bring back the X68000 Host Bridge device

[rdmark]

the SCBR device was removed a year ago in a refactor due to bitrot; this is to attempt restoring and testing this functionality properly

scope:

• restore SCBR and the host file system feature
• refactor to use the new NetworkManager bridge and proxy ARP
• SCBR handling in piscsi-web
• test emulated ethernet adapter with the RASETHER driver on a real X68000
• test host file system

[rdmark]

@gustavosarmento here are the new builds (piscsi, piscsi-web) for testing the Host Bridge!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PkjVnp4-CgAAOiwtS_CTUfdiAzoLcHmS/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1njGNOKls59RlywxuZkECx0t0iRr7T8kn/view?usp=sharing

the first step would be to configure the Linux system networking: is your RPi connected to your LAN via wired Ethernet or WiFi? we have a new utility script called piscsi-network-profile that automate this part, you can check the man page for example commands:

man piscsi-network-profile

or read the online version at https://piscsi.github.io/piscsi/piscsi-network-profile.html

example with wired Ethernet and eth0 network interface (probably the most common configuration with your class of RPi)

sudo piscsi-network-profile --console-acknowledge apply bridge eth0

once you have configured either bridge or proxyarp the piscsi-web UI should recognize this and allow you to attach the SCBR device -- let me know when you get this far

[rdmark]

you can find my translation of the original RaSCSI documentation here:

https://github.com/rdmark/RASCSI-X68k/wiki#network-connection

please be aware that it's somewhat outdated -- my plan is that we merge portions of this document back to PiSCSI as we work through the configuration and testing, and find a functioning setup

[gustavosarmento]

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Plan: create PiSCSI wired bridge on piscsi_bridge with MAC b8:27:eb:3b:9c:19 and STP disabled, add eth0 as its port, and activate the bridge.
Connection 'PiSCSI wired bridge' (ad6bb869-2174-41ee-9971-ccbac3b2a399) successfully added.
Connection 'PiSCSI wired bridge port' (926374b1-93dd-46a0-bd15-60108b267bad) successfully added.
Connection successfully activated (controller waiting for ports) (D-Bus active path: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/4)

[rdmark]

@gustavosarmento that's a promising start. now if you have gotten the host file system service to work with your RaSCSI before, the steps should be much the same this time -- maybe you already have a working configuration?

key steps, as I understand it, are loading the network driver, CONFIG.SYS:

DEVICE    = \NETWORK\RASETHER.SYS

then configure the network interface in AUTOEXEC.BAT to match the IP range of your LAN (it's unclear if DHCP is an option here) at which stage I assume you should be able to ping IP addresses on your network

then for the host filesystem, another driver:

DEVICE    = \SYS\RASDRV.SYS

does this seem familiar?

[rdmark]

just for the record, the parent project has a suite hard disk images containing compiled versions of these drivers here:

https://github.com/RaSCSI/RaSCSI/tree/main/binary/x68k

the source code, if you have Human68k build environment, is here:

https://github.com/RaSCSI/RaSCSI/tree/main/source/x68k

[rdmark]

@gustavosarmento please update your installation with this this build (piscsi_26.8.1-1_armhf_8.deb) --

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V5v8wkcbx3gdLylvH1igm4VRXcm15Q4c/view?usp=sharing

while analyzing the RASCTL/RASETHER/RASDRV code I found multiple incompatibilities with the RaSCSI SCBR protocol, which has now been addressed (it's a bit messy because these drivers and tools is messing with the SCSI bus in non standard ways, but the primary goal is backwards compatibility for now)

[rdmark]

I have now fleshed out our own documentation with hypothetical static IP and DHCP configurations -- not tested, but based on examples online: https://github.com/PiSCSI/piscsi/wiki/Sharp-X68000

[gustavosarmento]

@rdmark the host bridge is working just like it was on the RaSCSI. The network host part, however, I will still have to take some time to properly understand it before testing.

[rdmark]

@gustavosarmento that proves the Host Bridge itself is working as expected, which is a huge step forward

I will probably merge the initial PR later today to get the new protobuf contract in place, but we can continue with bugfixing if needed in new PRs

[gustavosarmento]

Hey there @rdmark

Since I'm a total n00b on X68000 networking (but I'm fairly used to configure "retro" networking and internet access on Amiga computers), can you tell me if this guide covers everything needed to configure the x68k side, so I can test the network host of PiSCSI?

[rdmark]

@gustavosarmento it has some elements that are accurate: the "Common Installation" for preparing a TCP stack on your X68k

skip the Serial / null modem and PPP steps, obviously, and the TAP driver stuff seems related to running an emulator on Windows

the static IP assignment may work if your your home network accepts static IPs, but DHCP should be more generally reliable/compatible as I describe in my (untested) guide: https://github.com/PiSCSI/piscsi/wiki/Sharp-X68000#dhcp-configuration

also, I think you should use GIMONS's RASETHER.SYS driver rather than the one referenced in this article

[rdmark]

I have another feature that you can test which should be easier, when you need a break from wrestling with the network settings: remote control with RASCTL

grab the latest build, piscsi_26.8.1-1_armhf_9.deb

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pJ9W0Y5mae7J_Vd61WedE1VcFV4YpoMm/view?usp=sharing

then start piscsi with the -c argument, e.g.

sudo piscsi -c full

this should enable the legacy RASCTL protocol for remote controlling the PiSCSI from your X68k, using the RASCTL.X command line tool

I have documented how to use RASCTL.X here: https://github.com/PiSCSI/piscsi/wiki/Sharp-X68000#remote-control

[gustavosarmento]

RASCTL.X worked, but once it returned the following error:

[2026-08-31 16:59:54.979] [error] (ID 6) - Not able to receive 1024 byte(s) of data, only received 1023