=== Release notes for ftape-1.12 ===

Okay, I finally decided to declare this code beta :-)
After a long period of being not able to work on the driver
I bought myself a QIC-80 drive last saturday and fixed some
remaining problems in the driver.

To prevent confusion with ftape-1.02 which has nothing to
do with ftape-0.9.x, I'll start the numbering of the beta
versions with 1.12 !

There are no new features with this release, only bug fixes.
All features released in the past, including multi-volume
backups and end-of-file marks, should be working as advertised.

Note: Some tape drives (Iomega) falsely set the new-cartridge-
      loaded status every time the driver is opened.
      These drives won't work together with file-marks as
      every file ends up at the beginning of the tape.

Summary of bugs fixed:

- 'unforseen write error' caused by a data underrun causes
  retry now (I hope, this is to be tested in the field).
- aborting the driver should work better now.
- fast seek problems solved for most drives.
- some 'I/O errors' due to missing recovery fixed.

Future plans:

- Fix more bugs when new ones get reported.
- Add code for 1 Mbps controllers as soon as I find a really
  cheap one.

Have fun,
          Bas.


=== Release notes for ftape-0.9.12 ===

- Improved signal handling, fdc_interrupt_wait now restores
  original mask.
- Improved fast seek, not relying on tape speed anymore
  because these differ from drive to drive. It will not work
  with some older drives that will need a timed function (not
  implemented yet).

=== Release notes for ftape-0.9.11 ===

- Changed some trace levels from 4 to 5.
- Added write underrun error handler (untested !!!).
- Fixed failing read_id because of missing queue pulses.
- Added recovery if wait_segment fails in read_segment.
- Better end of tape handling in read_id, smart_stop &
  abort_operation.
- Changed some messages in fdc_isr.

=== Release notes for ftape-0.9.10a ===

- Fixed Makefile to prevent some versions of make to loop.
- Fixed failing write retry bug (typo in write_segment).
- Fixed Wangtek 3080F wakeup method (colorado instead of none).
- Implemented trial version of fast seek.
- Fixed bad timing of ftape_sleep(), expecting msec's instead
  of whole seconds now ! Fixed all calls.
- Integrated faster ecc code.

=== Release notes for ftape-0.9.10 ===

So here's another release of the QIC-117 floppy tape driver.
Two reasons prevented me of calling this code BETA yet:

- Implementing new features, improving the error recovery and
  removing bugs I've changed a lot of code again (I hope this
  was the last time, can't promise anything though ;-).
- I haven't got the slightest idea of how many people are using
  the driver successfully (I mostly get problem reports) :-(

I reckon this version will trigger a new flood of problem reports.
Beside knowing about these and working on them, I would like to
know how many of you are successfully using the driver (so I can
see if it's worth the effort ;-).
So if you're happy with the driver, send me a postcard saying so
and mention the driver version and tape drive you're using.

Bas.
----

email:  Bas Laarhoven <bas@vimec.nl>
smail:  Bas Laarhoven, Mr. v. Boemellaan 39,
        5237 KA 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

--------------------
New features:

o  Full support for file marks while remaining QIC-40/80 compatible.
   All (?) mtio options are implemented so it's possible to store
   multiple (e.g. tar) files on one tape and read them back at random.
o  The tape is stopped when the dataflow stagnates. This allows creation
   of compressed tapes with much less overhead (and tape wear).

Other changes:

o  The tracing level is no longer set with `mt fsf' but with `mt fsr' now!
o  If using the gcc-2.4.5 compiler, due to a bug in the compiler you'll
   need to set a flag in the Makefile!
o  Distributed the code over a new set of files.
o  Rewritten Makefile using dependency file (need `make dep')!
o  Improved trace readability although less efficient now.
o  Tape unreferenced status doesn't abort ftape_open anymore. This allows
   formatting and other non-read/write commands on a unformatted tape.
o  Prepared code for single sector read/write.
o  Rewritten interrupt service routine from scratch.
o  Extended report_vendor_id code to recognize Iomega drives.
o  Fixed bug in fdc-io.c incorrectly handling overrun errors.
o  Increased retry count for writes.

Still to do:

o  Integrate faster ecc code.
o  Integrate high-speed-controller code.
o  Support for 1 Mbps floppydisk controllers.
o  Handle my mail backlog ;-)

--------------------

