Linux kernel device driver programming [closed]

Answer 1

I understand it is a delayed response !!

You can pick any book, those are really great books suggested above.

But you need to really work practically. Try to be involved into Kernel as much as possible.

Mostly you need to look into kernel source code itself.

And the most interesting document you can find in Documentation folder under Kernel tree.

Answer 2

Professional Linux Kernel Architecture is a good read also.

Answer 3

The site with very important links: http://elinux.org/Device_drivers

Great tutorial with real examples (ends with an usbpen formatted with our own file system - search for author further articles):

1. http://www.linuxforu.com/tag/linux-device-drivers-series/
2. http://sysplay.in/index.php?pagefile=lfy_articles

Source code of famous LDD3 book ported to newest kernels: https://github.com/martinezjavier/ldd3/

Videos:

1. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL16941B715F5507C5

Maybe other cources:

2. http://www.skilledup.com/courses?keyword=linux+kernel&price_filter=0..0

Some examples:

1. http://www.staerk.de/thorsten/index.php/My_Tutorials/Writing_Linux_kernel_modules
2. http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/drivers_linux
3. http://techblog.aasisvinayak.com/kernel-module-programming-tutorial/
4. http://www.linuxforu.com/2009/05/a-voyage-to-the-kernel-day-11/

Books (without mentioned in this thread LDD3):

1. http://www.coopj.com/ with an updated source code http://www.coopj.com/LPD/

KernelHacking: http://kernelnewbies.org/KernelHacking

Visual map of the linux kernel: http://www.makelinux.net/kernel_map/

Linux and kernel books for beginners:

1. http://www.kroah.com/lkn/
2. http://swift.siphos.be/linux_sea/

Answer 4

best book for learning device driver programming is
"LDD"

Answer 5

The best source is the linux man pages but they are somewhat critical to understand for a beginner, Directly programming device drivers is not a easy task. I recommend you to go through pointers and structures through following books

Basic C Books 1. Programming C - Byron gottfried 2. The C Programming Language - Dennis Ritchie

Intermediate Books 1. Pointers on C Kenneth Reek 2. Expert C Programming Deep Secrets - Linden

Coming to device Drivers I have uploaded the Kernel Source documentation in pdf format https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7iRyndFhHldR3hjOHpOZTdKTjA&usp=sharing Youcan download from this link.

Device Drivers Basics (User mode Programming)

Linux Programming interface - Michael Kerrisk Beginning Linux Programming Wrox Publishers Device Drivers (Kernel Deleopment) 1. Linux Kernel Development - Robert Love 2. Linux Kernel Internals - m beck

Device Drivers (Driver Programming) 1. Linux Device Drivers - Third Edition (Free Download is available for 2.6 Kernel) 2. Essential Linux Device Drivers - Venkateswaran

For Basic Driver Knowledge Follow this site http://www.tldp.org/LDP/khg/HyperNews/get/devices/devices.html

My Experience is First of all we must gain a sound knowledge on C Programming, mainly Structures and Pointers before going through Driver Programming otherwise it will be bit cumbersome to understand driver programming.

Comming to Startup :-

1. User space programming Basics of gcc generating proprocessed, assembler and object files using gcc commands analysis of object files using different object tools, Basic programming in linux, threads(locks, synchronization techniques), signals, processes(fork, exec), timers(Posix). This will help you lot in understanding kernel concepts.

2. Kernel Programming Understanding the kernel source tree, different branches and their importance, using ctags and cscope to browse kernel source code, this will help you in kernel source browsing.

3. Driver Programming First of all Learn different driver classes, char, block etc., Next learn the device protocols, transmission and reception, the product manual is the best source for going through this. Then start writing the simple char driver for example RTC (a port mapped device), IOAPIC (A memory mapped device), then go to USB, PCI, Network, I2C, SPI etc., if you want the help you can find the skeleton code for all this in kernel source tree.

Answer 6

Depends on your current skills. If you're really new to Linux, perhaps you should start with user space system programming with Advanced Linux Programming. You'll get good knowledge of Unix system calls and other concepts such as signals, processes/threads and so on with this free resource. This is a must (understanding the user space API) if you're developing on the kernel side since the role of a kernel is providing services to users in a secure way.

Otherwise one often cited book is Linux Device Drivers, Third Edition (LDD3). Keep in mind that this edition was written at the time of Linux 2.6.10 and some things changed since then. This article shows the differences as 2.6 evolved (until 2.6.31, that is, so not very useful). I should mention martinezjavier/ldd3, which contains example drivers of LDD3 updated for more recent kernels (thanks to 42n4 for pointing that out).

Another interesting book that's not as often cited is Essential Linux Device Drivers. You won't find a free version of this one, but it still features an interesting approach. What I like about this one is it covers lots of different device types and is up-to-date as of 2.6.24, which is a bit better than LDD.

Finally, one great book about the kernel itself (not specifically for drivers) is Understanding the Linux Kernel, 3rd Edition. This covers in-depth kernel facilities and internal mechanisms. It's up-to-date as of 2.6.11.

As for online tutorials, I found this post on Pete's Blog is a really great example. Not only does it show how to create a character device (the most easy kernel driver type, i.e. the one you should start with), it uses modern Linux kernel features in an easy to understand fashion, including:

• use of udev
• use of a kernel data structure (FIFO)
• use of kernel synchronization (mutex)
• use of Sysfs with custom attributes
• module options for insmod

Plus: it's aimed at Linux 3.0, which means it's more up-to-date compared to other resources.

You might also like this post about how to create Sysfs entries manually, although the Linux device model will take care of registering your device as a Sysfs entry if you don't need additional nodes or attributes.

Edit: I should add that the best way to learn real Linux device driver programming is to look at actual drivers. There are thousands of drivers in drivers. Start reading and understanding the concept of simple ones like drivers/leds and you will see how rewarding this is.