From: "Ed Durrant" <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
Message-ID: <45D4074A.2070407@bigpond.net.au>
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:10:02 +1100
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To: OS/2 Wireless Users Mailing List <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
Subject: Re: [OS2Wireless]Re: PCI-S & SATA (Was:Re: Intel 3945 support in
 GenMAC)
References: <list-880264@2rosenthals.com>
In-Reply-To: <list-880264@2rosenthals.com>
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Lewis G Rosenthal wrote:
> On 02/14/07 03:11 pm, Ed Durrant thus wrote :
>> Lewis G Rosenthal wrote:
>>>>
>>> I think that it's more the fact that it is a PCI Express machine 
>>> with SATA drive architecture than anything else (though I understand 
>>> that there are sound issues with it, as well). More and more of the 
>>> newer generation of machines will be SATA and will have PCI Express 
>>> instead of mini-PCI, and this, of course, is someting we need to 
>>> watch in the market and be prepared to support.
>>>
>>> Thanks for clarifying the issue with the T30, Ed. ;-)
>>>
>> Before I get too far off topic - let me simply add that I am running 
>> eCS and OS/2 on this machine which is a SATA / PCI-express system, 
>> albeit towerPC not a laptop, so at least with the chipset used on 
>> this ASUS M2V-TVM motherboard, we already appear to have the 
>> necessary support. So the T60 "may" work, apart from the usual 
>> WinModem problems.
>>
> The SATA in the T60 needs to be configured (in the BIOS) for legacy 
> (compatibility) mode or Dani won't be able to access the drive (at 
> least, the last build I tried). SATA is an odd thing, kind of 
> reminscent of the early days of IDE when different manufacturers had 
> slightly different implementations which didn't always play well 
> together (the rule of thumb once was to not mix manufacturers on 
> drives on the same IDE channel).
>
> Yes, the basic support for SATA and PCI Express is there, but we are 
> still on the usual catchup trail to the newer stuff (of course, so are 
> the Linux guys - and gals). I think sinfosar as th PCI Express stuff 
> is concerned that our biggest problem is not with the PCI-X 
> architecture per se, but simply the same old "new hardware" issues.
>
Small point - PCI-X is NOT PCI-Express.  PCI_Express slots are sometimes 
shortened to PCI-E.

PCI-X is an adaption of PCI that has been with us in servers for some 
years, is normally 64 bit slots and often supports Hot-Swap of cards - 
in other words a faulty card can be "turned off from the operating 
system" the card removed and a new one installed and then turned back on 
again - all without having to close down operation of the system.

Cheers/2

Ed.