INTRO(4)

NAME
intro - introduction to special files and hardware support

DESCRIPTION
The manual pages in section 4 describe 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.

This section contains both devices which may be configured into the system and network related information. The networking support is introduced in netintro(4).

DEVICE SUPPORT
This section describes the hardware supported on the DEC VAX. 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 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 and, if found, enable the software support for it. If a device does not respond at autoconfiguration 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.

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. Not all supported devices are listed.

asc(4)
    VAXstation 4000 SCSI controller
cons(4)
    VAX console interface
de(4)
    DEC DEUNA/DELUA Ethernet device
dhu(4)
    DHU-11/DHV-11 communications multiplexer
dz(4)
    DZ-11 multiplexer device interface
fwio(4)
    Firefox Workstation I/O module
gpx(4)
    GPX color frame buffer
ibus(4)
    VAX internal bus
lcg(4)
    Low-Cost Graphics color frame buffer
lcspx(4)
    Low-Cost SPX color frame buffer
le(4)
    AMD LANCE Ethernet device
led(4)
    VAX LED driver
legss(4)
    Low-End Graphics Subsystem
lkkbd(4)
    LK200/LK400 keyboard driver
lkms(4)
    serial mouse driver
mbus(4)
    VAXstation 35x0 and 38x0 bus
mscpbus(4)
    MSCP device bus
mt(4)
    TM78/ TU-78 MASSBUS magtape interface
mtc(4)
    UNIBUS MSCP tape controller driver
ncr(4)
    VAXstation 2000/3100 SCSI controller
qe(4)
    DEC DEQNA Q-bus Ethernet device
qsc(4)
    SC26C94 quad UART controller
ra(4)
    MSCP disk controller interface
rx(4)
    DEC RX02 floppy disk interface
sii(4)
    SII DSSI and SCSI controller
smg(4)
    Small Monochrome Graphics frame buffer
uba(4)
    UNIBUS/Q-bus controller
uda(4)
    UDA50 disk controller interface
vsbus(4)
    VAXstation bus
vxtbus(4)
    VXT2000 bus
ze(4)
    SGEC Ethernet device

SEE ALSO
autoconf(4), config(8)

HISTORY
The VAX intro first appeared in 4.1BSD.