This manual, the IRIX Device Driver Programming Guide, provides information and procedures for developing, installing, and testing UNIX® device drivers for IRIX™ 5.2, 5.3, and 6.0.
Based on Writing Device Drivers for Silicon Graphics Workstations (007-0910-010), first published in 1989, the current version contains numerous corrections and updates as well as information for new platforms and operating systems.
The IRIX Device Driver Reference Pages , contain all the reference pages (man pages) relevant to writing user-level and kernel-level device drivers. (See “Related Documentation” and “Reference Material”for ordering information.)
This manual is a guide to writing device drivers for Silicon Graphics® workstations and servers. It is intended for experienced C programmers and C++ programmers who have a good working knowledge of the architecture of Silicon Graphics computer systems.
Further information and support are available through the Silicon Graphics Developer Program. For information on program membership, please contact the Developer Response Center at (800) 770-3033 or (415) 390-3033, or send email to devprogram@sgi.com.
This guide contains the following chapters and appendices:
Chapter 1, “Introduction to Device Drivers,” introduces basic concepts of devices and provides information on the system hardware/software.
Chapter 2, “Writing a Device Driver,” describes the general interface for both user-level and kernel-level device drivers and introduces the various device driver models.
Chapter 3, “Writing a VME Device Driver,” describes the VME-bus and explains how to write user-level and kernel-level VME device drivers.
Chapter 4, “Writing an EISA Device Driver,” describes the EISA-bus interface and explains how to write user-level and kernel-level EISA device drivers.
Chapter 5, “Writing a SCSI Device Driver,” describes the SCSI-bus interface and explains how to write user-level and kernel-level SCSI device drivers.
Chapter 6, “Writing Kernel-level GIO Device Drivers,” describes the GIO-bus interface and explains how to write kernel-level GIO device drivers.
Chapter 7, “Writing Kernel-level General Memory-mapping Device Drivers,” explains how to write kernel-level general memory-mapping device drivers.
Chapter 8, “Writing Multiprocessor Device Drivers,” addresses questions about device drivers that run on multiprocessor workstations.
Chapter 9, “Writing Network Device Drivers,” addresses questions particular to device drivers that run on networked workstations.
Chapter 10, “Driver Installation and Testing,” describes symmon, the kernel debugger, and explains how to use it.
Chapter 11, “Kernel-level Dynamically Loadable Modules (DLMs),” describes how kernel modules can be loaded dynamically.
Appendix A, “System-specific Issues,” provides information on various CPUs and platforms. It addresses, among other topics, the differences in data cache invalidation, write buffer flushing, and VME addressing.
Appendix B, “SCSI Controller Error Messages,” lists common error messages.
Appendix C, “Device Driver Migration Notes,” gives the information required to make earlier IRIX device drivers compliant with releases 5.2, 5.3, and 6.0.
The Glossary contains definitions of some useful terms for device driver writers; the Index provides another set of entry points to the material in this manual.
GIO Bus Specification, Version 2.1, Silicon Graphics, Inc.
IRIX Device Driver Reference Pages , Silicon Graphics, Inc., document number 007-2183-003
MIPSpro Porting and Transition Guide, Silicon Graphics, Inc., document number 007-2391-001
STREAMS Programmer's Guide, Version 1.0, Silicon Graphics, Inc., document number 007-0833-020
ANSI standards X3.131-1986, 1014-1987, and X3T9.2/85-52 Rev 4B.
Egan, Janet I., and Thomas J. Teixeira. Writing a UNIX® Device Driver. John Wiley & Sons, 1992.
Heinrich, Joseph. MIPS R4000 User's Manual. PTR Prentice Hall, 1993.
Hines, Robert M., and Spence Wilcox. Device Driver Programming, UNIX SVR4.2. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: UNIX Press, 1992.
Kane, Gerry, and Joseph Heinrich. MIPS RISC Architecture. Prentice Hall, 1992.
Leffler, Samuel J., et alia. The Design and Implementation of the 4.3BSD UNIX® Operating System. Palo Alto, California: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1989.
M. Maekawa, A. Oldehoeft, and R. Oldehoeft. Operating Systems Advanced Concepts. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., 1987.
A. Silberschatz, J. Peterson, and P. Galvin. Operating System Concepts, Third Edition. Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1991.
STREAMS Modules and Drivers, UNIX SVR4.2. UNIX Press, 1992.
UNIX System V Release 4 Programmer's Guide, UNIX SVR4.2. UNIX Press, 1992.
This guide uses the following notation and syntax conventions:
