[nflug] driver question

[David J. Andruczyk]

I can explain that.  For the majority of device drivers (And a lot of
kernel functionality as well) can be compiled INTO the kernel, or built
as modules to be loaded and unloaded on demand.  If it's built in on
bootup when the kernel loads those drivers will attempt to locate and
initialize the hardware they support.  If they are modular, then the
distribution usually has a program or script in place to scan the
system for changes and losd necessary modules.  This is distribution
specific. (though some distros use the same method as others).   Redhat
uses kudzu,  gentoo can do it several ways (hotplug, coldplug, manual),
knoppix seems to have a script to do it.  Most modern distros use
hotplug and an extra tool, usually a script (similar to kudzu) to
enumerate the system's busses (PCI, AGP, USB, IEE1394) and load the
needed modules.  In some cases the modules may need to be or wanted to
be loaded manually.

Modules have the advantage of reducing kernel size and memory usage,
and allow functionality to be added and removed from the kernel during
runtime (loading and unloading modules)

Ironically, linux tends to have better hardware support OUT OF THE BOX 
compared to windows, but still has quite a ways to go.  It's that some
newer devices don't yet have linux drivers available due to the
closed-mindedness of companies developing and selling the hardware
(make it open and people will BUY it) This is most prevalent with
wireless lan cards having the spottiest coverage driver wise.
 

--- joshj at linuxmail.org wrote:

> 
> Thus spake anthonyriga on Wed, 22 Mar 2006
> 
> > How does linux load drivers on pcs for example the
> > sound drivers and reconizes them automatically and XP
> > Windows does not load the drivers at all causing the
> > user to find them. Are the drivers loaded in the linux
> > kernel? Im trying to explain this to a windows guy. He
> > says that since the soundcard was new on a new pc it
> > wouldnt be on the cd. I tested the pc using Knoppix
> > 3.8 CD and it picked up the souncard fine using AC97
> > realtek driver. He is pure wondows fanboy. Any good
> > explanations?
> 
> This is a good one. I'd like to know the answer to this. I take it
> for
> granted now that when I need to find out if something works I just
> pop
> in Knoppix or SysRescCD. I think it is part of the startup scripts.
> Because on my Gentoo box I have to make sure that all modules are
> explicitly loaded if I want something to work. eg soundcard. It
> probably
> checks /proc/pci or runs an lspci and compares the output against a
> DB
> file of somekind for known drivers. I'm not 100% sure though. Just
> kind
> of guessing.
> 
> -Josh
> 
> >
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Dave J. Andruczyk

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