Welcome to Dandelion Digital's Linux BusLogic Page


Linux BusLogic Driver -- Version 2.0.15 Released

The production release of version 2.0.15 of the driver is now available. The driver release itself comprises source code and documentation only. To use it, you must install the driver source code in a Linux 2.0.4 or later 2.0 series kernel source tree and recompile the kernel. This driver version will appear in Linux 2.0.36.

Linux BusLogic Driver -- Version 2.1.15 Released

The production release of version 2.1.15 of the driver is now available. The driver release itself comprises source code and documentation only. To use it, you must install the driver source code in a Linux 2.1.115 or later 2.1 series kernel source tree and recompile the kernel. This driver version will appear in Linux 2.1.116.

Note: Some people with motherboards based on non-Intel chipsets have encountered problems with the FlashPoint driver. In some cases, the following patch has corrected the problems. Because this patch potentially changes the timing of the SCSI bus, it will not be incorporated in the standard driver until it has had substantial testing.

General instructions for recompiling the Linux kernel are in the file "linux/README" in the kernel source distribution. Instructions for installing the BusLogic driver into the kernel source tree are towards the end of the file "README.BusLogic" in the driver release. Please see the release notes for a more complete description of the changes in this version of the driver.

Note: The parsing of driver options from the kernel command line has been changed incompatibly as of version 2.0.11; be sure to read the updated documentation before installation.

In October 1996 Mylex/BusLogic issued a press release announcing support for the FlashPoint SCSI Host Adapters on Linux. BusLogic has provided me with the FlashPoint Driver Developer's Kit, which comprises documentation and freely redistributable source code for the FlashPoint SCCB Manager. The SCCB Manager is the library of code that runs on the host CPU and performs functions analogous to the firmware on the MultiMaster host adapters. Thanks to BusLogic's release of the SCCB Manager, the Linux BusLogic driver now supports the FlashPoint Host Adapters as well.

If you are planning to install Linux on a SCSI disk controlled by a FlashPoint, you will need to start from a boot kernel or other installation media that has FlashPoint support. If the distribution you wish to install is not listed below, please contact them and inquire about FlashPoint support. Once the basic system installation is completed, be sure to update the BusLogic driver to the latest version.

Please be advised that I cannot assist with general installation problems for Slackware, Red Hat, or other Linux distributions. My personal systems are not based on any specific Linux distribution and hence I have no experience installing them.

Be sure to join the BusLogic Announcements Mailing List to be informed of new driver and firmware versions.


Linux BusLogic Driver -- Version for Linux 1.2.x

The 1.2.6 version of the driver for Linux 1.2.13 is still available, though no further development is planned since 2.0.x kernels have now been around for quite a while.


BusLogic Announcements Mailing List

The BusLogic Announcements Mailing List provides a forum for informing Linux users of new driver releases and other announcements regarding Linux support for BusLogic SCSI Host Adapters. Announcements are infrequent, so every BusLogic user should join this mailing list.

To join, send a message to buslogic-announce-request@dandelion.com with the line "subscribe" in the message body. (ED: This may now be defunct; the text is included here for search reasons.)


BusLogic BT-948/958/958D Flash Firmware

BusLogic has kindly permitted me to make available certain versions of unreleased BT-948/958/958D firmware to Linux users. BusLogic has a thorough two week long multiple operating system testing procedure that a firmware release candidate must successfully pass before it is formally released. Unfortunately, this testing procedure cannot be performed for each individual bug fix that's ever made, and so formal releases are rather infrequent. Unreleased firmware is also available directly from BusLogic Technical Support to fix specifically reported problems, but it is not available for general retrieval from their FTP site.

My personal philosophy is that I'd rather run an unreleased version that has fixes for bugs that I or other Linux users have encountered, than a formally released version that has known bugs. It is believed that any firmware version available here would pass formal testing, but that cannot be verified without completing the full testing procedure. If you have a similar philosophy in this regard, then BusLogic has allowed me to make available to you the same firmware I am running on my own systems. The choice is yours.

Firmware 5.07B and BIOS 4.96I completed testing and were officially released on 6 August 1997.

Note: There have now been several reports of timeout and miscellaneous problems with firmware 5.07B that were not present with 5.06J. If you encounter any problems with 5.07B, please revert to 5.06J and report the problems to Mylex HBA Technical Support.

The procedure for updating the Firmware and BIOS on a BT-948/958/958D is quite simple:

  1. Download the Flash Utility program and the Firmware/BIOS image you intend to install. If you're using a web browser on Linux, the gzip'ed tar archives flash.tar.gz (Flash Utility) and womper97.tar.gz (5.07B/4.96I Firmware/BIOS) will probably be the easiest to work with. If you're using a web browser on another operating system, the zip archives flash.zip (Flash Utility) and womper97.zip (5.07B/4.96I Firmware/BIOS) may be easier.
  2. Prepare a bootable DOS diskette using the DOS command format a: /s.
  3. Unpack the Flash Utility and Firmware/BIOS image archives, and copy the resulting flash.exe and womper97.rom to the bootable DOS diskette.
  4. Shutdown Linux and reboot using the DOS diskette.
  5. Enter the command flash -n -f womper97.rom and respond Y to the prompt. In addition to updating the Firmware/BIOS, this command will restore factory default settings, so you will need to use AutoSCSI to restore any modifications you've made.
  6. Remove the DOS diskette and hit the hardware reset switch to reboot.
This is the simplest procedure and works in most instances. The Flash Utility has additional options which are occasionally necessary and are documented in the README provided with BusLogic's wpflash.exe, the zip archive containing the Flash Utility, the latest officially released Firmware/BIOS image, and instructions.

If you should need to restore the previous released (5.06I) or unreleased (5.06J) firmware versions for any reason, they are still available for retrieval via these links: