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Linux Device Drivers (Nutshell Handbook)
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Binding: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: February 24, 1998
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Editorial Review:
Updated to cover version 2.4.x of the Linux kernel, the second edition of Linux Device Drivers remains the best general-purpose, paper-bound guide for programmers wishing to make hardware devices work under the world's most popular open-source operating system. The authors take care to show how to write drivers that are portable--that is, that compile and run under all popular Linux platforms. That, along with the fact that they're careful to explain and illustrate concepts, makes this book very well suited to any programmer familiar with C but not with the hardware-software interface. It's worth noting that the emphasis in the title is on "device drivers" as much as "Linux." This book will make sense to you if you've never written a driver for any platform before. It helps if you have some Linux or Unix background, but even that is secondary as a prerequisite to C skill.
For a programming text--and one concerned with low-level instructions and data structures, at that--this book is remarkably rich in prose. You'll typically want to read this book straight through, more or less skipping the code samples, before sketching out your plan for the driver you need to write. Then, go back and pay closer attention to the sections on specific details you need to implement, like custom task queues. For coding-time details about specific system calls and programming techniques, count on the index to point you to the right passages. --David Wall
Topics covered: Techniques for writing hardware device drivers that run under Linux kernels 2.0.x through 2.2.x. Sections show how to manage memory, time, interrupts, ports, and other details of the hardware-software interface.
This book is for anyone who wants to support computer peripherals under the Linux operating system or who wants to develop new hardware and run it under Linux. Linux is the fastest-growing segment of the Unix market, is winning over enthusiastic adherents in many application areas, and is being viewed more and more as a good platform for embedded systems. Linux Device Drivers, already a classic in its second edition, reveals information that heretofore has been shared by word of mouth or in cryptic source code comments, on how to write drivers for a wide range of devices.
Version 2.4 of the Linux kernel includes significant changes to device drivers, simplifying many activities, but providing subtle new features that can make a driver both more efficient and more flexible. The second edition of this book thoroughly covers these changes, as well as new processors and buses.
You don't have to be a kernel hacker to understand and enjoy this book; all you need is an understanding of C and some background in Unix system calls. You'll learn how to write drivers for character devices, block devices, and network interfaces, guided by full-featured examples that you can compile and run without special hardware. Major changes in the second edition include discussions of symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and locking, new CPUs, and recently supported buses. For those who are curious about how an operating system does its job, this book provides insights into address spaces, asynchronous events, and I/O.
Portability is a major concern in the text. The book is centered on version 2.4, but includes information for kernels back to 2.0 where feasible. Linux Device Driver also shows how to maximize portability among hardware platforms; examples were tested on IA32 (PC) and IA64, PowerPC, SPARC and SPARC64, Alpha, ARM, and MIPS.
Contents include:
- Building a driver and loading modules
- Complete character, block, and network drivers
- Debugging a driver
- Timing
- Handling symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) systems
- Memory management and DMA
- Interrupts
- Portability issues
- Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Best book for device drivers programming
This book covers in a excelent way all the process for creating device drivers. Its very good for who wants to start to programming and for who already knows how to programming.
Rating: - Device Drivers
This books must be the top priority for ever developer who wants to develop emebedded systems, based on Linux OS.
Rating: - I Can do this.
As a newbie it makes driver writing not so scary.
Technical masterpiece yet not over my head.
Rating: - Best Linux 2.4 Device Driver Book
Used this to write my first linux driver on my own with no help. Great book, great layout, very well written. I have not read all of the 3rd Edition, since I am now working on Solaris, and did not work on the 2.6 kernel, but would assume thats good as well.
Rating: - ITA - La programmazione di moduli del kernel spiegata dettagliatamente
Un must per chi si avvicina alla programmazione di moduli del kernel, per chi e' esperto ma ha bisogno di un reference e per chi ne vuole sapere di piu'.
Il libro ha un'alta valenza didattica ed e' scritto in un linguaggio comprensibile e corretto. Gli esempi sono abbondanti e coprono bene gli argomenti trattati.
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