INTRO(4)             NetBSD/prep Kernel Interfaces Manual             INTRO(4)

NNAAMMEE
     iinnttrroo -- introduction to prep special files and hardware support

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
     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 specifi-
     cation for use in constructing a system description for the config(1)
     program.  The DIAGNOSTICS section lists messages which may appear on the
     console and/or in the system error log _/_v_a_r_/_l_o_g_/_m_e_s_s_a_g_e_s due to errors in
     device operation; see syslogd(8) for more information.

     This section contains both devices which may be configured into the sys-
     tem and network related information.  The networking support is intro-
     duced in netintro(4).

PPMMPPPPCC DDEEVVIICCEE SSUUPPPPOORRTT
     This section describes the hardware supported on the PowerPC Reference
     Platform machines.  Software support for these devices comes in two
     forms.  A hardware device may be supported with a character or block
     _d_e_v_i_c_e _d_r_i_v_e_r, or it may be used within the networking subsystem and have
     a _n_e_t_w_o_r_k _i_n_t_e_r_f_a_c_e _d_r_i_v_e_r.  Block and character devices are accessed
     through files in the file system of a special type; see mknod(8).  Net-
     work interfaces are indirectly accessed through the interprocess communi-
     cation 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 and, if found, enable the
     software support for it.  If a device does not respond at autoconfigura-
     tion time it is not accessible at any time afterwards.  To enable a
     device which did not autoconfigure, the system will have to be rebooted.

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

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
     config(1), autoconf(4), nvram(4), pnpbus(4)

HHIISSTTOORRYY
     The prep iinnttrroo man page first appeared in NetBSD 4.0.

LLIISSTT OOFF DDEEVVIICCEESS
     The devices listed below are supported in this incarnation of the system.
     Devices are indicated by their functional interface.  Not all supported
     devices are listed.

     The pnpbus is a psuedo-bus which is a configuration interface for certain
     devices on PReP machines.  These devices are defined in the PReP residual
     data with configuration information, similar to isapnp(4).  The underly-
     ing bus is generally ISA.

     ISA devices are supported through the isa(4) bus and associated devices.

     PCI devices are supported through the pci(4) bus and associated devices.

     USB devices are supported through the usb(4) bus and associated devices.

     Additionally, the following specific devices are supported:
           _c_o_m       serial ports
           _n_v_r_a_m     NVRAM chip
           _w_d_c       ISA IDE controller
           _w_e        Western Digital/SMC WD80x3 ethernet driver
           _m_c_c_l_o_c_k   mc146818 compatible time-of-day clock
           _m_k_c_l_o_c_k   Mostek MK48T18 time-of-day chip

NetBSD 4.0                       March 1, 2007                      NetBSD 4.0
