Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
NAME
Intro, intro - introduction to special files
DESCRIPTION
This section describes various device and network interfaces
available on the system. The types of interfaces described
include character and block devices, STREAMS modules, net-
work protocols, file systems, and ioctl requests for driver
subsystems and classes.
This section contains the following major collections:
(7D) The system provides drivers for a variety of
hardware devices, such as disk, magnetic tapes,
serial communication lines, mice, and frame buffers,
as well as virtual devices such as pseudo-terminals
and windows.
This section describes special files that refer to
specific hardware peripherals and device drivers.
STREAMS device drivers are also described. Charac-
teristics of both the hardware device and the
corresponding device driver are discussed where
applicable.
An application accesses a device through that
device's special file. This section specifies the
device special file to be used to access the device
as well as application programming interface (API)
information relevant to the use of the device
driver.
All device special files are located under the /dev-
ices directory. The /devices directory hierarchy
attempts to mirror the hierarchy of system busses,
controllers, and devices configured on the system.
Logical device names for special files in /devices
are located under the /dev directory. Although not
every special file under /devices will have a
corresponding logical entry under /dev, whenever
possible, an application should reference a device
using the logical name for the device. Logical dev-
ice names are listed in the FILES section of the
page for the device in question.
This section also describes driver configuration
where applicable. Many device drivers have a driver
configuration file of the form driver_name.conf
associated with them (see driver.conf(4)). The con-
figuration information stored in the driver confi-
guration file is used to configure the driver and
the device. Driver configuration files are located
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
in /kernel/drv and /usr/kernel/drv. Driver confi-
guration files for platform dependent drivers are
located in /platform/`uname -i`/kernel/drv where
`uname -i` is the output of the uname(1) command
with the -i option.
Some driver configuration files may contain user
configurable properties. Changes in a driver's con-
figuration file will not take effect until the sys-
tem is rebooted or the driver has been removed and
re-added (see rem_drv(1M) and add_drv(1M)).
(7FS) This section describes the programmatic interface
for several file systems supported by SunOS.
(7I) This section describes ioctl requests which apply to
a class of drivers or subsystems. For example,
ioctl requests which apply to most tape devices are
discussed in mtio(7I). Ioctl requests relevant to
only a specific device are described on the man page
for that device. The page for the device in ques-
tion should still be examined for exceptions to the
ioctls listed in section 7I.
(7M) This section describes STREAMS modules. Note that
STREAMS drivers are discussed in section 7D.
streamio(7I) contains a list of ioctl requests used
to manipulate STREAMS modules and interface with the
STREAMS framework. Ioctl requests specific to a
STREAMS module will be discussed on the man page for
that module.
(7P) This section describes various network protocols
available in SunOS.
SunOS supports both socket-based and STREAMS-based
network communications. The Internet protocol fam-
ily, described in inet(7P), is the primary protocol
family supported by SunOS, although the system can
support a number of others. The raw interface pro-
vides low-level services, such as packet fragmenta-
tion and reassembly, routing, addressing, and basic
transport for socket-based implementations. Facili-
ties for communicating using an Internet-family pro-
tocol are generally accessed by specifying the
AF_INET address family when binding a socket; see
socket(3N) for details.
Major protocols in the Internet family include:
o The Internet Protocol (IP) itself, which supports
the universal datagram format, as described in
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
ip(7P). This is the default protocol for
SOCK_RAW type sockets within the AF_INET domain.
o The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP); see
tcp(7P). This is the default protocol for
SOCK_STREAM type sockets.
o The User Datagram Protocol (UDP); see udp(4P).
This is the default protocol for SOCK_DGRAM type
sockets.
o The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP); see
arp(7P).
o The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP); see
icmp(7P).
SEE ALSO
add_drv(1M), rem_drv(1M), intro(2), ioctl(2), socket(3N),
driver.conf(4), arp(7P), icmp(7P), inet(7P), ip(7P),
mtio(7I), st(7D), streamio(7I), tcp(7P), udp(7P)
Solaris 1.x to 2.x Transition Guide
TCP/IP and Data Communications Administration Guide
STREAMS Programming Guide
Writing Device Drivers
LIST OF SPECIAL FILES
Name Description
adp(7D) low-level module for Adap-
tec 7870/7871/7872 based
SCSI controllers
aha(7D) low-level module for Adap-
tec 154x ISA host bus
adapters
aic(7D) low-level module for Adap-
tec AIC-6360 based ISA host
bus adapters
arp(7P) Address Resolution Protocol
ARP(7P) See arp(7P)
asy(7D) asynchronous serial port
driver
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
ata(7D) AT attachment disk driver
audio(7I) generic audio device inter-
face
audioamd(7D) telephone quality audio
device
audiocs(7D) Crystal Semiconductor 4231
audio Interface
bd(7M) SunButtons and SunDials
STREAMS module
be(7D) BigMAC Fast Ethernet device
driver
bpp(7D) bi-directional parallel
port driver
bufmod(7M) STREAMS Buffer Module
bwtwo(7D) black and white memory
frame buffer
cdio(7I) CD-ROM control operations
cgeight(7D) 24-bit color memory frame
buffer
cgfour(7D) P4-bus 8-bit color memory
frame buffer
cgfourteen(7D) 24-bit color graphics dev-
ice
cgsix(7D) accelerated 8-bit color
frame buffer
cgthree(7D) 8-bit color memory frame
buffer
cgtwo(7D) color graphics interface
cmdk(7D) common disk driver
connld(7M) line discipline for unique
stream connections
console(7D) STREAMS-based console
interface
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
corvette(7D) low-level module for IBM
Micro Channel SCSI-2
Fast/Wide Adapter/A
csa(7D) low-level module for Compaq
SMART SCSI Array Controller
dbri(7D) Dual Basic Rate ISDN and
audio Interface
display(7D) system console display
dkio(7I) disk control operations
dlpi(7P) Data Link Provider Inter-
face
dnet(7D) Ethernet driver for D-Link
DE-530CT, SMC EtherPower
8432BT, Znyx312, Cogent
EM960, Cogent EM100
dpt(7D) DPT 2011, 2012, 2021, 2022,
2122, 2024, 2124, 3021,
3222, and 3224 controllers
dsa(7D) low-level module for Dell
SCSI Array Controller (DSA)
eepro(7D) Intel EtherExpress-Pro Eth-
ernet device driver
eha(7D) low-level module for Adap-
tec 174x EISA host bus
adapter
el(7D) 3COM 3C503 Ethernet device
driver
elink(7D) 3COM 3C507 Ethernet device
driver
elx(7D) 3COM EtherLink III Ethernet
device driver
esa(7D) low-level module for Adap-
tec 7770 based SCSI con-
trollers
esp(7D) ESP SCSI Host Bus Adapter
Driver
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
fbio(7I) frame buffer control opera-
tions
fd(7D) drivers for floppy disks
and floppy disk controllers
fdc(7D) See fd(7D)
fdio(7I) floppy disk control opera-
tions
gld(7D) Generic LAN Driver
hdio(7I) SMD and IPI disk control
operations
hsfs(7FS) High Sierra & ISO 9660 CD-
ROM filesystem
icmp(7P) Internet Control Message
Protocol
ICMP(7P) See icmp(7P)
id(7D) See ipi(7D)
ie(7D) Intel 82586 Ethernet device
driver
iee(7D) Intel EtherExpress 16 Eth-
ernet device driver
ieef(7D) Intel EtherExpress
Flash32/82596 Ethernet dev-
ice driver
if(7P) See if_tcp(7P)
if_tcp(7P) general properties of
Internet Protocol network
interfaces
inet(7P) Internet protocol family
ip(7P) Internet Protocol
IP(7P) See ip(7P)
ipd(7M) See ppp(7M)
ipdcm(7M) See ppp(7M)
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
ipdptp(7M) See ppp(7M)
ipi(7D) IPI driver
ipi3sc(7D) See ipi(7D)
is(7D) See ipi(7D)
isdnio(7I) ISDN interfaces
isp(7D) ISP SCSI Host Bus Adapter
Driver
iss(7D) low-level module for Tri-
cord System's SCSI host bus
adapter
kb(7M) keyboard STREAMS module
kdmouse(7D) built-in mouse device
interface
keyboard(7D) system console keyboard
kmem(7D) See mem(7D)
kstat(7D) kernel statistics driver
ksyms(7D) kernel symbols
ldterm(7M) standard STREAMS terminal
line discipline module
le(7D) Am7990 (LANCE) Ethernet
device driver
lebuffer(7D) See le(7D)
ledma(7D) See le(7D)
leo(7D) double-buffered 24-bit SBus
color frame buffer and
graphics accelerator
llc1(7D) Logical Link Control Proto-
col Class 1 Driver
lofs(7FS) loopback virtual file sys-
tem
log(7D) interface to STREAMS error
logging and event tracing
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
logi(7D) LOGITECH Bus Mouse device
interface
lp(7D) driver for parallel port
mcis(7D) low-level module for IBM
MicroChannel host bus
adapter
mcpp(7D) ALM-2 Parallel Printer port
driver
mcpzsa(7D) ALM-2 Zilog 8530 SCC serial
communications driver
mem(7D) physical or virtual memory
mlx(7D) low-level module for Mylex
DAC960 EISA and IBM DMC960
Micro Channel host bus
adapter series
msm(7D) Microsoft Bus Mouse device
interface
mt(7D) tape interface
mtio(7I) general magnetic tape
interface
ncrs(7D) low-level module for NCR
53C710, 53C810, 53C815,
53C820, and 53C825 host bus
adapters
nee(7D) Novell NE3200 Ethernet dev-
ice Driver
nei(7D) Novell NE2000, NE2000plus
Ethernet device Driver
nfe(7D) Compaq Netflex-2 Dualport
Ethernet and ENET/TR
Drivers
null(7D) the null file
openprom(7D) PROM monitor configuration
interface
pcelx(7D) 3COM EtherLink III PCMCIA
Ethernet Adapter
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
pcfs(7FS) DOS formatted file system
PCFS(7FS) See pcfs(7FS)
pcic(7D) Intel i82365SL PC Card
Interface Controller
pckt(7M) STREAMS Packet Mode module
pcmem(7D) PCMCIA memory card nexus
driver
pcn(7D) AMD PCnet Ethernet con-
troller device driver
pcram(7D) PCMCIA RAM memory card dev-
ice driver
pcscsi(7D) low-level module for the
AMD PCscsi, PCscsi II, and
PCnet-SCSI PCI-to-SCSI bus
adapters
pcser(7D) PCMCIA serial card device
driver
pe(7D) Xircom Pocket Ethernet dev-
ice driver
pfmod(7M) STREAMS Packet Filter
Module
pipemod(7M) STREAMS pipe flushing
module
pln(7D) SPARCstorage Array SCSI
Host Bus Adapter Driver
pn(7D) See ipi(7D)
ppp(7M) STREAMS modules and drivers
for the Point-to-Point Pro-
tocol
ppp_diag(7M) See ppp(7M)
ptem(7M) STREAMS Pseudo Terminal
Emulation module
ptm(7D) STREAMS pseudo-tty master
driver
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
pts(7D) STREAMS pseudo-tty slave
driver
pty(7D) pseudo-terminal driver
qe(7D) QEC/MACE Ethernet device
driver
qec(7D) QEC bus nexus device driver
quotactl(7I) manipulate disk quotas
riles(7D) device driver for the Racal
Interlan ES-3210 Ethernet
Adapter
sad(7D) STREAMS Administrative
Driver
sbpro(7D) Sound Blaster Pro, Sound
Blaster 16, and Sound Blas-
ter AWE32 audio device
driver
sd(7D) driver for SCSI disk and
CD-ROM devices
smc(7D) SMC 8003/8013/8216/8416
Ethernet device driver
smce(7D) SMC 3032/EISA dual-channel
Ethernet device driver
smceu(7D) SMC Elite32 Ultra (8232)
Ethernet device driver
smcf(7D) SMC Ether100 (9232) Ether-
net device driver
soc(7D) Serial Optical Controller
(SOC) device driver
sockio(7I) ioctls that operate
directly on sockets
ssd(7D) driver for SPARCstorage
Array disk devices
st(7D) driver for SCSI tape dev-
ices
stc(7D) Serial Parallel
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
Communications driver for
SBus
stp4020(7D) STP 4020 PCMCIA Adapter
streamio(7I) STREAMS ioctl commands
tcp(7P) Internet Transmission Con-
trol Protocol
TCP(7P) See tcp(7P)
tcx(7D) 24-bit SBus color memory
frame buffer
termio(7I) general terminal interface
termiox(7I) extended general terminal
interface
ticlts(7D) loopback transport provid-
ers
ticots(7D) See ticlts(7D)
ticotsord(7D) See ticlts(7D)
timod(7M) Transport Interface
cooperating STREAMS module
tiqmouse(7D) integrated mouse device
interface
tirdwr(7M) Transport Interface
read/write interface
STREAMS module
tmpfs(7FS) memory based filesystem
tpf(7D) Platform Specific Module
(PSM) for Tricord Systems
Enterprise Server Models
ES3000, ES4000 and ES5000.
tr(7D) IBM 16/4 Token Ring Network
Adapter device driver
trantor(7D) low-level module for Tran-
tor T348 Parallel SCSI host
bus adapter
ttcompat(7M) V7, 4BSD and XENIX STREAMS
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Device and Network Interfaces Intro(7)
compatibility module
tty(7D) controlling terminal inter-
face
udp(7P) Internet User Datagram Pro-
tocol
UDP(7P) See udp(7P)
visual_io(7I) Solaris VISUAL I/O control
operations
volfs(7FS) Volume Management file sys-
tem
vuid2ps2(7M) See vuidmice(7M)
vuid3ps2(7M) See vuidmice(7M)
vuidm3p(7M) See vuidmice(7M)
vuidm4p(7M) See vuidmice(7M)
vuidm5p(7M) See vuidmice(7M)
vuidmice(7M) converts mouse protocol to
Firm Events
wscons(7D) workstation console
xd(7D) disk driver for Xylogics
7053 SMD Disk Controller
xdc(7D) See xd(7D)
xt(7D) driver for Xylogics 472 1/2
inch tape controller
xy(7D) disk driver for Xylogics
450 and 451 SMD Disk Con-
trollers
xyc(7D) See xy(7D)
zero(7D) source of zeroes
zs(7D) Zilog 8530 SCC serial com-
munications driver
zsh(7D) On-board serial HDLC/SDLC
interface
SunOS 5.8 Last change: 29 Sep 1994 12
© 1994 Man-cgi 1.15S, Panagiotis Christias <christia@theseas.ntua.gr>
1995 Modified for Solaris 2.3, David Adams, <d.j.adams@soton.ac.uk>
Solaris Man Pages