[Tpctl-users] thinkpad device files

[Thomas H. <jd...@ya...>]

fago wrote:
>  Loading the modules is working, but udev (0.030-1) only creates this
>  device:
>  
>  ls -l /dev/thinkpad
>  crw-rw----    1 root     root      10, 170 2004-09-15 14:21
>  /dev/thinkpad
>  
>  but according to the readme, i miss the devices for
>  smapi,superio,rtcmosram and thinkpadpm


You don't need the latter devices.  You only need /dev/thinkpad.

Under Linux 2.4 with devfs an additional device appeared under
/dev/thinkpad/ for each module that was loaded.  It was thus possible to
access each module directly (rather than via the thinkpad module and the
/dev/thinkpad/thinkpad device file) by opening its like-named device
file.  This was just a nice feature which, with further development,
could have led to the modules becoming completely independent of one
another.  I was going to complete the module separation when devfs
became standard.

Instead of devfs becoming standard it became deprecated in Linux 2.6. 
Thus, in the drivers for Linux 2.6 the special devfs-related code was
stripped out.  This means that under Linux 2.6 no additional device
files appear under /dev/thinkpad/ even if devfs is enabled.  It means
that all module functions must be done via the thinkpad module and the
thinkpad device file.

tpctl always used /dev/thinkpad/thinkpad or /dev/thinkpad to do all its
work so all of the above should be irrelevant to whether or not tpctl
works.


>  Are the modules intended to work with udev?


Yes.

-- 
Thomas Hood