In <20010206155859.2437.qmail@mail.netbsd.org>
eeh@netbsd.org wrote:

> You should only use hto[bl]e{16,32,64}() calls for data you will transfer
> to the device through DMA.

More clarification:

You should only use hto[bl]e{16,32,64}() calls for non-bytestream data
you will transfer through DMA to the device which assumes its host is
little endian.

Some excellent devices can handle DMA transfers between the big-endian
host with no byteswap functions. Currently I know only one device which
does it properly, though.
---
Izumi Tsutsui
tsutsui@ceres.dti.nje.jp