Device - Revision history

Franks at 04:26, 17 March 2006

2006-03-17T04:26:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:26, 16 March 2006
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	* '''block devices''' -- A.K.A "cooked" devices. Data stored on the device is typically accessed in groups, instead of one byte at a time. Hard drives, tape systems, and other mass-storage devices are almost always block devices. Data is more or less random-access (although performance may suffer greatly, as in the case of a tape).		* '''block devices''' -- A.K.A "cooked" devices. Data stored on the device is typically accessed in groups, instead of one byte at a time. Hard drives, tape systems, and other mass-storage devices are almost always block devices. Data is more or less random-access (although performance may suffer greatly, as in the case of a tape).
	* '''character devices''' -- Data is usually managed in a stream. Serial, audio, and most other non-storage devices fall into this category.		* '''character devices''' -- Data is usually managed in a stream. Serial, audio, and most other non-storage devices fall into this category.
	* '''sockets''' -- File-like interfaces to network resources~~. Someone add more. :)~~		* '''sockets''' -- File-like interfaces to network resources that open a [[ports\|port]]
	* '''pipes''' -- A "named pipe." See [[FIFO]]		* '''pipes''' -- A "named pipe." See [[FIFO]]

Franks: adding first example.

2006-01-21T01:49:51Z

adding first example.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:49, 20 January 2006
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	* '''sockets''' -- File-like interfaces to network resources. Someone add more. :)		* '''sockets''' -- File-like interfaces to network resources. Someone add more. :)
	* '''pipes''' -- A "named pipe." See [[FIFO]]		* '''pipes''' -- A "named pipe." See [[FIFO]]


			# ls -la /dev/
			[snip]
			brw-rw---- 1 root disk 1, 9 2005-12-27 14:14 ram9
			crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 8 2005-12-27 14:14 random
			[snip]

			You can see the b and c for block vs character. You can use [[mknod]] to create a block or charcter device.

Hawson at 22:30, 20 January 2006

2006-01-20T22:30:44Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:30, 20 January 2006
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	~~devices~~ are found in /dev~~, there is block devices and character devices~~. ~~Block devices~~ are ~~also called cooked~~ devices ~~because character~~ devices ~~are also called raw~~ devices. ~~Confused yet? Let's look at why there~~ is ~~block and character devices. Terminals handle~~ one ~~character~~ at a time ~~so they~~ are ~~character~~ devices. ~~Tape drives handle data~~ in ~~blocks so they are~~ a ~~block device~~.		Devices are found in the /dev directory. There are several types of devices:

			* '''block devices''' -- A.K.A "cooked" devices. Data stored on the device is typically accessed in groups, instead of one byte at a time. Hard drives, tape systems, and other mass-storage devices are almost always block devices. Data is more or less random-access (although performance may suffer greatly, as in the case of a tape).
			* '''character devices''' -- Data is usually managed in a stream. Serial, audio, and most other non-storage devices fall into this category.
			* '''sockets''' -- File-like interfaces to network resources. Someone add more. :)
			* '''pipes''' -- A "named pipe." See [[FIFO]]

Pbug: attempt at explanation of devices

2005-12-03T22:12:19Z

attempt at explanation of devices

New page

devices are found in /dev, there is block devices and character devices. Block devices are also called cooked devices because character devices are also called raw devices. Confused yet? Let's look at why there is block and character devices. Terminals handle one character at a time so they are character devices. Tape drives handle data in blocks so they are a block device.