The Be Book Drivers Drivers Index

Functions for Drivers & Modules

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The kernel exports a number of functions that device drivers can call. The device driver accesses these functions directly in the kernel, not through a library.

Remember when writing a driver that calls one of these functions to link against _KERNEL_. This will instruct the loader to dynamically locate the symbols in the current kernel when the driver is loaded.

acquire_spinlock() , release_spinlock() , spinlock

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

void acquire_spinlock(spinlock *lock)
void release_spinlock(spinlock *lock)
typedef vlong spinlock

Spinlocks are mutually exclusive locks that are used to protect sections of code that must execute atomically. Unlike semaphores, spinlocks can be safely used when interrupts are disabled (in fact, you must have interrupts disabled).

To create a spinlock, simply declare a spinlock variable and initialize it 0:

spinlock lock = 0;

The functions acquire and release the lock spinlock. When you acquire and release a spinlock, you must have interrupts disabled; the structure of your code will look like this:

cpu_status former = disable_interrupts();
acquire_spinlock(&lock);
/* critical section goes here*/
release_spinlock(&lock);
restore_interrupts(former);

The spinlock should be held as briefly as possible, and acquisition must not be nested within the critical section.

Spinlocks are designed for use in a multi-processor system (on a single processor system simply turning off interrupts is enough to guarantee that the critical section will be atomic). Nonetheless, you can use spinlocks on a single processor—you don't have to predicate your code based on the number of CPUs in the system.

add_debugger_command()  see kernel_debugger()

add_timer() , cancel_timer() , timer_hook , qent , timer

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

typedef int32 (*timer_hook)(timer *)
struct quent = {
      int64   key;
      qent   *next;
      qent   *prev;
      }
struct timer = {
      qent   entry;
      uint16   flags;
      uint16   cpu;
      timer_hook hook;
      bigtime_t   period;
      }
status_t add_timer(timer *theTimer, timer_hook hookFunction, bigtime_t period, int32 flags)
bool cancel_timer(timer_t *theTimer)

add_timer() installs a new timer interrupt. A timer interrupt causes the specified hookFunction to be called when the desired amount of time has passed. On entry, you should pass a pointer to a timer structure in theTimer; this will be filled out with data describing the new timer interrupt you've installed. The flags argument provides control over how the timer functions, which affects the meaning of the period argument as follows:

Constant Meaning
B_ONE_SHOT_ABSOLUTE_TIMER The timer will fire once at the system time specified by period.
B_ONE_SHOT_RELATIVE_TIMER The timer will fire once in approximately period microseconds.
B_PERIODIC_TIMER The timer will fire every period microseconds, starting in period microseconds.

cancel_timer() cancels the specified timer. If it's already fired, it returns true; otherwise false is returned. It's guaranteed that once cancel_timer() returns, if the timer was in the process of running when cancel_timer() was called, the timer function will be finished executing. The only exception to this is if cancel_timer() was called from inside a timer handler (in which case trying to wait for the handler to finish running would result in deadlock).

RETURN CODES

call_all_cpus()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

void call_all_cpus(void (*func)(void *, int), void *cookie)

Calls the function specified by func on all CPUs. The cookie can be anything your needs require.

cancel_timer() see add_timer()

disable_interrupts() , restore_interrupts() , cpu_status

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

typedef ulong cpu_status
cpu_status disable_interrupts(void)
void restore_interrupts(cpu_status status)

These functions disable and restore interrupts on the CPU that the caller is currently running on. disable_interrupts() returns its previous state (i.e. whether or not interrupts were already disabled). restore_interrupts() restores the previous status of the CPU, which should be the value that disable_interrupts() returned:

cpu_status former = disable_interrupts();
...
restore_interrupts(former);

As long as the CPU state is properly restored (as shown here), the disable/restore functions can be nested.

See also: install_io_interrupt_handler()

dprintf() , set_dprintf_enabled() , panic()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

void dprintf(const char *format, ...)
bool set_dprintf_enabled(bool enabled)
void panic(const char *format, ...)

dprintf() is a debugging function that has the same syntax and behavior as standard C printf(), except that it writes its output to the serial port at a data rate of 19,200 bits per second. The output is sent to /dev/ports/serial4 on BeBoxes, /dev/modem on Macs, and /dev/ports/serial1 on Intel machines. By default, dprintf() is disabled.

set_dprintf_enabled() enables dprintf() if the enabled flag is true, and disables it if the flag is false. It returns the previous enabled state, thus permitting intelligent nesting:

/* Turn on dprintf */
bool former = set_dprintf_enabled(true);
...
/* Now restore it to its previous state. */
set_dprintf_enabled(former);

panic() is similar to dprintf(), except it hangs the computer after printing the message.

get_memory_map() , physical_entry

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

long get_memory_map(const void *address, ulong numBytes,
      physical_entry *table, long numEntries)
typedef struct {   void *address;
      ulong size;
      } physical_entry

Returns the physical memory chunks that map to the virtual memory that starts at address and extends for numBytes. Each chunk of physical memory is returned as a physical_entry structure; the series of structures is returned in the table array. (which you have to allocate yourself). numEntries is the number of elements in the array that you're passing in. As shown in the example, you should lock the memory that you're about to inspect:

physical_entry table[count];
lock_memory(addr, extent, 0);
get_memory_map(addr, extent, table, count);
. . .
unlock_memory(someAddress, someNumberOfBytes, 0);

The end of the table array is indicated by (size == 0):

long k;
while (table[k].size > 0) {
   /* A legitimate entry */
   if (++k == count) {
      /* Not enough entries */
      break; }
}

If all of the entries have non-zero sizes, then table wasn't big enough; call get_memory_map() again with more table entries.

RETURN CODES

The function always returns

See also: lock_memory(), start_isa_dma()

has_signals_pending()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

int has_signals_pending(struct thread_rec *thr)

Returns a bitmask of the currently pending signals for the current thread. thr should always be NULL; passing other values will yield meaningless results. has_signals_pending() returns 0 if no signals are pending.

install_io_interrupt_handler() , remove_io_interrupt_handler()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

long install_io_interrupt_handler(long interrupt_number,
      interrupt_handler handler,
      void *data, ulong flags)
long remove_io_interrupt_handler(long interrupt_number,
      interrupt_handler handler,
      void *data)

install_io_interrupt_handler() adds the handler function to the chain of functions that will be called each time the specified interrupt occurs. This function should have the following syntax:

The data passed to install_io_interrupt_handler() will be passed to the handler function each time it's called. It can be anything that might be of use to the handler, or NULL. If the interrupt handler must return one of the following values:

Constant Meaning
B_UNHANDLED_INTERRUPT The interrupt handler didn't handle the interrupt; the kernel will keep looking for someone to handle it.
B_HANDLED_INTERRUPT The interrupt handler handled the interrupt. The kernel won't keep looking for a handler to handle it.
B_INVOKE_SCHEDULER The interrupt handler handled the interrupt. This tells the kernel to invoke the scheduler immediately after the handler returns.

If B_INVOKE_SCHEDULER is returned by the interrupt handler, the kernel will immediately invoke the scheduler, to dispatch processor time to tasks that need handling. This is especially useful if your interrupt handler has released a semaphore (see release_sem_etc() in the Kernel Kit).

The flags parameter is a bitmask of options. The only option currently defined is B_NO_ENABLE_COUNTER. By default, the OS keeps track of the number of functions handling a given interrupt. If this counter changes from 0 to 1, then the system enables the irq for that interrupt. Conversely, if the counter changes from 1 to 0, the system disables the irq. Setting the B_NO_ENABLE_COUNTER flag instructs the OS to ignore the handler for the purpose of enabling and disabling the irq.

install_io_interrupt_handler() returns B_OK if successful in installing the handler, and B_ERROR if not. An error occurs when either the interrupt_number is out of range or there is not enough room left in the interrupt chain to add the handler.

remove_io_interrupt() removes the named interrupt from the interrupt chain. It returns B_OK if successful in removing the handler, and B_ERROR if not.

io_card_version()  see motherboard_version()

kernel_debugger() , add_debugger_command() , remove_debugger_command() , load_driver_symbols() , kprintf() , parse_expression()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

void kernel_debugger(const char *string)
int add_debugger_command(char *name, int (*func)(int, char **), char *help)
int remove_debugger_command(char *name, int (*func)(int, char **))
int load_driver_symbols(const char *driverName)
void kprintf(const char *format, ...)
ulong parse_expression(const char *string)

kernel_debugger() drops the calling thread into a debugger that writes its output to the serial port at 19,200 bits per second, just as dprintf() does. This debugger produces string as its first message; it's not affected by set_dprintf_enabled().

kernel_debugger() is identical to the debugger() function documented in the Kernel Kit, except that it works in the kernel and engages a different debugger. Drivers should use it instead of debugger().

add_debugger_command() registers a new command with the kernel debugger. When the user types in the command name, the kernel debugger calls func with the remainder of the command line as argc/argv-style arguments. The help string for the command is set to help.

remove_debugger_command() removes the specified kernel debugger command.

load_driver_symbols() loads symbols from the specified kernel driver into the kernel debugger. driver_name is the path-less name of the driver which must be located in one of the standard kernel driver directories. The function returns B_OK on success and B_ERROR on failure.

kprintf() outputs messages to the serial port. It should be used instead of dprintf() from new debugger commands because dprintf() depends too much upon the state of the kernel to be reliable from within the debugger.

parse_expression() takes a C expression and returns the result. It only handles integer arithmetic. The logical and relational operations are accepted. It can also supports variables and assignments. This is useful for strings with multiple expressions, which should be separated with semicolons. Finally, the special variable "." refers to the value from the previous expression. This function is designed to help implement new debugger commands.

See also: debugger() in the Kernel Kit

kprintf()  see kernel_debugger()
load_driver_symbols()  see kernel_debugger()

lock_memory() , unlock_memory()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

long lock_memory(void *address, ulong numBytes, ulong flags)
long unlock_memory(const void *address, ulong numBytes, ulong flags)

lock_memory() makes sure that all the memory beginning at the specified virtual address and extending for numBytes is resident in RAM, and locks it so that it won't be paged out until unlock_memory() is called. It pages in any of the memory that isn't resident at the time it's called. It is typically used in preparation for a DMA transaction.

The flags field contains a bitmask of options. Currently, two options, B_DMA_IO and B_READ_DEVICE, are defined. B_DMA_IO should be set if any part of the memory range will be modified by something other than the CPU while it's locked, since that change won't otherwise be noticed by the system and the modified pages may not be written to disk by the virtual memory system. Typically, this sort of change is performed through DMA. B_READ_DEVICE, if set, indicates that the caller intends to fill the memory (read from the device). If cleared, it indicates the memory will be written to the device and will not be altered.

unlock_memory() releases locked memory and should be called with the same flags as passed into the corresponding lock_memory() call.

Each of these functions returns B_OK if successful and B_ERROR if not. The main reason that lock_memory() would fail is that you're attempting to lock more memory than can be paged in.

map_physical_memory()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

area_id map_physical_memory(const char *areaName, void *physicalAddress,
      size_t numBytes, uint32 spec, uint32 protection,
      void **virtualAddress)

This function allows you to map the memory in physical memory starting at physicalAddress and extending for numBytes bytes into your team's address space. The kernel creates an area named areaName mapped into the memory address virtualAddress and returns its area_id to the caller. numBytes must be a multiple of B_PAGE_SIZE (4096).

spec must be either B_ANY_KERNEL_ADDRESS or B_ANY_KERNEL_BLOCK_ADDRESS. If spec is B_ANY_KERNEL_ADDRESS, the memory will begin at an arbitrary location in the kernel address space. If spec is B_ANY_KERNEL_BLOCK_ADDRESS, then the memory will be mapped into a memory location aligned on a multiple of B_PAGE_SIZE.

protection is a bitmask consisting of the fields B_READ_AREA and B_WRITE_AREA, as discussed in create_area().

create_area() returns an area_id for the newly-created memory if successful or an error code on failure. The error codes are the same as those for create_area().

See also: create_area()

motherboard_version() , io_card_version()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

long motherboard_version(void)
long io_card_version(void)

These functions return the current versions of the motherboard and of the I/O card. These functions are only available on PowerPC-based systems (they're intended for use on the BeBox).

panic()  see dprintf()
parse_expression()  see kernel_debugger()

platform()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

platform_type platform(void)

Returns the current platform, as defined in <kernel/OS.h>.

register_kernel_daemon() , unregister_kernel_daemon()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

int register_kernel_daemon(void (*func)(void *, int), void *arg, int freq)
int unregister_kernel_daemon(void (*func)(void *, int), void *arg)

Adds or removes daemons from the kernel. A kernel daemon function is executed approximately once every freq/10 seconds. The kernel calls func with the arguments arg and an iteration value that increases by freq on successive calls to the daemon function.

release_spinlock()  see acquire_spinlock()
remove_io_interrupt_handler()  see install_io_interrupt_handler()
restore_interrupts()  see disable_interrupts()
set_dprintf_enabled()  see dprintf()

send_signal_etc()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

int send_signal_etc(pid_t thid, uint sig, uint32 flags)

This function is a counterpart to send_signal() in the Posix layer, which is not exported for drivers.

thid is the thread_id of the thread the signal should be sent to, and sig is the signal type to send, just like in send_signal(). The flags argument can be used to specify flags to control the function:

Constant Meaning
B_CHECK_PERMISSION The signal will only be sent if the destination thread's uid and euid are the same as the caller's.
B_DO_NOT_RESCHEDULE The kernel won't call the scheduler after sending the signal. You should specify this flag when calling send_signal_etc() from an interrupt handler.

RETURN CODES

spawn_kernel_thread()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

thread_id spawn_kernel_thread(thread_entry func, const char *name,
      long priority, void *data)

This function is a counterpart to spawn_thread() in the Kernel Kit, which is not exported for drivers. It has the same syntax as the Kernel Kit function, but is able to spawn threads in the kernel's memory space.

See also: spawn_thread() in the Kernel Kit

spin()

Declared in:  be/drivers/KernelExport.h

void spin(bigtime_t microseconds)

Executes a delay loop lasting at least the specified number of microseconds. It could last longer, due to rounding errors, interrupts, and context switches.

un  see lock_memory()
un  see register_kernel_daemon()

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