INTRO(4)

NAME
intro - introduction to vax special files and hardware support

DESCRIPTION
This section describes the special files, related driver functions, and networking support available in the system. In this part of the manual, the SYNOPSIS section of each configurable device gives a sample specification for use in constructing a system description for the config(1) program. The DIAGNOSTICS section lists messages which may appear on the console and/or in the system error log /var/log/messages due to errors in device operation; see syslogd(8) for more information.

VAX DEVICE SUPPORT
This section describes the hardware supported on the DEC VAX-11. Software support for these devices comes in two forms. A hardware device may be supported with a character or block device driver, or it may be used within the networking subsystem and have a network interface driver. Block and character devices are accessed through files in the file system of a special type; see physio(4) and mknod(8). Network interfaces are indirectly accessed through the interprocess communication facilities provided by the system; see socket(2).

A hardware device is identified to the system at configuration time and the appropriate device or network interface driver is then compiled into the system. When the resultant system is booted, the autoconfiguration facilities in the system probe for the device on either the UNIBUS (or Q-bus) or MASSBUS and, if found, enable the software support for it. If a UNIBUS device does not respond at autoconfiguration time it is not accessible at any time afterwards. To enable a UNIBUS device which did not autoconfigure, the system will have to be rebooted. If a MASSBUS device comes “on-line” after the autoconfiguration sequence it will be dynamically autoconfigured into the running system.

The autoconfiguration system is described in autoconf(4). A list of the supported devices is given below.

SEE ALSO
config(1), autoconf(4), netintro(4) Building 4.3 BSD UNIX Systems with Config, SMM, 2.

LIST OF DEVICES
The devices listed below are supported in this incarnation of the system. Pseudo-devices are not listed. Devices are indicated by their functional interface. If second vendor products provide functionally identical interfaces they should be usable with the supplied software. Beware, however, that we promise the software works ONLY with the hardware indicated on the appropriate manual page. Occasionally, new devices of a similar type may be added simply by creating appropriate table entries in the driver.

acc ACC LH/DH IMP communications interface ad Data translation A/D interface css DEC IMP-11A communications interface crl VAX-8600, 8650 console RL02 disk ct C/A/T or APS phototypesetter ddn ACC ACP625 DDN Standard Mode X.25 IMP interface de DEC DEUNA 10Mb/s Ethernet controller dh DH-11 emulators, terminal multiplexor dhu DHU-11 terminal multiplexor dmc DEC DMC-11/DMR-11 point-to-point communications device dmf DEC DMF-32 terminal multiplexor and parallel printer interface dmz DEC DMZ-32 terminal multiplexor dn DEC DN-11 autodialer interface dz DZ-11 terminal multiplexor ec 3Com 10Mb/s Ethernet controller en Xerox 3Mb/s Ethernet controller (obsolete) ex Excelan 10Mb/s Ethernet controller fl VAX-11/780 console floppy interface hdh ACC IF-11/HDH IMP interface hk RK6-11/RK06 and RK07 moving head disk hp MASSBUS disk interface (with RP06, RM03, RM05, etc.) ht TM03 MASSBUS tape drive interface (with TE-16, TU-45, TU-77) hy DR-11B or GI-13 interface to an NSC Hyperchannel ik Ikonas frame buffer graphics device interface il Interlan 1010, 1010A 10Mb/s Ethernet controller ix Interlan NP-100 10Mb/s Ethernet controller kg KL-11/DL-11W line clock lp LP-11 parallel line printer interface mt TM78 MASSBUS tape drive interface np Interlan NP-100 10Mb/s Ethernet controller (intelligent mode) pcl DEC PCL-11 communications interface ps Evans and Sutherland Picture System 2 graphics interface qe DEC DEQNA Q-bus 10 Mb/s Ethernet interface rx DEC RX02 floppy interface tm TM-11/TE-10 tape drive interface tmscp TMSCP-compatible tape controllers (e.g., TU81, TK50) ts TS-11 tape drive interface tu VAX-11/730 TU-58 console cassette interface uda DEC UDA-50 disk controller un DR-11W interface to Ungermann-Bass up Emulex SC-21V, SC-31 UNIBUS disk controller ut UNIBUS TU-45 tape drive interface uu TU-58 dual cassette drive interface (DL-11) va Benson-Varian printer/plotter interface vp Versatec printer/plotter interface vv Proteon proNET 10Mb/s and 80Mb/s ring network interface

HISTORY
The section 4 intro appeared in 4.1BSD.