On RedHat at least we have /usr/include/linux/major.h which documents which major number goes with which driver. And remember that there are character drivers and block drivers and one of each can use the same major number. By convention, when this happens the two drivers should be closely related. For example:
Code:
#define MEM_MAJOR 1
#define RAMDISK_MAJOR 1
is an excerpt from that header file and we have
Code:
$ ls -l /dev | awk '$5 == "1,"' | sort -k1.1,1.1 -k6
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 0 Jan 17 10:38 ram0
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 1 Jan 17 10:38 ram1
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 2 Jan 17 10:38 ram2
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 3 Jan 17 10:38 ram3
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 4 Jan 17 10:38 ram4
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 5 Jan 17 10:38 ram5
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 6 Jan 17 10:38 ram6
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 7 Jan 17 10:38 ram7
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 8 Jan 17 10:38 ram8
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 9 Jan 17 10:38 ram9
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 10 Jan 17 10:38 ram10
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 11 Jan 17 10:38 ram11
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 12 Jan 17 10:38 ram12
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 13 Jan 17 10:38 ram13
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 14 Jan 17 10:38 ram14
brw-r----- 1 root disk 1, 15 Jan 17 10:38 ram15
crw-r----- 1 root kmem 1, 1 Jan 17 15:38 mem
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 3 Jan 17 15:38 null
crw-r----- 1 root kmem 1, 4 Jan 17 15:38 port
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 5 Jan 17 15:38 zero
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 7 Jan 17 15:38 full
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 8 Jan 17 15:38 random
cr--r--r-- 1 root root 1, 9 Jan 17 15:38 urandom
crw------- 1 root root 1, 11 Jan 17 15:38 kmsg
crw------- 1 root root 1, 12 Jan 17 15:38 oldmem
$
The major number just tells the kernel which driver to invoke. The driver is the part of the kernel that understands its own minor numbers. But there are conventions here too.
Not all driver writers completely follow conventions.
I am looking for a guide on how to program for either the Linux or FreeBSD (includes 4.4BSD, NetBSD or OpenBSD) kernel. I would prefer to learn how to write device drivers, but anything would help.
If you know, please email me at *removed* or leave a post here
Regards,
Farhan (0 Replies)
I've been researching minimizeing Solaris 8 and found that on the web page http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/content/packagelist/s8u7PkgList/p2.html the package SUNWglmr
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I recently started working with Linux and wrote my first device driver for a hardware chip controlled by a host CPU running Linux 2.6.x kernel.
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Hi all!
I am trying to register a device in an existing device class, but I am
having trouble getting the pointer to an existing class.
I can create a class in a module, get the pointer to it and then use
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Discussion started by: hdaniel@ualg.pt
0 Replies
LEARN ABOUT LINUX
ipwfw
IPWFW(4) BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual IPWFW(4)NAME
ipwfw -- Firmware Module for Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 driver
SYNOPSIS
To compile this module into the kernel, place the following line in your kernel configuration file:
device ipwfw
This will include three firmware images inside the kernel. If you want to pick only the firmware image for the mode you want to operate your
network adapter in choose one of the following:
device ipwbssfw
device ipwibssfw
device ipwmonitorfw
Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place the following lines in loader.conf(5):
ipw_bss_load="YES"
ipw_ibss_load="YES"
ipw_monitor_load="YES"
DESCRIPTION
This module provides access to firmware sets for the Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 series of IEEE 802.11 adapters. It may be statically linked
into the kernel, or loaded as a module.
For the loaded firmware to be enabled for use the license at /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/LICENSE must be agreed to by adding the following
line to loader.conf(5):
legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1
FILES
/usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/LICENSE ipwfw firmware license
SEE ALSO ipw(4), firmware(9)BSD January 14, 2010 BSD
05-03-2011
