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The BusLogic FlashPoint SCSI Host Adapters are now fully supported on Linux.
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The upgrade program described below has been officially terminated effective
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31 March 1997 since it is no longer needed.
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MYLEX INTRODUCES LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM SUPPORT FOR ITS
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BUSLOGIC FLASHPOINT LINE OF SCSI HOST ADAPTERS
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FREMONT, CA, -- October 8, 1996 -- Mylex Corporation has expanded Linux
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operating system support to its BusLogic brand of FlashPoint Ultra SCSI
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host adapters. All of BusLogic's other SCSI host adapters, including the
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MultiMaster line, currently support the Linux operating system. Linux
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drivers and information will be available on October 15th at
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http://www.dandelion.com/Linux/.
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"Mylex is committed to supporting the Linux community," says Peter Shambora,
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vice president of marketing for Mylex. "We have supported Linux driver
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development and provided technical support for our host adapters for several
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years, and are pleased to now make our FlashPoint products available to this
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user base."
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The Linux Operating System
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Linux is a freely-distributed implementation of UNIX for Intel x86, Sun
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SPARC, SGI MIPS, Motorola 68k, Digital Alpha AXP and Motorola PowerPC
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machines. It supports a wide range of software, including the X Window
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System, Emacs, and TCP/IP networking. Further information is available at
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http://www.linux.org and http://www.ssc.com/linux.
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FlashPoint Host Adapters
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The FlashPoint family of Ultra SCSI host adapters, designed for workstation
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and file server environments, are available in narrow, wide, dual channel,
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and dual channel wide versions. These adapters feature SeqEngine
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automation technology, which minimizes SCSI command overhead and reduces
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the number of interrupts generated to the CPU.
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About Mylex
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Mylex Corporation (NASDAQ/NM SYMBOL: MYLX), founded in 1983, is a leading
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producer of RAID technology and network management products. The company
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produces high performance disk array (RAID) controllers, and complementary
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computer products for network servers, mass storage systems, workstations
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and system boards. Through its wide range of RAID controllers and its
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BusLogic line of Ultra SCSI host adapter products, Mylex provides enabling
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intelligent I/O technologies that increase network management control,
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enhance CPU utilization, optimize I/O performance, and ensure data security
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and availability. Products are sold globally through a network of OEMs,
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major distributors, VARs, and system integrators. Mylex Corporation is
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headquartered at 34551 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont, CA.
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####
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Contact:
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Peter Shambora
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Vice President of Marketing
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Mylex Corp.
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510/796-6100
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peters@mylex.com
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ANNOUNCEMENT
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BusLogic FlashPoint LT/BT-948 Upgrade Program
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1 February 1996
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ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT
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BusLogic FlashPoint LW/BT-958 Upgrade Program
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14 June 1996
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Ever since its introduction last October, the BusLogic FlashPoint LT has
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been problematic for members of the Linux community, in that no Linux
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drivers have been available for this new Ultra SCSI product. Despite it's
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officially being positioned as a desktop workstation product, and not being
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particularly well suited for a high performance multitasking operating
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system like Linux, the FlashPoint LT has been touted by computer system
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vendors as the latest thing, and has been sold even on many of their high
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end systems, to the exclusion of the older MultiMaster products. This has
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caused grief for many people who inadvertently purchased a system expecting
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that all BusLogic SCSI Host Adapters were supported by Linux, only to
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discover that the FlashPoint was not supported and would not be for quite
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some time, if ever.
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After this problem was identified, BusLogic contacted its major OEM
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customers to make sure the BT-946C/956C MultiMaster cards would still be
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made available, and that Linux users who mistakenly ordered systems with
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the FlashPoint would be able to upgrade to the BT-946C. While this helped
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many purchasers of new systems, it was only a partial solution to the
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overall problem of FlashPoint support for Linux users. It did nothing to
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assist the people who initially purchased a FlashPoint for a supported
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operating system and then later decided to run Linux, or those who had
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ended up with a FlashPoint LT, believing it was supported, and were unable
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to return it.
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In the middle of December, I asked to meet with BusLogic's senior
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management to discuss the issues related to Linux and free software support
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for the FlashPoint. Rumors of varying accuracy had been circulating
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publicly about BusLogic's attitude toward the Linux community, and I felt
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it was best that these issues be addressed directly. I sent an email
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message after 11pm one evening, and the meeting took place the next
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afternoon. Unfortunately, corporate wheels sometimes grind slowly,
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especially when a company is being acquired, and so it's taken until now
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before the details were completely determined and a public statement could
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be made.
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BusLogic is not prepared at this time to release the information necessary
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for third parties to write drivers for the FlashPoint. The only existing
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FlashPoint drivers have been written directly by BusLogic Engineering, and
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there is no FlashPoint documentation sufficiently detailed to allow outside
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developers to write a driver without substantial assistance. While there
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are people at BusLogic who would rather not release the details of the
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FlashPoint architecture at all, that debate has not yet been settled either
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way. In any event, even if documentation were available today it would
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take quite a while for a usable driver to be written, especially since I'm
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not convinced that the effort required would be worthwhile.
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However, BusLogic does remain committed to providing a high performance
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SCSI solution for the Linux community, and does not want to see anyone left
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unable to run Linux because they have a Flashpoint LT. Therefore, BusLogic
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has put in place a direct upgrade program to allow any Linux user worldwide
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to trade in their FlashPoint LT for the new BT-948 MultiMaster PCI Ultra
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SCSI Host Adapter. The BT-948 is the Ultra SCSI successor to the BT-946C
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and has all the best features of both the BT-946C and FlashPoint LT,
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including smart termination and a flash PROM for easy firmware updates, and
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is of course compatible with the present Linux driver. The price for this
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upgrade has been set at US $45 plus shipping and handling, and the upgrade
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program will be administered through BusLogic Technical Support, which can
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be reached by electronic mail at techsup@buslogic.com, by Voice at +1 408
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654-0760, or by FAX at +1 408 492-1542.
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As of 14 June 1996, the original BusLogic FlashPoint LT to BT-948 upgrade
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program has now been extended to encompass the FlashPoint LW Wide Ultra
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SCSI Host Adapter. Any Linux user worldwide may trade in their FlashPoint
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LW (BT-950) for a BT-958 MultiMaster PCI Ultra SCSI Host Adapter. The
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price for this upgrade has been set at US $65 plus shipping and handling.
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I was a beta test site for the BT-948/958, and versions 1.2.1 and 1.3.1 of
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my BusLogic driver already included latent support for the BT-948/958.
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Additional cosmetic support for the Ultra SCSI MultiMaster cards was added
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subsequent releases. As a result of this cooperative testing process,
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several firmware bugs were found and corrected. My heavily loaded Linux
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test system provided an ideal environment for testing error recovery
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processes that are much more rarely exercised in production systems, but
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are crucial to overall system stability. It was especially convenient
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being able to work directly with their firmware engineer in demonstrating
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the problems under control of the firmware debugging environment; things
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sure have come a long way since the last time I worked on firmware for an
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embedded system. I am presently working on some performance testing and
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expect to have some data to report in the not too distant future.
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BusLogic asked me to send this announcement since a large percentage of the
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questions regarding support for the FlashPoint have either been sent to me
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directly via email, or have appeared in the Linux newsgroups in which I
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participate. To summarize, BusLogic is offering Linux users an upgrade
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from the unsupported FlashPoint LT (BT-930) to the supported BT-948 for US
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$45 plus shipping and handling, or from the unsupported FlashPoint LW
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(BT-950) to the supported BT-958 for $65 plus shipping and handling.
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Contact BusLogic Technical Support at techsup@buslogic.com or +1 408
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654-0760 to take advantage of their offer.
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Leonard N. Zubkoff
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lnz@dandelion.com
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