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SubjectRe: Why SCSI module needed for PCI-IDE ATA only disks ?
Robert Hancock wrote:
> Ed Sweetman wrote:
>> What's not a legitimate configuration is libata drivers, no low level
>> scsi drivers, no ide drivers and no sd,sr,sg drivers. Yet, that is
>> the configuration the kernel currently gives you. How is that more
>> correct than any of the 3 solutions I have suggested?
>
> You can't build libata without low-level SCSI drivers. CONFIG_ATA
> automatically selects CONFIG_SCSI.
>
config scsi isn't low level. There are no scsi controllers selected by
selecting config_ata. Mening, that the user hasn't bothered going into
the SCSI section. In effect you have a system that detects the ata
controllers but nothing that can use the drives on them. How is that a
valid system, a system where no drives are usable, but having some
mention of the configuration in the Help of libata or automatically
selecting those scsi_sd, sr, and sg drivers and letting the user
deselect them as needed instead of the other way around Not a valid are
more correct system?

No matter what when you select a scsi controller or libata controller
you are going to need to select one or more of those scsi device drivers
(sr,sg,sd) the issue is that when you are only using libata, you have no
reason to bother with the scsi section so it's not readily apparent that
you would need those block device drivers. I'm not saying we should
auto select them, but I am saying that auto selecting is way better than
keeping the kernel configuration the way it is and selecting none.



In the end the problem is in the layout of the config. SCSI is _THE_
device interface protocol but most people dont have scsi physical
interfaces. The kernel differentiates between the two inside the SCSI
section. This made sense before ide was marked for eventual replacement
by libata. Now everything uses that scsi top level for block device
access. That effectively makes those scsi block devices generic block
devices. SCSI and LIBATA sections should have configuration options
that are relevant to those physical devices and interfaces and not
require options from eachother's sections to get drivers in their own
sections to work. Massively shared config options shouldn't be stuck
in some sub menu below where all the things that use it are located.
But that's for some much later version of the kernel to deal with (when
ide is removed and such).
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