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.