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Full Discussion: Device Files names and location
Top Forums UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers Device Files names and location Post 302263489 by Carl1976 on Monday 1st of December 2008 05:08:47 PM
Old 12-01-2008
Device Files names and location
HI there. I am studying System administration right now and am stuck on a question that I have failed to find the answer for in my book.

The question is: Do device files need to be in the /dev directory and to they need to follow a naming convention?

My answer (so far) is that since the kernel commnicated with device files, it needs to know where they are located, so I would imagine that yes they do need to be in the /dev directory. And as a rule of thumb there are conventions that need to be followed as "best practices" such as fd, lp etc, but I could make the name whatever I wanted.

I have tried to solve this myself by:
Reading the section in the book again (and again)
Searching other forums and resource sites
played around on my system to test it myself
i.e.
1. cd /home/temp
2. sudo mknod mydev c 136 2
3. echo "testing" > /home/temp/mydev
--> Nothing happens here which would seem to re-enforce my answer that device files do need to be in the /dev dir but ca nstill be named whatever I want

So, this is where I am confused. I have attempted to solve this myself, and don't simply want the answer and that's it, but some help, clarification, point in the right direction etc.

I'm just spinning my wheels so any support would be appreciated. I have emailled my prof as well, and am just waiting as well, so thought I would post the same thing here!
 

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LEARN ABOUT DEBIAN

dsp

7(16 December 2012)													       7(16 December 2012)

NAME

       dsp - Open Sound System audio devices

DESCRIPTION

       /dev/dsp  is  the  default audio device in the system. It's connected to the main speakers and the primary recording source (such as micro-
       phone). The system administrator can set /dev/dsp to be a symbolic link to the desired default device. The ossinfo utility can be  used	to
       list the available audio devices in the system.

       /dev/dsp_mmap,  /dev/dsp_ac3,  /dev/dsp_multich	and /dev/dsp_spdifout are default audio devices for specific applications such as games or
       media (DVD) players.

DIRECT ACCESS AUDIO DEVICE FILES

       OSS 4.0 (and later) will create audio devices under /dev/oss/<device> directory.  For example  /dev/oss/sblive0/pcm0  is  the  first  audio
       device  that belongs to the first Sound Blaster Live! or Audigy card in the system. These direct devices are used when an application needs
       to access specific audio device (instead of the default one).

       You can use the ossinfo(1) utility with the -a option to get a list of the available audio devices in the system.

LEGACY AUDIO DEVICE FILES

       Traditionally OSS has created device files like /dev/dsp0 to /dev/dspN for each audio device in the system. OSS	4.0  still  supports  this
       legacy  naming.	 These	files  are symbolic links to the actual device files located under /dev/oss. The ossdevlinks(8) utility is used to
       manage these links and it will be automatically invoked when OSS is started.

COMPATIBILITY

       o  The /dev/dsp (default() audio device file will be supported by all OSS implementations and versions.

       o  The special purpose audio default devices (such as /dev/dsp_mmap) are only supported by OSS 4.0 and later.

       o  The legacy audio device files (such as /dev/dsp1) are supported by all OSS versions and implementations.

       o  New style audio device files (under /dev/oss) are only supported by OSS 4.0 and later. However some independent OSS implementations  may
	  only support the legacy naming even they are otherwise OSS 4.0 compatible.

       o  /dev/dsp0 doesn't exist in all Linux systems which use /dev/dsp for the same purpose. In such systems /dev/dsp points to the first audio
	  device and /dev/dsp1 to the second.

PROGRAMMING INFORMATION

       See the Audio Programming section of the OSS Programmer's Guide (DSP(2)) for more info.

OPTIONS

       None

FILES

       o /dev/dsp
	      Default audio device

       o /dev/dsp_mmap
	      Default audio device for applications using mmap(2)

       o /dev/dsp_ac3
	      Default audio device for applications sending Dolby Digital (AC3) audio to an external receiver.

       o /dev/dsp_multich
	      Default multichannel (4.0-7.1) audio output device

       o /dev/dsp_spdifout
	      Default digital audio (S/PDIF) output device

       o /dev/oss/<driver>/pcmN
	      Direct access device files for individual audio devices.

       o /dev/dsp0 to /dev/dspN
	      Legacy style direct access audio device files.

AUTHOR

       4Front Technologies

OSS Devices														       7(16 December 2012)
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