INTRO

Section: Devices and Network Interfaces (4)
Updated: vax
Index Return to Main Contents

BSD mandoc
BSD 4  

NAME

intro - introduction to special files and hardware support  

DESCRIPTION

This section describes the special files, related driver functions, and networking support available in the system. In this part of the manual, the SYNOPSIS section of each configurable device gives a sample specification for use in constructing a system description for the config(8) program. The DIAGNOSTICS section lists messages which may appear on the console and/or in the system error log /var/log/messages due to errors in device operation; see syslogd(8) for more information.  

VAX DEVICE SUPPORT

This section describes the hardware supported on the DEC VAX-11 Software support for these devices comes in two forms. A hardware device may be supported with a character or block device driver or it may be used within the networking subsystem and have a network interface driver Block and character devices are accessed through files in the file system of a special type; see physio(4) and mknod(8). Network interfaces are indirectly accessed through the interprocess communication facilities provided by the system; see socket(2).

A hardware device is identified to the system at configuration time and the appropriate device or network interface driver is then compiled into the system. When the resultant system is booted, the autoconfiguration facilities in the system probe for the device on either the UNIBUS (or Q-bus or MASSBUS and, if found, enable the software support for it. If a UNIBUS device does not respond at autoconfiguration time it is not accessible at any time afterwards. To enable a UNIBUS device which did not autoconfigure, the system will have to be rebooted. If a MASSBUS device comes ``on-line'' after the autoconfiguration sequence it will be dynamically autoconfigured into the running system.

The autoconfiguration system is described in autoconf(4). A list of the supported devices is given below.  

SEE ALSO

intro(4), netintro(4), autoconf(4), config(8).
"Building 4.3 BSD UNIX Systems with Config" SMM 2
 

LIST OF DEVICES

The devices listed below are supported in this incarnation of the system. Pseudo-devices are not listed. Devices are indicated by their functional interface. If second vendor products provide functionally identical interfaces they should be usable with the supplied software. Bf -symbolic Beware, however, that we promise the software works ONLY with the hardware indicated on the appropriate manual page. Ef Occasionally, new devices of a similar type may be added simply by creating appropriate table entries in the driver.

acc    ACC LH/DH IMP communications interface
ad      Data translation A/D interface
css     DEC IMP-11A communications interface
crl     VAX 8600, 8650 console RL02 disk
ct      C/A/T or APS phototypesetter
ddn     ACC ACP625 DDN Standard Mode X.25 IMP interface
de      DEC DEUNA 10Mb/s Ethernet controller
dh      DH-11 emulators, terminal multiplexor
dhu     DHU-11 terminal multiplexor
dmc     DEC DMC-11/DMR-11 point-to-point communications device
dmf     DEC DMF-32 terminal multiplexor and parallel printer interface
dmz     DEC DMZ-32 terminal multiplexor
dn      DEC DN-11 autodialer interface
dz      DZ-11 terminal multiplexor
ec      3Com 10Mb/s Ethernet controller
en      Xerox 3Mb/s Ethernet controller (obsolete)
ex      Excelan 10Mb/s Ethernet controller
fl      VAX-11/780 console floppy interface
hdh     ACC IF-11/HDH IMP interface
hk      RK6-11/RK06 and RK07 moving head disk
hp      MASSBUS disk interface (with RP06, RM03, RM05, etc.)
ht      TM03 MASSBUS tape drive interface (with TE-16, TU-45, TU-77)
hy      DR-11B or GI-13 interface to an NSC Hyperchannel
ik      Ikonas frame buffer graphics device interface
il      Interlan 1010, 1010A 10Mb/s Ethernet controller
ix      Interlan NP-100 10Mb/s Ethernet controller
kg      KL-11/DL-11W line clock
lp      LP-11 parallel line printer interface
mt      TM78 MASSBUS tape drive interface
np      Interlan NP-100 10Mb/s Ethernet controller (intelligent mode)
pcl     DEC PCL-11 communications interface
ps      Evans and Sutherland Picture System 2 graphics interface
qe      DEC DEQNA Q-bus 10 Mb/s Ethernet interface
rx      DEC RX02 floppy interface
tm      TM-11/TE-10 tape drive interface
tmscp   TMSCP-compatible tape controllers (e.g., TU81, TK50)
ts      TS-11 tape drive interface
tu      VAX-11/730 TU58 console cassette interface
uda     DEC UDA-50 disk controller
un      DR-11W interface to Ungermann-Bass
up      Emulex SC-21V, SC-31 UNIBUS disk controller
ut      UNIBUS TU-45 tape drive interface
uu      TU58 dual cassette drive interface (DL11)
va      Benson-Varian printer/plotter interface
vp      Versatec printer/plotter interface
vv      Proteon proNET 10Mb/s and 80Mb/s ring network interface

 

HISTORY

The section 4 intro appeared in BSD 4.1


 

Index

NAME
DESCRIPTION
VAX DEVICE SUPPORT
SEE ALSO
LIST OF DEVICES
HISTORY

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Time: 06:48:45 GMT, May 19, 2025