xref: /netbsd-src/usr.bin/config/config.samples.5 (revision e82c4d9bb4590b58ee29619e6e0ddde42d18907b)

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.Dd June 4, 2006
.Dt CONFIG.SAMPLES 5
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm config.samples
.Nd kernel configuration file syntax examples
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Ss Devices, drivers and instances
For a given device, at most one driver will attach.
In order for a driver to attach, the kernel configuration file must include a
compatible instance of the driver for the location of the device.
The following lines from the
.Pa GENERIC
kernel configuration file of
.Nx Ns / Ns i386
are examples of instances of drivers:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
pchb*	at pci? dev ? function ?    # PCI-Host bridges
pcib*	at pci? dev ? function ?    # PCI-ISA bridges
ppb*	at pci? dev ? function ?    # PCI-PCI bridges

siop*	at pci? dev ? function ?    # Symbios 53c8xx SCSI
esiop*	at pci? dev ? function ?    # Symbios 53c875 SCSI and newer

ix0	at isa? port 0x300 irq 10   # EtherExpress/16
.Ed
.Pp
The first three instances allow three different drivers to attach to all the
matching devices found on any
.Tn PCI
bus.
This is the most generic case.
.Pp
The next two lines allow two distinct drivers to attach to any matching device
found on any
.Tn PCI
bus, but those two drivers are special because they both
support some of the same devices.
Each of the driver has a matching function that returns their score for the
device that is being considered.
.Xr autoconf 9
decides at run-time which driver will attach.
Of course, it is deterministic so if the user wants to change the driver that
attaches to the device, the instance of the other driver will have to be
removed, e.g. by commenting it out.
.Pp
The last line configures an instance of an
.Tn ISA
device.
Unlike the
.Tn PCI
bus, the
.Tn ISA
bus cannot discover the devices that are present on the bus.
The driver has to try accessing the device in order to discover it.
That implies locators must be specified to some extent: a driver would
usually need the base address of the device, some need the
.Tn IRQ
line that the
device is configured to use, though some others would just try a set of known
values, at the risk of badly interacting with other devices on the bus.
.Ss Hard-wiring kernel configuration
This technique consists in specifying exactly the location of the devices on a
given system.
In the general case it has very little use, because it does not change the size
of the kernel, and it will prevent it from finding devices in case the hardware
changes, even slightly.
.Pp
Let's consider the following excerpt of
.Xr dmesg 8
output:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
auich0 at pci0 dev 31 function 5: i82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4M) AC-97 Audio
.Ed
.Pp
The
.Xr auich 4
driver (which controls Intel's AC-97 audio chips) attached there because of the
following instance of
.Pa GENERIC :
.Bd -literal -offset indent
auich* at pci? dev ? function ?
.Ed
.Pp
Hard-wiring that instance means re-writing it to the following:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
auich0 at pci0 dev 31 function 5
.Ed
.Pp
and that way,
.Li auich0
will attach to that specific location, or will not attach.
.Ss Removing options and drivers
When two kernel configurations differ by a very small number of changes, it is
easier to manage them by having one include the other, and add or remove the
differences.
Removing options and drivers is also useful in the situation of a user who
wants to follow the development of
.Nx :
drivers and options get added to the configuration files found in the source
tree, such as
.Pa GENERIC ,
so one can include it and remove all options and drivers that are not relevant
to the considered system.
Additions to
.Pa GENERIC
will then automatically be followed and used in case they are relevant.
.Pp
While negating an
.Ic options
with
.Ic no options
is unambiguous, it is not as clear for devices instances.
.Pp
The
.Ic no Ar instance-definition
statements of
.Xr config 5
syntax only apply on the current state of the configuration file, not on the
resulting kernel binary.
.Xr autoconf 9
has no knowledge of instance negation, thus it is currently impossible to
express the following in a kernel configuration file:
.Bd -ragged -offset indent
.Do I want support for
.Xr ath 4
attaching at
.Xr pci 4 ,
but I do not want any instance of
.Xr ath 4
attaching at
.Li pci3 .
.Dc
.Ed
.Pp
For a real-world use of
.Ic no device at Ar instance
consider the following, taken from
.Nx Ns / Ns i386 :
.Bd -literal -offset indent
include "arch/i386/conf/GENERIC"

acpi0 at mainbus?

com* at acpi?
[... more instances of legacy devices attaching at acpi? ...]

no device at isa0
.Ed
.Pp
One could actually live without the
.Li isa0
instance, as all the legacy devices are attached at
.Li acpi0 .
But unfortunately, dependencies on the
.Li isa
attribute are not well registered all through the source tree, so an instance
of the
.Xr isa 4
driver is required to compile a kernel.
So while:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
no isa*
.Ed
.Pp
is what is intended, the
.Xr isa 4
instance itself must be kept, and that is precisely the difference made by:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
no device at isa0
.Ed
.Ss Interface attributes
.Em Interface attributes
are a subtlety of
.Xr config 5
and
.Xr autoconf 9 ,
which often confuses users and utilities that parse
.Xr dmesg 8
output to manipulate kernel configuration files.
What they are is best shown by the following example.
.Pp
The
.Xr dmesg 8
output look like this:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
auvia0 at pci0 dev 17 function 5: VIA Technologies VT8235 AC'97 Audio (rev 0x50)
audio0 at auvia0: full duplex, mmap, independent
.Ed
.Pp
while the kernel configuration look like this:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
auvia* at pci? dev ? function ?
audio* at audiobus?
.Ed
.Pp
It is not obvious from the kernel configuration file that an
.Xr audio 4
device can attach at an
.Xr auvia 4
device.
.Li audiobus
is an
.Em interface attribute ,
exposed by
.Li auvia .
.Pp
Of course, it is possible to specify
.Bd -literal -offset indent
audio* at auvia?
.Ed
.Pp
in the kernel configuration file, but then one instance per audio controller
would be needed.
.Em Interface attributes
reflect the fact there is a standard way to attach a device to its parent, no
matter what the latter is precisely.
It also means lower maintenance of the kernel configuration files because
drivers for audio controllers are added more easily.
.Pp
Most attachments are done through
.Em interface attributes ,
although only a few of them are specified that way in the configuration files
found in the tree.
Another example of such an attribute is
.Li ata :
.Bd -literal -offset indent
viaide0 at pci0 dev 17 function 1
atabus0 at viaide0 channel 0

viaide* at pci? dev ? function ?
atabus* at ata?
.Ed
.\" Suggested section, maybe for later:
.\" .Ss Using a third-party driver
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr config 1 ,
.Xr options 4 ,
.Xr config 5 ,
.Xr dmesg 8