Linux 2.2.17 Release Notes

Platforms:Alpha, PowerPC, Sparc, X86

Introduction
Linux 2.2.17 is the latest update to the Linux kernel tree. The out of the
box tree supports the Alpha, PPC, Sparc and X86 platforms. MIPS is mostly
merged but you should obtain the platform specific tree. ARM, M680x0 and
S/390 users should get their platform specific tree.

Compilers
This code is intended to build with gcc 2.7.2 and egcs 1.1.2. Patches for
building with gcc 2.95 are merged but less tested than other compilers.
Caution is recommended when using gcc 2.95 and feedback is sought.

Binary Compatibility
Linux 2.2.17 changes a few internal system structures. You may need to
rebuild a few third party modules such as pcmcia-cs when upgrading from
older kernels to this one.

Security Notes

Linux 2.2.17 contains no significant security updates.

Security Updates

IDE/SCSI raw commands
     We now require CAP_SYS_RAW_IO for these.
IP chains
     A casting error could occasionally make frames be treated as fragment
     zero
Keymap reload
     Keymap reloads now require root

Architecture Updates

Alpha
        o Fix fbcon, matroxfb and pm2fb for Alpha
        o Fix iovec overrun emulation for OSF
        o Fix lmc and dmfe build problems on Alpha
        o Remove an escaped debug message
        o Various small platform fixes

i386
        o Add knowledge of WinChip C6 buggy TSC
        o CPU identification code knows about the Transmeta processors
        o Handle Athlon cache size reporting errata
        o List extra Athlon CPU flags
        o Machine Check Exception handler added
        o Save db6 correctly on debug traps
        o SMM driver for Toshiba laptops
        o Typo fix on oops reporting

MIPS
     No changes
PowerPC
     PPC should now be back in line between the main tree and the PPC
     distribution save for USB.
        o ATI video fixes
        o Fix zImage for chrp platforms
        o Numerous small fixes

S/390
     Some updates have been merged but not yet all. S/390 is not functional
     out of the box on 2.2.17.
Sparc
        o Fix eepro100 on sparc
        o Fix lockd ioctl translation
        o Fix problems with SABRE
        o Fix signal handling problems
        o Fix sparc power handling bug
        o Fix symbios scsi on sparc
        o Fix string concatentation in sparc includes
        o Fix TLB multi-match bugs on sparc64

Core Updates

CDROM
     Fixes for CDROMPLAYTRKIND and rpc2 region info queries. Other fixes for
     some CDROM problems.
IDE
     Fix the multiple ide directories in /proc bug
Iovecs
     Handle iovec overruns as per BSD behaviour.
SCSI core
     Hopefully fix the initrd unload problem
SCSI generic
     Fix panic with some cards
SCSI tape
     Various bugs fixed
VM subsystem
     Fix I/O slowdown. Improve overall performance. Fix early 'no free
     pages' problem.

Driver Updates

3c59x driver
     Add support for the 3c556, fix various bugs
3Ware IDE Raid
     A new version of the driver is included
Adaptec 29xx
     The aic7xxx driver has been updated. EISA/VLB card problems should be
     fixed too.
ALi 5451 audio
     Added support for the midi port on this chipset
AT1700
     Small fixes
Baycom
     Several cleanups
Bonding
     Fix several crash cases on unload/setup with the bonding driver
BTTV TV card
     Support multiple norms
CS4280/CS46xx
     A driver for most CS4280 and CS46xx cards has been added.
CS4281
     A driver for the Crystal CS4281 sound chip has been added.
Cyclades Serial
     Small driver updates
DAC960 driver
     A new release of the DAC960 driver has been incorporated
DE4X5
     Fix problems with 100Mbit full duplex
Doubletalk
     Fix select handling bugs
EEpro
     Several fixes applied
EEpro100
     Use I/O mode not MMIO for now
EMU0K
     Merge an initial driver for the emu10k chip (SBLive! and friends)
ES1370
     Fix a bug in GETOSPACE
ES1371
     Add support for revision 8 boards. Fix a bug in GETOSPACE
ESS 1879
Fix incorrect sound on some setups
ESS Solo
     Start card with mic input turned down to avoid feedback
Etherworks 3
     Added support for byte counters
HDLC driver
     This has been updated to the latest code
I2O
     Fix scsi crash on boot problem, block scan for multiple drives, better
     boot volume handling.
IMM/PPA Zip driver
     Fix problems with PCI interfaces
Initio SCSI
     Fix crash on unload problems
IP2 Serial
     Fix config ioctl bug
IXJ Telephony
     Resynchronized withthe vendor driver releases
Intel i810 audio
     Several API and other fixes have been made. The high CPU usage problem
     with xmms has been fixed.
Lanmedia
     Fix serveral driver problems and update driver
MD software raid
     Fixed the problems in 2.2.16 with block size errors
PC300
     A driver for the Cyclades PC300 has been added
PS/2 mouse
     Lockup on reconnect of a mouse on an SMP box is fixed
QlogicFC
     Driver updates and bug fixes
RIO serial
     Bring in line with 2.4 driver
Smart2 RAID
     Added another card to the known boards, minor fixes
SX Serial
     Fixed DTR on close bug. Bring in line with 2.4 driver
Synclink
     Driver updates
Thunderlan
     Driver updates
Yamaha PCI audio
     Fix problems when it is compiled in.

File System Updates

AFFS
     Small fixes
Atari Partition Probe
     Perform atari probe last to avoid false positives
CODA
     General updates to the CODA interface code
Ext2
     Set file types on sockets. Fix typo in error message.
FAT
     Fix a problem with FATfs on CD-ROM
ISOfs
     Fix off by one error on some CD reading. Fix 2K alignment bug.
NCPfs
     Fix handling of 16bit characters
NFS
     Fixed a race in the NFS code that would report the cache already
     locked. Don't listen for TCP on the lockd port.
NTfs
     Fix some problems. Stop it trying to handle Win2K.
SMBfs
     General cleanup. Fix rename on OS/2.
UMSDOS
     Most UMSDOS problems are now believed fixed

Miscellaneous Updates

bitops
     The bit operations on some platforms did not work for all cases
Memory leaks
     Several obscure memory leaks on error paths of drivers have been fixed
VA rename
     VA Research became VA Linux
Vger.kernel.org
     The main kernel mailing lists moved. This is reflected in the
     documentation for 2.2.17
Warnings
     A general effort to remove some of the warnings from the code

Network Updates

Appletalk
     Improve the handling of AARP when an address gets reused by another
     node. Fix other small appletalk bugs.
IRDA
     Fix problems in the parameter parser. Fix memory leak.
IRIX food fight
     Fixed a problem that caused Linux and Irix boxes to occasionally get
     into food fights with FIN frames
Masquerading
     Document new ipmasqadm tool locations
PPP
     Some obscure oops cases have been fixed
Race
     A race between device unloading and packet dequeueing has been fixed
Sockets
     A potential situation where incorrect errors were set on sockets has
     been fied.
TCP
     Fix some hangs and crashes under very high VM load. Fix some other
     problems with very busy sites