man pages section 7: Device and Network Interfaces

pcram(7D)

Name

pcram– PCMCIA RAM memory card device driver

Synopsis

memory@<socket>/pcram@<technology>,0:c

memory@<socket>/pcram@<technology>,0:c,raw

Description

The PCMCIA RAM memory card device driver supports disk-like I/O access to any standard PCMCIA static random access memory (SRAM) card and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) card. The driver supports standard PCMCIA SRAM/DRAM cards that contain a Card Information Structure (CIS). RAM card densities in the 512Kilobytes to 64Mbyte range are supported.

PRECONFIGURATION

If a PC card memory device is recognized, the pcram device driver is automatically loaded, the physical address allocated, and special files created (if they do not already exist).

Known Problems and Limitations

The Solaris pcmem driver is not capable of handling "combo" memory cards with multiple types of memory on them (for example, combined SRAM and nonvolatile FLASH). Inserting such a card into a system running the Solaris software may cause a system panic.

Because the PC card memory device is designed as a pseudo-floppy diskette type, the only utility that can be used for formatting is fdformat(1).

CONFIGURATION

Configuration topics include initial installation and configuration, identifying an unrecognized device, special files, using PC card memory devices, and hot-plugging.

Initial Installation and Configuration

Install the Solaris software.
Boot the system.
Insert the card.

Identifying an Unrecognized Device

If you insert a memory device and it is not recognized (no special files created), use the prtconf command.

Become root.

Run the prtconf -D command to display the configuration recognized by the system. A recognized device will appear in the prtconf output. For example:

# prtconf -D
.  .  .
pcic, instance #0 (driver name: pcic)
    .  .  .
   memory, instance #0 (driver name: pcmem)
         pcram, instance #0 (driver name: pcram)

If your memory device does not appear at the end of the prtconf output, it is not supported and cannot be used with the pcram driver.

Special Files

The special files created for PC card memory devices act like disks and have names in the form /dev/dsk/c#t#d#p# or /dev/dsk/c#t#d#s#. Abbreviations used in the names are:

c# Controller #
t# Card technology type #, defined as follows:

0 Null--no device

1 ROM

2 OTPROM (One Time PROM)

3 UV EPROM

4 EEPROM

5 Flash EPROM

6 SRAM

7 DRAM
d# Device region of type #, usually zero
p# fdisk partition #
s# Solaris slice #

Note –

A device name can be specified either by a partition name (p#) or a slice name (s#), but not both.

Using PC Card Memory Devices

Since the Solaris Volume Management software recognizes PC Card memory devices, no special vold configuration is required. If you do not want to use vold to manage your PC card memory devices, comment out the use pcmem line in the /etc/vold.conf file. To comment out a line, insert a # character at the beginning of the line.

PC Card memory devices do not need to have file systems on them, though typically, before using a new PC Card memory card, you will want to create a file system on it. DOS PCFS is the best format to use. (You can use virtually any file system format on a PC card memory card, but most other file system formats are platform-dependent, making them unsuitable for moving data between different types of machines. See "Using a PCMCIA Memory Card" in the OpenWindows Advanced User's Guide.)

Note –

If you want to redirect the output of a tar command (or dd or cpio) to a PC card memory device, first create a file system on the card, using the fdformat(1) command without arguments. The card must be reformatted before it can be written on again.

Hot-Plugging

If a memory card is removed while in use, the device driver returns errors until the memory card is inserted into the appropriate socket. Close and reopen the device with the card reinserted, and the memory card will work.

If you remove the card while in use as a file system, unmount the file system using the umount command. Then reinsert the card and remount the file system using the mount command.
If you remove the card and interrupt a tar or cpio process, stop the process, reinsert the card, and restart the process.

Files

/kernel/drv/pcram

pcram driver

/dev/dsk/cntndnsn

block files

/dev/rdsk/cntndnsn

raw fileswhere:

cn

controller n

tn

technology type n

0x1ROM,0x2OTPROM,0x3EPROM,

0x4EEPROM,0x5FLASH,0x6SRAM,

0x7DRAM

dn

technology region in type n

sn

slice n