Managing Devices (Tasks)

This chapter provides overview information and step-by-step instructions for managing peripheral devices, such as disks, CD-ROMs, and tape devices, in the Solaris environment.

This is a list of the step-by-step instructions in this chapter.

• How to Display System Configuration Information

• How to Display Device Information

• How to Add a Device Driver

• How to Add a Peripheral Device

This is a list of the overview information in this chapter.

• Where to Find Device Management Tasks

• About Device Drivers

• Automatic Configuration of Devices

• Displaying Device Configuration Information

For information about accessing peripheral devices, see Chapter 30, Accessing Devices (Overview).

Device management in the Solaris environment usually involves adding and removing peripheral devices from systems, possibly adding a third-party device driver to support a device, and displaying system configuration information.

Where to Find Device Management Tasks

The following table describes where to find step-by-step instructions for hot-plugging devices and adding serial devices, such as printers and modems, and peripheral devices, such as a disk, CD-ROM, or tape devices.

Table 27-1 Where to Find Instructions for Adding a Device

About Device Drivers

A computer typically uses a wide range of peripheral and mass-storage devices. Your system, for example, probably has a disk drive, a keyboard and a mouse, and some kind of magnetic backup medium. Other commonly used devices include CD-ROM drives, printers and plotters, light pens, touch-sensitive screens, digitizers, and tablet-and-stylus pairs.

The Solaris software does not directly communicate with all these devices. Each type of device requires different data formats, protocols, and transmission rates.

A device driver is a low-level program that allows the operating system to communicate with a specific piece of hardware. The driver serves as the operating system's "interpreter" for that piece of hardware.

Automatic Configuration of Devices

The kernel, consisting of a small generic core with a platform-specific component and a set of modules, is configured automatically in the Solaris environment.

A kernel module is a hardware or software component that is used to perform a specific task on the system. An example of a loadable kernel module is a device driver that is loaded when the device is accessed.

The platform-independent kernel is /kernel/genunix. The platform-specific component is /platform/`uname -m`/kernel/unix.

The kernel modules are described in the following table.

Table 27-2 Description of Kernel Modules

The system determines what devices are attached to it at boot time. Then, the kernel configures itself dynamically, loading needed modules into memory. At this time, device drivers are loaded when devices, such as disk and tape devices, are accessed. This process is called autoconfiguration because all kernel modules are loaded automatically when they are needed.

You can customize the way in which kernel modules are loaded by modifying the /etc/system file. For instructions on modifying this file, see system(4).

Features and Benefits of Autoconfiguration

The benefits of autoconfiguration are as follows:

• Main memory is used more efficiently because modules are loaded when needed.

• There is no need to reconfigure the kernel when new devices are added to the system.

• Drivers can be loaded and tested without having to rebuild the kernel and reboot the system.

You will use autoconfiguration is used by a system administrator when you add a new device (and driver) to the system. At this time, you will perform a reconfiguration boot so that the system will recognize the new device.

What You Need for Unsupported Devices

Device drivers needed to support a wide range of standard devices are included in the Solaris environment. These drivers can be found in the /kernel/drv and /platform/`uname -m`/kernel/drv directories.

However, if you've purchased an unsupported device, the manufacturer should provide the software that is needed for the device to be properly installed, maintained, and administered.

At a minimum, this software includes a device driver and its associated configuration (.conf) file. The .conf files reside in the drv directories. This software might also include custom maintenance and administrative utilities since the device might be incompatible with Solaris utilities.

Contact your device manufacturer for more information.

Displaying Device Configuration Information

Three commands are used to display system and device configuration information.

For information on the device names that are used to identify devices on the system, see Device Naming Conventions.