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From: terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: WD Ethernet Card not found on warmboot
Message-ID: <1992Aug22.053703.29018@fcom.cc.utah.edu>
Date: 22 Aug 92 05:37:03 GMT
References: <1992Aug19.165319.14767@doug.cae.wisc.edu> <714317431.111@eyrie.img.com.au> <1992Aug21.171828.14323@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
Sender: news@fcom.cc.utah.edu
Organization: Weber State University (Ogden, UT)
Lines: 48
In article <1992Aug21.171828.14323@doug.cae.wisc.edu> dinda@cae.wisc.edu (Dinda Peter) writes:
>Every solution I've gotten so far is to "recompile the kernel." I
>really wonder why Unix *still* doesn't have installable device drivers.
It has installable device drivers! What you do is:
1) Install the driver
2) Recompile the kernel 8-) 8-).
Seriously, that's what loadable kernel modules and streams are all about...
Actually, streams modules are more like "configurable" device drivers.
Loadable kernel modules can be system calls, devices, pseudo devices, file
systems, or streams modules.
>The Novell Netware Requester for OS/2 is updated by just copying over
>the new device drivers - there's even a PM program that'll do it for
>you. DOS has had installable device drivers (device=) since 2.0. Is
>there a fundamental reason why Unix hasn't/will not support this?
These aren't "loadable drivers"... these are "boot time configurable drivers"
....the closest DOS comes to loadable drivers is GSS CGI, AutoCAD, and printer
configurations. Printer configurations are like printcap entries, and the
others are rather application centric (ie: like UNIX shared libraries or
runtime link-loading).
Best thing you can do is wait for the necessary modifications to gcc to
do symbol relocation and resoloution against a known a.out module, and
incorporation of a link-loader into the kernel. This will allow loadable
kernel modules.
Until then:
1) Relink the kernel with all possible permutations of configuration
2) "boot time configure" it like DOS by linking the correct one to
/386bsd.
Terry Lambert
terry_lambert@gateway.novell.com
terry@icarus.weber.edu
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.
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terry@icarus.weber.edu
"I have an 8 user poetic license" - me
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