On Thu, 8 Dec 2011 11:57:40 -0600 Jonathan Nieder <jrnie...@gmail.com> wrote: > reassign 651443 src:firmware-nonfree 0.28+squeeze1 > quit > > Hi, > > Peter Nelson wrote: > > > The firmware files required when using an Adaptec Starfire-based network > > card using the kernel driver starfire.ko are missing. They are in > > neither the linux-image package, nor firmware-linux-free or > > firmware-linux-nonfree. > > Hmm. > > From WHENCE in the linux-firmware repository[1]: > > | Driver: starfire - Adaptec Starfire/DuraLAN support > | > | File: adaptec/starfire_rx.bin > | File: adaptec/starfire_tx.bin > | > | Licence: Allegedly GPLv2, but no source visible. > > Which means we do not have permission to distribute that version without > source. However, at [2], I see: > > | FreeBSD appears to have copied the proper copyright notices into their > | versions of the firmware: > | http://fxr.watson.org/fxr/source/dev/sf/starfire_rx.h > | http://fxr.watson.org/fxr/source/dev/sf/starfire_tx.h
Note that these byte arrays aren't the same as the files in linux- firmware.git. I was able to shuffle the bytes into the order that Linux expects like this: def shuffle(b): r = [] for i in range(0, len(b), 6): r.extend(b[i+2:i+6]) r.extend([0, 0]) r.extend(b[i:i+2]) return r The code then turned out to be slightly different. The processor (GFP) appears to implement a custom architecture, but amazingly it's documented in chapter 5 of <http://download.adaptec.com/pdfs/user_guides/aic6915_pg.pdf>. In theory, someone could write an assembler and disassembler for the GFP and then create a new preferred form for modification. > | "(c)2001 Adaptec, Inc. By using this software you agree that it is > | licensed to you "AS IS" and that Adaptec makes no warranties, > | express or implied, regarding the Software. > | Any redistribution of this Software must include this disclaimer and > | copyright notice." > > That doesn't actually say that redistribution is allowed, either. :/ [...] I think it's very strongly implicit, though. Ben. -- Ben Hutchings Unix is many things to many people, but it's never been everything to anybody.
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