Copying the Driver to a Module Directory (Writing Device Drivers)

Writing Device Drivers

Copying the Driver to a Module Directory

Three conditions determine a device driver module's path:

The platform that the driver runs on
The architecture for which the driver is compiled
Whether the path is needed at boot time

Device drivers reside in the following locations:

/platform/`uname -i`/kernel/drv: Contains 32-bit drivers that run only on a specific platform.
/platform/`uname -i`/kernel/drv/sparcv9: Contains 64-bit drivers that run only on a specific SPARC-based platform.
/platform/`uname -i`/kernel/drv/amd64: Contains 64-bit drivers that run only on a specific x86-based platform.
/platform/`uname -m`/kernel/drv: Contains 32-bit drivers that run only on a specific family of platforms.
/platform/`uname -m`/kernel/drv/sparcv9: Contains 64-bit drivers that run only on a specific family of SPARC-based platforms.
/platform/`uname -m`/kernel/drv/amd64: Contains 64-bit drivers that run only on a specific family of x86-based platforms.
/usr/kernel/drv: Contains 32-bit drivers that are independent of platforms.
/usr/kernel/drv/sparcv9: Contains 64-bit drivers on SPARC-based systems that are independent of platforms.
/usr/kernel/drv/amd64: Contains 64-bit drivers on x86-based systems that are independent of platforms.

To install a 32-bit driver, the driver and its configuration file must be copied to a drv directory in the module path. For example, to copy a driver to /usr/kernel/drv, type:

$ su
# cp xx /usr/kernel/drv
# cp xx.conf /usr/kernel/drv

To install a SPARC driver, copy the driver to a drv/sparcv9 directory in the module path. Copy the driver configuration file to the drv directory in the module path. For example, to copy a driver to /usr/kernel/drv, you would type:

$ su
# cp xx /usr/kernel/drv/sparcv9
# cp xx.conf /usr/kernel/drv

To install a 64-bit x86 driver, copy the driver to a drv/amd64 directory in the module path. Copy the driver configuration file to the drv directory in the module path. For example, to copy a driver to /usr/kernel/drv, you would type:

$ su
# cp xx /usr/kernel/drv/amd64
# cp xx.conf /usr/kernel/drv

Note –

All driver configuration files (.conf files) must go in the drv directory in the module path. The .conf files cannot go into any subdirectory of the drv directory.