data corruption occurred during transmission
822 over ATA bus (SATA or PATA). This type of errors can be indicated by
824 - ICRC or ABRT error as described in
825 `ATA/ATAPI device error (non-NCQ / non-CHECK CONDITION) <#excatDevErr>`__.
827 - Controller-specific error completion with error information
828 indicating transmission error.
830 - On some controllers, command timeout. In this case, there may be a
831 mechanism to determine that the timeout is due to transmission error.
833 - Unknown/random errors, timeouts and all sorts of weirdities.
835 As described above, transmission errors can cause wide variety of
836 symptoms ranging from device ICRC error to random device lockup, and,
837 for many cases, there is no way to tell if an error condition is due to
838 transmission error or not; therefore, it's necessary to employ some kind
839 of heuristic when dealing with errors and timeouts. For example,
840 encountering repetitive ABRT errors for known supported command is
841 likely to indicate ATA bus error.
843 Once it's determined that ATA bus errors have possibly occurred,
844 lowering ATA bus transmission speed is one of actions which may
845 alleviate the problem. See `Reconfigure transport <#exrecReconf>`__ for
851 Data corruption or other failures during transmission over PCI (or other
852 system bus). For standard BMDMA, this is indicated by Error bit in the
853 BMDMA Status register. This type of errors must be logged as it
854 indicates something is very wrong with the system. Resetting host
855 controller is recommended.
860 This occurs when timeout occurs and the timeout handler finds out that
861 the timed out command has completed successfully or with error. This is
862 usually caused by lost interrupts. This type of errors must be logged.
863 Resetting host controller is recommended.
865 Unknown error (timeout)
866 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
868 This is when timeout occurs and the command is still processing or the
869 host and device are in unknown state. When this occurs, HSM could be in
870 any valid or invalid state. To bring the device to known state and make
871 it forget about the timed out command, resetting is necessary. The timed
872 out command may be retried.
874 Timeouts can also be caused by transmission errors. Refer to
875 `ATA bus error <#excatATAbusErr>`__ for more details.
877 Hotplug and power management exceptions
878 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
885 This section discusses several important recovery actions.
887 Clearing error condition
888 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
890 Many controllers require its error registers to be cleared by error
891 handler. Different controllers may have different requirements.
893 For SATA, it's strongly recommended to clear at least SError register
894 during error handling.
899 During EH, resetting is necessary in the following cases.
901 - HSM is in unknown or invalid state
903 - HBA is in unknown or invalid state
905 - EH needs to make HBA/device forget about in-flight commands
907 - HBA/device behaves weirdly
909 Resetting during EH might be a good idea regardless of error condition
910 to improve EH robustness. Whether to reset both or either one of HBA and
911 device depends on situation but the following scheme is recommended.
913 - When it's known that HBA is in ready state but ATA/ATAPI device is in
914 unknown state, reset only device.
916 - If HBA is in unknown state, reset both HBA and device.
918 HBA resetting is implementation specific. For a controller complying to
919 taskfile/BMDMA PCI IDE, stopping active DMA transaction may be
920 sufficient iff BMDMA state is the only HBA context. But even mostly
921 taskfile/BMDMA PCI IDE complying controllers may have implementation
922 specific requirements and mechanism to reset themselves. This must be
923 addressed by specific drivers.
925 OTOH, ATA/ATAPI standard describes in detail ways to reset ATA/ATAPI
929 This is hardware initiated device reset signalled with asserted PATA
930 RESET- signal. There is no standard way to initiate hardware reset
931 from software although some hardware provides registers that allow
932 driver to directly tweak the RESET- signal.
935 This is achieved by turning CONTROL SRST bit on for at least 5us.
936 Both PATA and SATA support it but, in case of SATA, this may require
937 controller-specific support as the second Register FIS to clear SRST
938 should be transmitted while BSY bit is still set. Note that on PATA,
939 this resets both master and slave devices on a channel.
941 EXECUTE DEVICE DIAGNOSTIC command
942 Although ATA/ATAPI standard doesn't describe exactly, EDD implies
943 some level of resetting, possibly similar level with software reset.
944 Host-side EDD protocol can be handled with normal command processing
945 and most SATA controllers should be able to handle EDD's just like
946 other commands. As in software reset, EDD affects both devices on a
949 Although EDD does reset devices, this doesn't suit error handling as
950 EDD cannot be issued while BSY is set and it's unclear how it will
951 act when device is in unknown/weird state.
953 ATAPI DEVICE RESET command
954 This is very similar to software reset except that reset can be
955 restricted to the selected device without affecting the other device
959 This is the preferred way of resetting a SATA device. In effect,
960 it's identical to PATA hardware reset. Note that this can be done
961 with the standard SCR Control register. As such, it's usually easier
962 to implement than software reset.
964 One more thing to consider when resetting devices is that resetting
965 clears certain configuration parameters and they need to be set to their
966 previous or newly adjusted values after reset.
968 Parameters affected are.
970 - CHS set up with INITIALIZE DEVICE PARAMETERS (seldom used)
972 - Parameters set with SET FEATURES including transfer mode setting
974 - Block count set with SET MULTIPLE MODE
976 - Other parameters (SET MAX, MEDIA LOCK...)
978 ATA/ATAPI standard specifies that some parameters must be maintained
979 across hardware or software reset, but doesn't strictly specify all of
980 them. Always reconfiguring needed parameters after reset is required for
981 robustness. Note that this also applies when resuming from deep sleep
984 Also, ATA/ATAPI standard requires that IDENTIFY DEVICE / IDENTIFY PACKET
985 DEVICE is issued after any configuration parameter is updated or a
986 hardware reset and the result used for further operation. OS driver is
987 required to implement revalidation mechanism to support this.
989 Reconfigure transport
990 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
992 For both PATA and SATA, a lot of corners are cut for cheap connectors,
993 cables or controllers and it's quite common to see high transmission
994 error rate. This can be mitigated by lowering transmission speed.
996 The following is a possible scheme Jeff Garzik suggested.
998 If more than $N (3?) transmission errors happen in 15 minutes,
1000 - if SATA, decrease SATA PHY speed. if speed cannot be decreased,
1002 - decrease UDMA xfer speed. if at UDMA0, switch to PIO4,
1004 - decrease PIO xfer speed. if at PIO3, complain, but continue
1009 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/ata/ata_piix.c
1015 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/ata/sata_sil.c
1021 The bulk of the ATA knowledge comes thanks to long conversations with
1022 Andre Hedrick (www.linux-ide.org), and long hours pondering the ATA and
1023 SCSI specifications.
1025 Thanks to Alan Cox for pointing out similarities between SATA and SCSI,
1026 and in general for motivation to hack on libata.
1028 libata's device detection method, ata_pio_devchk, and in general all
1029 the early probing was based on extensive study of Hale Landis's
1030 probe/reset code in his ATADRVR driver (www.ata-atapi.com).