[jwhat]

Hi vvuk & Weblacky,

one of motivations for using new firmware is that it is "rumoured" to enable use of 3Gb/Sec with SATA as well as SAS.

When originally released the 1608 had support for:
- 1.5 Gb/Sec SATA
- 3.0 Gb/Sec SAS

Subsequent to card release SATA II was released and new firmware supported this (as physical support for 3 Gb/Sec was already available for SAS).

This was initially documented by Ian Mapleseon (SGI Depot), but he did not keep full details, hence why I documented more fully.

I have not done performance tests across older / newer firmware release so cannot confirm if this is really correct.

As per note I had a very old board originally that has "beta" software and IRIX actually complained about the firmware version.

NOTE: The enabling of HBA (vs RAID) mode was based on findings of "UnRaid" community and was performance motivated as well.

Cheers from Oz,

jwhat/John.