Linux Device Drivers | O'Reilly Media

BUY THIS BOOK

Safari Books Online

Looking to Reprint this content?

Linux Device Drivers, Second Edition

By Alessandro Rubini, Jonathan Corbet
June 2001
Pages: 586
ISBN 10: 0-596-00008-1 | ISBN 13: 9780596000080
(Average of 15 Customer Reviews)

This book has been updated—the edition you're requesting is OUT OF PRINT. Please visit the catalog page of the latest edition.

The latest edition is also available on Safari Books Online.

Book description

This practical guide is for anyone who wants to support computer peripherals under the Linux operating system. It shows step-by-step how to write a driver for character devices, block devices, and network interfaces, illustrating with examples you can compile and run. The second edition covers Kernel 2.4 and adds discussions of symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and some new platforms.
Full Description

This book is for anyone who wants to support computer peripherals under the Linux operating system or who wants to develop new hardware and run it under Linux. Linux is the fastest-growing segment of the Unix market, is winning over enthusiastic adherents in many application areas, and is being viewed more and more as a good platform for embedded systems. Linux Device Drivers, already a classic in its second edition, reveals information that heretofore has been shared by word of mouth or in cryptic source code comments, on how to write drivers for a wide range of devices. Version 2.4 of the Linux kernel includes significant changes to device drivers, simplifying many activities, but providing subtle new features that can make a driver both more efficient and more flexible. The second edition of this book thoroughly covers these changes, as well as new processors and buses. You don't have to be a kernel hacker to understand and enjoy this book; all you need is an understanding of C and some background in Unix system calls. You'll learn how to write drivers for character devices, block devices, and network interfaces, guided by full-featured examples that you can compile and run without special hardware. Major changes in the second edition include discussions of symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and locking, new CPUs, and recently supported buses. For those who are curious about how an operating system does its job, this book provides insights into address spaces, asynchronous events, and I/O. Portability is a major concern in the text. The book is centered on version 2.4, but includes information for kernels back to 2.0 where feasible. Linux Device Driver also shows how to maximize portability among hardware platforms; examples were tested on IA32 (PC) and IA64, PowerPC, SPARC and SPARC64, Alpha, ARM, and MIPS. Contents include:

Building a driver and loading modules
Complete character, block, and network drivers
Debugging a driver
Timing
Handling symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) systems
Memory management and DMA
Interrupts
Portability issues
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)

Post-purchase benefits:

Browse within this book

Book details

Second Edition: June 2001
ISBN: 0-596-00008-1
Pages: 586
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 15 Reviews)

Featured customer reviews

good tech Info, November 08 2006

Rating:

Submitted by Pramod [Respond | View]

One of the best books i have ever seen.. Gives a thorough understanding on the subject to a new comer

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, December 25 2003

Rating:

Submitted by Antonio [Respond | View]

Superb!. A must. This is the sort of book that makes a complex matter to look easy. Just read it and code your driver. I've just finished my first one.

PLEASE keep on updating it to new kernel versions, I'm looking forward to the 3rd edition covering v2.6

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, September 02 2003

Rating:

Submitted by G. Gopi Krishna [Respond | View]

Dominance of O'Reilly, with regard to UNIX literature, resounds with Rubini's book on Device Drivers. Instead of confusing the readers with dozen titles on a single topic and letting the books fight-out in the market, O'Reilly follows an impressive publishing protocol of releasing a single book per subject. If I want to purchase any title under UNIX, by the "stamp" of this publisher I grab one, for which I never had to regret.

Read all reviews

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, August 11 2003

Rating:

Submitted by jaisankar [Respond | View]

i have went through this book it was very nice to read and unterstanding the linux device drivers.

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, July 16 2003

Rating:

Submitted by Richard Sun [Respond | View]

This book is very useful to me for developing Linux Driver

I can get a lot of Linux Kernel material

Thank you Very much

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, November 07 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Alex [Respond | View]

This is definitely one of the best books on the subject. It is a must for linux device driver writers. As a newbie, this book helped and helps me alot and I enjoy every moment of reading it.

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, July 24 2002

Rating:

Submitted by smaaash [Respond | View]

The best book I've seen about kernel&stuff. It touches all the important topics needed to build your own equipment and make it work under Linux. Just READ IT!!!

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, July 04 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Roland Kwitt [Respond | View]

This is certainly the best book on writing kernel modules

out there. Really great work!! Moreover, providing the book

online is a great step into an Open Source and M$ free world!!

Thx Alessandro Rubini & Jonathan Corbet

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, April 29 2002

Rating:

Submitted by pavan [Respond | View]

Excellent,must have book for wanna be kernel module programmers.Great Stuff!!

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, February 16 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Paolo Minazzi [Respond | View]

great book ! wonderful !

it explains everything to write a driver.

everyone want to become a module-programmer should read this book

Thanks to the authors

Paolo

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, February 13 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Tiago Gasiba [Respond | View]

I bought the 2nd edition of the book and I think that it is a must.

I simply can't imagine anyone thinking on writting Linux device drivers without reading this book ;)

It is good for anyone, ranging from simple enthusiasts to professional guys. As an electronic engineer I have only to say: thank you very much Alessandro Rubini and Jonathan Corbet.

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, January 09 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Matt Boland [Respond | View]

This is a great book for anyone interested in writing drivers for Linux or who are interested in drivers in general. Rubini (I have the first edition) does a great job on explaining all aspects of a driver and how to write them in an easy to read, yet comprehensive, manner.

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, July 26 2001

Rating:

Submitted by LinuxDeveloper [Respond | View]

I bought the first edition of this book and enjoyed reading it. Worth every penny. Thank you very much for making the 2nd edition available online.

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, July 22 2001

Rating:

Submitted by Balaji [Respond | View]

Wonderful effort by "Alessandro Rubini & Jonathan Corbet" and OReilly Publisher, keep it up..

Real open source effort of providing the book online. We would appreciate similar effort of providing free books online about great open source Linux technology.

Every one will enojy reading the book, Really great book indeed!!!!!!!!!!!.

Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition Review, July 12 2001

Rating:

Submitted by sunny [Respond | View]

This appears to be a happening book.

Ideal for beginners as well to advance programmers..

Geeks love the stuff out in this SEXY book..

Rubini & Jonathan keep writing.. good luck

sunny

Media reviews

Linux Journals Editors' Choice Best Technical Book of 2002 Award

"The preface sets a friendly, conversational tone that is continued throughout...the authors successfully set a tone, reinforced throughout the book, that will help new device driver developers focus on business and avoid wasting countless hours on creating unnecessary and frustrating complexity. Also, this kind of insight makes Linux Device Drivers more than merely a nuts-and-bolts HOWTO; my feeling is that this confident discussion of 'what to do, what not to do, and why' could have been written only by people with maturity and experience."
--Leon Dague, freshmeat.com, April 20, 2002

"Although the writing of a device driver is necessarily a very technical subject, the authors have managed to produce a very readable book -- in fact it's so readable a novice would probably be best advised to start by simply reading the text from cover to cover, skipping the code sections entirely! Once all the ideas have been learnt, go back and pick out the technical details need using the excellent contents pages and index."
--Mike Ellis, CVU, Feb 2002

"If you are a developer immersed in the bowels of the Linux kernel version 2.4, this is one book you'll likely read until it's ragged...To say this is the best book on writing Linux device drivers is to overstate the obvious; this is the only book on writing Linux device drivers. Aside from that, even if there were a dozen books on the topic, 'Linux Device Drivers', 2nd Edition would still be the best by far, given its attention to detail throughout and the qualifications of its authors. If you are interested in supporting computer peripherals with Linux, or developing new hardware for the operating system, buy a copy of this book on your next trip to the bookstore."
--Emmett Dulaney, UnixReview.com, Nov 2001

"The second edition of 'Linux Device Drivers' remains the best general-purpose, paper-bound guide for programmers wishing to make hardware devices work under the world's most popular open-source operating system portable--that is, that compile and run under all popular Linux platforms. That, along with the fact that they're careful to explain and illustrate concepts, makes this book very well-suited to any programmer familiar with C but not with the hardware-software interface."
--David Wall, amazon.co.uk

"This book fits perfectly into the O'Reilly family. It's written in a clear and readable style with an appropriate level of detail and by an author who has a real enthusiasm for the topic. It's not only an excellent introduction for those wishing to write device drivers for Linux, but also for those wanting to better understand the issues relating to device drivers in general."
--Ian Brunt, ACCU, May 1999

Reviews From the 1st Edition:

"Amazon.com's Bestselling Title of 1998 in the Category of Device Drivers for Computers"

"'Linux Device Drivers,' by Rubini, is the sort of book self-programmers and bedroom hardware hackers love. It's a down-and-dirty reference on down-and-dirty operating system programming. The goals of 'Linux Device Drivers' are simple: first, to help programmers write Linux device drivers, and second, to help programmers write Linux device drivers. When I say programmers, I mean all programmers, from the amateur to the complete professional. The reader must bring some basic knowledge of Unix and the C language to the table.
'Linux Device Drivers' brings the rest--thanks in part to clarity and good technical writing skill, and in part to sheer brute force thoroughness, 'Linux Device Drivers' brings to the Linux programmer all of the tools necessary to make the kernel accessible for writing Linux device drivers. Get out there and support your favorite device!"
--Aron Hsiao, Focus on Linux, http://linux.miningco.com/, April 1998

"A Practical guide for those who support computer peripherals under the Linux operating system or who develop hardware and run it under Linux."
--On The Internet, June 1998

Hide extended reviews

Got a Question?