Parallel-port IDE and ATAPI storage adapters (PATA-over-parport)
Support for external storage devices that hung off a PC's parallel port in the 1990s and early 2000s, including parallel-port CD-ROMs, Zip drives, SuperDisk/LS-120 drives, and various IDE-to-parport bridges built around chipsets like EPAT, BPCK, KBIC, OnSpec, and FIT. These adapters let users add removable storage to laptops and desktops before USB mass storage took over.
recommendation
Worth keeping but worth flagging as legacy: the hardware has not been sold new since around 2003 (SuperDisk manufacturing ended that year, and parallel-port storage was already being displaced by USB), but the code itself is actually the modern replacement for the old PARIDE subsystem, merged in 2023 on top of libata. Maintenance is genuinely ongoing, with cleanup work in 2023 and driver-core fixes still landing as recently as 2026, so it is not a candidate for removal — just a niche that deserves a note about its vintage user base.
repository signals
sources
- kernel.org
Current kernel documentation still documents `pata_parport`, its protocol modules, and supported parallel-port IDE devices, indicating the driver remains supported upstream for legacy hardware.
- patchew.org
The driver was introduced in 2023 as the libata-based replacement for the old PARIDE subsystem, so it is itself the modern in-tree solution for this legacy niche rather than a removal candidate inherited from older code.
- spinics.net
The linux-ide archive shows a substantial 2023 cleanup/rework series for `pata_parport`, demonstrating real review and maintenance activity after merge.
- spinics.net
A patch posted on April 24, 2026 updates `pata_parport` for driver-core correctness, showing ongoing upstream attention and no sign of abandonment.
- en.wikipedia.org
One representative supported product family, SuperDisk/LS-120, ceased manufacturing in 2003, which is consistent with this driver's hardware base being long obsolete and not sold new in 2025.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local shell inspection of `drivers/ata/pata_parport` showed a real libata/parport driver plus 14 protocol modules for legacy parallel-port IDE adapters. Web search found current kernel docs (`web.search_query`) confirming active documentation and supported device classes; Patchew (`web.search_query`) showed the 2023 introduction as a PARIDE replacement; spinics thread index (`web.search_query`) showed 2023 cleanup traffic; and a spinics patch from 2026 (`web.search_query`) showed continuing fixes. A removal/deprecation-oriented web search did not surface a `pata_parport` removal series; the removal discussion was for old PARIDE being replaced by this driver. Hardware demand is therefore legacy-only, but upstream maintenance is still real, so `keep-annotate` fits better than deprecate/remove.