Specifications

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Chapter 1Introduction
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This chapter defines the scope of this manual and overviews the effort required to develop
a device driver for PowerMAX OS. It describes the PowerMAX OS manuals potentially
needed to develop a device driver.
Focus of Manual 1
This document is written for programmers with experience in writing device drivers and
using UNIX
®
operating systems. It focuses on device driver development for Concurrent
Computer Corporation hardware and the PowerMAX OS.
Information related specifically to hardware resides in Chapters 4-8.
Note that the information this document contains reflects the current status of the operat-
ing system internals and the interface between the kernel and a device driver. Some of the
internals and the driver interface might change with future development and subsequent
releases of the operating system.
The explanations this document presents focus on developing drivers for character, or
unstructured, devices. Such devices include programmed I/O devices and direct memory
access (DMA) devices.
Overview of the Driver Development Effort 1
This section introduces the steps involved in developing a device driver. First, it outlines
the steps required to write a new device driver. Then, it addresses the effort involved in
porting an existing driver to a PowerMAX OS system.
Writing a New Device Driver 1
Before developing a driver for a device to add to the system, become familiar with the
hardware environment, kernel environment, kernel-to-driver interface, and the device
itself. Chapters 4-7 provide the hardware information. Chapter 9 provides the kernel envi-
ronment information. Chapter 10 provides device evaluation and operation information.
Understanding these topics helps undertake the major tasks of integrating a device and its
drivers into the system:
1. Install the device and test to see if it works.