Where are the device driver?

[SumDude]

I'm new, and i'm trying to get an overall view of where things go in a linux system. Where are the device drivers located?

[prince_kenshi]

Sometimes they're built into the kernel. Sometimes they're in /lib/modules.

[SumDude]

Where is the kernel?

[Stween]

The kernel is probably located in /boot somewhere (probably called bzImage or something similar) -- but you REALLY dont want to touch it!! Mess with it and you could seriously screw up your system...

The kernel is basically a kind of a layer between the user programs you see running and the hardware lying underneath - a very *very* basic model for what is happening is that the kernel holds the code (or, for lack of a better term, the device drivers) to allow software to use the hardware.

The drivers can be compiled into modules seperately, which the kernel can load whenever it requires them, allowing the kernel itself to be smaller and therfore more efficient. Again, you do not want to mess with modules directly...

Many devices can be accessed through /dev, but usage of this side of things varies from device to device, and requires that support for that device is available to the kernel (either in it or in a module) -- so in a sense the /dev part of the filesystem allows the user to manipulate those devices which the kernel supports.

And, yes, im sure this seemsa bit daunting :) it gets easy, if you stick at it, believe me :)

If you have just installed a distibution, it will come supplied with a kernel which will allow support for a large range of devices, so that it has a higher chance of running on any system its tried on. At some time if you stick with it you will want to recompile the kernel, to tailor it to your system, thus decreasing the size of the kernel and making your system more stable and effecient.

If you are needing help on a specific device, im sure a more useful answer would be more forthcoming :) I hope that brief summary of my perception of things helps :)


Stween.