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It depends... Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS

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Kevin, there is no available detailed documentation on the 
Korvetten-class production or functions. We have documented the Tribble, 
Spock, and DFW variants. There is no simular RS/6000 SCSI adapter 
collection :(

I used that RS/6000 boot support list as a guide to identifying RS/6K 
systems that came with / supported the F/W. Tis true that's pretty 
darned paltry.

It is interesting that the T1 / T2 enhanced complex BIOSes were 
available in '92, and the requisite refdisks were also fielded in '92. 
That does NOT prove that the F/W was available then, but suggests that 
IBM had engineered the SCSI functionality to support providing the SCSI 
BIOS code in IML at that time.

One RETAIN tip states that ver 1.3x / 1.2 Refdisks are version 05, this 
must be a typo. SC.EXE never got above ver 3.1

http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohland/Setup/SC_EXE_Versions.html

The Type 4 SurePath BIOS must be 05+

Your thoughts on ROS and the SCSI-2 standard are spot-on, but do not 
address the actual functioning of the Korvette's SCSI Firmware "stub" 
and the complex IML code [aka BIOS].

Unit 5 needs more data!

Kevin Bowling wrote:
> On 5/20/26 20:51, Louis Ohland wrote:
>> Folks, as usual with IBM, we are left with suspicions and suggestive 
>> passages.
>>
>> This morning, I fed my Brittanies around 0510, brewed up a pot of 
>> French Press coffee. Then the utterances of Saint Katherine of Rohl 
>> came to me, unbidden.
>>
>> The Corvette lacks a SCSI BIOS and the SCSI firmware has a "stub". 
>> What this stub does, or what procedure it calls, or what address it 
>> points to, I dunno.
>>
>> Since the Corvette is an RS/6000 adapter, there is no announcement 
>> letter for it, instead, it is part of a system announcement letter, 
>> fer instance, for the 580. The POWER2 systems seem to be the first 
>> ones to support the Corvette's need for the SCSI BIOS internalized in 
>> IML code.
> 
> Is it?  I know the 4-C Corvette Turbo is but I think the standard one 
> was always intended for dual use.
> 
>> If we look at the "Enhanced Complex BIOS" or "Dual Boot" upgrade 
>> complex BIOS for the T1 -AND- T2, both are from Mar '92. The upgrade 
>> needs the T1 ver 1.31 refdisk or the T2 ver 1.21 refdisk are both from 
>> Nov '92.
>>
>> The RETAIN tip about the Corvette in a 8595 says there are 
>> improvements in SCSI stuff, but no mention of the F/W.
>>
>> The earliest POWER2 systems that offered the F/W are in mid-'94. But 
>> that doesn't mean the Corvette couldn't be ordered separately from the 
>> system. RPQ or special bid...
> 
> https://www.ardent-tool.com/IBM_SCSI/SCSI-FW.html#RS6000_Boot_Support
> 
> Note that the way these (early) RS/6000s boot is opposite of a PC.  The 
> ROS code enumerates the devices and selects a boot record from a default 
> search order or a persisted nvram order.  So it needs to know enough 
> about the device to do that.  That's why it can't boot the older systems.
> 
>>
>> My SWAG is the Korvetten-class were under development in '92, and IBM 
>> most likely planned for introduction on the high-end 90/95 and on 
>> POWER2 and better RS/6000.
>>
>> Another thought, offering a high-end SCSI adapter that requires an 
>> upper-end product seems like pure IBM marketing.
> 
> SCSI-2 was formally ratified in 1994 although products were shipping 
> earlier.  It took a bit more horse power for everything (HBA, drive 
> ASICs) to run F/W and the cabling was once more complicated.  Until 
> drives started to push the speeds, there wasn't yet a big need for a PC 
> class system to worry about it.  The 0664 HDD was contemporary, offered 
> in F/W, and might peak at 5MB/s.  So you'd need a few simultaneously 
> accessed for F/W to show a major improvement.

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Thread

Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Louis Ohland <ohland@charter.net> - 2026-05-20 22:51 -0500
  Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Kevin Bowling <kevin.bowling@kev009.com> - 2026-05-20 21:53 -0700
    It depends... Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Louis Ohland <ohland@charter.net> - 2026-05-21 08:38 -0500
      Re: It depends... Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Kevin Bowling <kevin.bowling@kev009.com> - 2026-05-21 19:24 -0700
        Finally! A coherent question! Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Louis Ohland <ohland@charter.net> - 2026-05-22 06:10 -0500
          Re: Finally! A coherent question! Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Kevin Bowling <kevin.bowling@kev009.com> - 2026-05-22 11:17 -0700
    Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Louis Ohland <ohland@charter.net> - 2026-05-21 08:50 -0500
      Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Kevin Bowling <kevin.bowling@kev009.com> - 2026-05-21 11:26 -0700
        Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Louis Ohland <ohland@charter.net> - 2026-05-21 16:33 -0500
          Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Kevin Bowling <kevin.bowling@kev009.com> - 2026-05-21 15:46 -0700
  Re: Genesis device: The emergence of Corvette support in Complex BIOS Rick Ekblaw <ekblaw@vnet.ibm.com> - 2026-05-21 18:57 -0400

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