A device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device.
20
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4answers
9k views
Moving linux install to a new computer
I know that it can, in some circumstances, be difficult to move a Windows installation from one computer to another (physically move the hard drive), but how does that work on linux? Aren't most of ...
16
votes
1answer
5k views
How to assign USB driver to device
This question is two-fold:
First, how do you manually detach a driver from a USB device and attach a different one? For example, I have a device that when connected automatically uses the ...
14
votes
1answer
434 views
How is new hardware support added to the linux kernel?
Imagine there's a company A that releases a new graphics adapter. Who manages the process that results in this new graphics adapter being supported by the Linux kernel in the future? How does that ...
13
votes
3answers
855 views
Why don't you need to update drivers? (Or do you?)
In my life I've not once updated drivers on any of my Linux systems, though they have all been desktops. A friend was asking me why one does not need to update Linux drivers and I found myself unable ...
13
votes
4answers
2k views
What is the difference between kernel drivers and kernel modules?
When I do a lspci -k on my Kubuntu with a 3.2.0-29-generic kernel I can see something like this:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation G86 [Quadro NVS 290] (rev a1)
Subsystem: ...
11
votes
2answers
715 views
Using many monitors (4+) in linux
I want to be able to run more than 4 monitors (maybe 6) and it's extremely confusing what's compatible now with the Displayport cards coming out. Right now I have an ATI card that only has 2 HDMI ...
10
votes
2answers
582 views
Driver is sometimes loaded, sometimes not
I was assigned an Ubuntu desktop with some stuff already on it. I did not reformat it, but attached a mini-PCI wireless card over a PCI to mini-PCI adapter. I manually built the madwifi driver and ...
9
votes
2answers
16k views
What is the difference between ioctl(), unlocked_ioctl() and compat_ioctl()?
Going through the linux 2.6.36 source code at lxr.linux.no, I could not find the ioctl() method in file_operations. Instead I found two new calls: unlocked_ioctl() and compat_ioctl().
What is the ...
8
votes
1answer
326 views
Why need drivers for both x server and the linux kernel?
Can someone explain why two sets of drivers are needed, one in the Linux kernel and one in X?
I understand that the device drivers are in the kernel, but what is the role of those in the xserver?
...
8
votes
3answers
2k views
wireless is disabled by hardware switch even when not
I have a spartan computer. It has a built-in wireless module that up until recently I've had no issues with. The current problem is this. Everytime I shutdown the computer and it boots back up, I am ...
8
votes
2answers
263 views
Connect alauda driver to an mtd device
I have a USB card reader, an Olympus MAUSB-10. It provides direct flash access to SmartMedia or xD cards, using the Linux alauda driver. This is different from a typical card reader which just ...
6
votes
3answers
3k views
Implications of Linux support for AMD Fusion APUs?
I am a newcomer to this, so please excuse my ignorance. But that's what questions are for right? :p
As I understand it, the Linux kernel has had good support for Intel and AMD CPUs (pretty obvious ...
6
votes
2answers
3k views
How to debug the input from an input-device (/dev/input/event*)
I have a IR reciver that is using the imon-driver and i would like to get it working with the kernel. Right now half of the keys on the remote (image) works, but an all important think like the ...
6
votes
3answers
3k views
Prevent a USB external hard drive from sleeping
Does anyone know if there is an elegant way to tell an external usb drive not to spin down after a period of inactivity? I've seen cron based solutions that write a file every minute, but nothing ...
6
votes
2answers
3k views
Getting Ubuntu working with eSATA (Intel H57 chipset)
Does anyone know if there's kernel support for the eSATA controller in the Intel H57 chipset, or if there's a driver for it somewhere? (Full disclosure: Asked over on SuperUser.com, no luck, but as ...
6
votes
2answers
577 views
Loading 3rd-Party Drivers before Fedora 14 Installation
My server is equipped with a megaraid controller that cannot be identified by most linux installer. I have to load it's driver before installation can proceed. I know how to do it with CentOS that ...
6
votes
0answers
148 views
Installing USR 5422 on Ubuntu 12.04
I am a newbie to Linux. I was trying to set up the USR5422 USB adapter. It worked fine for the first time, but since then it freezes the computer most of the time. What commands can I fire to see ...
6
votes
2answers
10k views
Xvideo extension not active with the radeon driver
On my computer running Debian squeeze with the radeon driver, the XVideo extension doesn't work (the extension itself is there but the hardware is not supported). xvinfo shows
X-Video Extension ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
Best way to get into Kernel programming?
Not so much asking what books (although if you know of any guides/tutorials that'd be helpful) but what is the best way to start doing kernel programming and is there a particular distro that would be ...
5
votes
1answer
212 views
What driver is behind a certain device file?
Given a device file, say /dev/sdb, is it possible to determine what driver is behind it?
Specifically, I want to determine what driver my storage devices are using. fdisk -l lists 2 devices: /dev/sda ...
5
votes
2answers
3k views
How to find out which X11 driver system is using?
How to find out which X11 driver system is using?
For my chip openchrome is the best driver but I suspect that system is not using it. I just need at least 2D acceleration.
How can I check?
Here is ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
What's the next step in troubleshooting this wireless connection failure?
I just installed Ubuntu 10.04.3 to dual-boot with Windows. I can connect to the Internet using a wired connection, but not through wireless. The first time I booted, the wireless notification bar ...
5
votes
1answer
224 views
Blacklisting Drivers
What does it mean to blacklist a driver in Linux/Unix? How do you go about doing it?
5
votes
2answers
691 views
ZONE_NORMAL and it's association with Kernel/User-pages?
Above is presented a case where I have only 512 MB of physical memory. What I have read up so far, is that ZONE_NORMAL is mapped to the kernel virtual address space as shown. Essentially I have a ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
Webcam on Angström
I am running Angström on my BeagleBoard-xm. I want to use a webcam (I have Microsoft LifeCam Cinema and Logitech C310). I installed v4l-utils, libv4l-dev and kernel-module-uvcvideo with opkg. But the ...
5
votes
1answer
368 views
Explain to a Linux user how do BSD/OSX drivers work
Linux drivers come in a form of kernel modules (*.ko files), which can be given parameters when loaded into the kernel and usually live in /lib/modules/<kernel version>.
What's the similar ...
5
votes
1answer
703 views
How to find the best monitor resolution and put it to work? Fedora
In this question I'm asking how to install a compatible driver to a Fedora machine, but, the main problem is a bad resolution.
So, how can I find the best resolution to my monitor and put it to work?
...
5
votes
2answers
646 views
What is the state of open-source Poulsbo/GMA 500 drivers?
Currently, a causal browse through a number of Linux distros show spotty Poulsbo drivers at best. Has any headway been made recently towards either convincing Intel to coax the driver source out of ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
Support for usb 3.0?
I could not seem to find the question here but I was wondering what experience if any users have had with USB 3.0?
My asus p5x58d has usb 3 on it but I have yet to try it out and also do not know ...
5
votes
1answer
638 views
Eye-FI SD Card not working with inbuilt card reader
I am tring to get my cardreader to work with and eye-fi SD card.
My System is as follow:
#uname -a
Linux computer 3.2.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 #1 SMP Thu Mar 15 20:46:44 UTC 2012 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Debian ...
5
votes
1answer
244 views
Embedded linux LCD not calibrated
I have attached a new LCD to my embedded Linux device and when I run the system I found that it is shifted to the right. (the display starts from the middle of the LCD)
I found 2 frame buffer drivers ...
5
votes
2answers
560 views
Console port problems on Fedora 15
I've looked under every search term on google I can think of and can't seem to find anything that works.
I just switched from Windows 7 to Fedora 15 on my PC. I need use of the console port to ...
4
votes
2answers
733 views
Which device uses which driver under Linux?
How can I find out or list that what drivers the devices in my pc use?
4
votes
4answers
2k views
Linux on a tegra tablet for programming
I would like to use a tablet for some mobile programming. It would be nice to read a pdf and immediately try the code on the same device. I've found various videos and tutorials how to get Ubuntu ...
4
votes
2answers
400 views
What’s the difference between a “raw” and a “cooked” device driver?
Does this concept only apply to terminal drivers (which is what most sites cover) or to any driver in general?
4
votes
4answers
2k views
I have an ATI Radeon HD 6300 series video card; what do I use, radeon or radeonhd driver?
I want to install the correct driver for my video card under Debian and I don't know which to install, xserver-xorg-video-radeon or xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd?
I've also read some of the ...
4
votes
3answers
157 views
How to list all hardware supported by kernel
I want to see all hardware supported by the kernel in use. For example, if I have the 3.8.x.x version of the Linux kernel, how will I know what hardware is supported there. Tools like lspci, lshw, ...
4
votes
2answers
4k views
Difficulty with mobile broadband device being recognized (registered as CD ROM)
I am running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on a Samsung n150 netbook. I have bought a vodafone pay-as-you-go mobile broadband dongle. It is a Huawei device.
I have *usb_modeswitch* installed. I installed betavine ...
4
votes
1answer
33 views
Should I restart after a pacman upgrade?
after running
sudo pacman -Syyu
or
sudo pacman -S [something to install]
should I restart just to be safe?
4
votes
1answer
964 views
Choose at GRUB menu whether NVidia driver should be used
For some games, I need the nvidia-current driver, but when it's enabled, I can't get my work done as it messes up everything.
So is there a way I can get two options in my GRUB menu? One wich will ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
How to verify hardware acceleration settings on Nvidia GeForce 9800
How can I verify whether hardware acceleration is available and whether it is enabled for my video card.
If it makes a difference I am using Ubuntu 10.04.
4
votes
1answer
136 views
Writing a driver to fool *nix systems about having a GPU
I'm into something about writing a "Mock GPU driver" for *nix based systems. What I mean is that, simply I want to write a driver (Behind X-server obviously) to answer X's API calls with some ...
4
votes
2answers
407 views
Can hardware be accessed directly from user space?
At work we have some embedded devices controlled by DOS software. I have been tasked with the responsibility of assessing the use of Linux as a replacement OS for DOS on a next generation of hardware. ...
4
votes
1answer
876 views
Ubuntu 11.04 wireless driver not detected
When I run iwconfig I get:
no wireless extensions
How do I get Ubuntu to detect my wireless driver?
Looking at the output from lspci and lsusb, here's the relevant line, from lsusb (so it's a ...
4
votes
3answers
629 views
How do Linux drivers work and where do I find them? (esp. NIC driver)
I am wondering how a driver functions under Linux. Are drivers a single file that can be edited? Is there a list of current drivers in use or is there a different place to find them for each device?
...
4
votes
1answer
914 views
Fullscreen game messes with my xrandr dual-monitor setup
I have Gentoo Linux, the Awesome window manager and an open-source ATI driver.
Here's my xorg.conf:
Section "Files"
#ModulePath "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules"
FontPath ...
4
votes
1answer
378 views
Capturing OS/hardware communication / reverse engineering drivers
This may be too broad of a question, but I'm not really sure what exactly I'm looking for. My main question is how the open source community reverse engineers windows drivers (for say, video cards) to ...
4
votes
2answers
481 views
can't initialise/detect 16550A UART at unusual io port address
I've got a board based on the Vortex86DX CPU which is an x86 based microcontroller. It has five 16550A UARTS, four (COM1-COM4) of which are at the usual io port addresses (0x3f8, 0x2f8, 0x3e8, 0x2e8) ...
4
votes
1answer
906 views
How to know whether the Linux driver for the real-time network device was built into the kernel?
From here: http://www.xenomai.org/index.php/RTnet:Installation_%26_Testing#Debugging_RTnet
The Linux driver for the real-time network device was built into the kernel and blocks the hardware.
...
4
votes
1answer
557 views
Usage of inb, inl, inw to access kernel space from user space
What are some user space examples of using inb, inl, and inw to access kernel space in Linux?
