Problem with writing from kernel to user space - linux device driver - c

I'm trying to write a simple Raspberry Pi GPIO driver, with four switches connected to four of the GPIO pins, that reads each switch state. The problem is, I'm not sure how to write from kernel to user space, I'm not getting anything when I insert my device kernel module and try to read the device file with cat command.
The device_read function is as follows:
static ssize_t gpio_driver_read(struct file *filp, char *buf, size_t len, loff_t *f_pos)
{
/* Size of valid data in gpio_driver - data to send in user space. */
int data_size = 0;
/* Counter for 'for' loop. */
int i;
/* Print to kernel space. */
printk(KERN_INFO "Reading active Switch state...\n");
for (i = 0; i < 4; i = i+1)
{
printk(KERN_INFO "Loop number %d...\n", i);
/* TODO: fill gpio_driver_buffer here. */
if (i == 0 && mySwitches[0])
sprintf(gpio_driver_buffer, "gpio_driver: gpio12 value: %d\n", GetGpioPinValue(GPIO_12));
else if (i == 1 && mySwitches[1])
sprintf(gpio_driver_buffer, "gpio_driver: gpio16 value: %d\n", GetGpioPinValue(GPIO_16));
else if (i == 2 && mySwitches[2])
sprintf(gpio_driver_buffer, "gpio_driver: gpio20 value: %d\n", GetGpioPinValue(GPIO_20));
else if (i == 3 && mySwitches[3])
sprintf(gpio_driver_buffer, "gpio_driver: gpio21 value: %d\n", GetGpioPinValue(GPIO_21));
printk(KERN_INFO "%s\n", gpio_driver_buffer);
/* Get size of valid data. */
data_size = strlen(gpio_driver_buffer);
printk(KERN_INFO "%d\n", data_size);
/* Send data to user space. */
if (copy_to_user(buf, gpio_driver_buffer, data_size) != 0)
{
return -EFAULT;
}
}
return 0;
}
gpio_driver_buffer is an array of some default size (I put it to 80).
mySwitches is an array of 4 elements, each one with value 0 or 1 (I'm passing that as an argument when inserting the kernel module, 1 meaning I want to watch the state of the switch and 0 meaning I'm not watching the switch).
GetGpioPinValue is a function that returns switch state.
The problem is, when I try to read the device file with cat command, I'm not getting anything. However, as you can see, I kind of debugged the program with printk commands and everything is written correctly in kernel space. Where could the problem be?

It doesn't look like you are ever writing to the actual file. Since you don't mention how you are generating the file, I'm assuming you are writing to an arbitrary file, not one created by the driver for /proc or something.
Review the post here: Read/write files within a Linux kernel module
You can try this:
int file_write(struct file *file, unsigned long long offset, unsigned char *data, unsigned int size)
{
mm_segment_t oldfs;
int ret;
oldfs = get_fs();
set_fs(get_ds());
ret = vfs_write(file, data, size, &offset);
set_fs(oldfs);
return ret;
}
Then call it instead of 'copy_to_user':
/* Send data to user space. */
if (file_write(filep, 0, gpio_driver_buffer, data_size) != 0)
{
return -EFAULT;
}

Have a look at the sample code here.

Related

How to send raw binary data over serial in C without non-native libraries in linux

I'm currently trying to send raw binary data in the format of decimal to an external device over serial. I currently have the data in a buffer array but would like it in a structure like this:
struct packetData{
uint8_t sync1;
uint8_t sync2;
uint16_t messageId;
uint16_t dataWordCount;
uint16_t flags;
uint16_t checksum;
};
I'm also using 9600 baud, and have all the termios settings set using cfmakeraw and I'm currently writing using:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <termios.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int flags = O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY | O_NDELAY;
fd = open(device, flags);
uint16_t buf_tx[BUFFER_SIZE] = {255,129,191,0,2057,0};
if(fd == -1){
printf("\n Failed to open port! ");
return -1;
}
tcgetattr(fd, &tty); //Get the current attributes of the Serial port
cfmakeraw(&tty);
cfsetispeed(&tty, B9600); //Set read speed as 9600 baud
cfsetospeed(&tty, B9600); //Set write speed as 9600 baud
if((tcsetattr(fd, TCSANOW, &tty)) != 0){
printf("Error! Can't set attributes.\n");
return -1;
}
else{
printf("Connection successful! \n");
}
while(x < 1000){
memset(buf_tx, 0, sizeof(buf_tx));
tcflush(fd, TCOFLUSH);
if(y < 5){
if(write(fd, buf_tx, 5) == -1){
printf("\n");
printf("Error>>: %s\n",strerror(errno));
y++;
}
}
tcflush(fd, TCIOFLUSH);
usleep(1000);
x++;
}
This code isnt the full code, just the setup/write parts so no need to worry about its syntax. if possible it would be nice not to have that buffer array and just use the struct directly, but I'll take what I can get.
It seems you have the serial port opening more or less in hand. I prefer to set the termios member components explicitly myself, but cfmakeraw() is perfectly fine too.
What you should consider, is having a separate function to send one or more of those structures at a time. For example,
int write_all(const int fd, const void *buf, const size_t len)
{
const char *data = buf;
size_t written = 0;
ssize_t n;
while (written < len) {
n = write(fd, data + written, len - written);
if (n > 0) {
written += n;
} else
if (n != -1) {
/* C library bug, should never occur */
errno = EIO;
return -1;
} else {
/* Error; n == -1, so errno is already set. */
return -1;
}
}
/* Success. */
return 0;
}
The function will return 0 if all data was successfully written, and -1 with errno set if an error occurs.
To send a struct packetData pkt; just use write_all(fd, &pkt, sizeof pkt).
To send a full array struct packetData pkts[5]; use write_all(fd, pkts, sizeof pkts).
To send n packets starting at pkts[i], use write_all(fd, pkts + i, n * sizeof pkts[0]).
However, you do not want to use tcflush(). It does not do what you think it does; it actually just discards data.
Instead, to ensure that the data you have written has been transmitted, you need to use tcdrain(fd).
I recommend against adding tcdrain(fd) at the end of write_all() function, because it blocks, pauses the program, until the data has been transmitted. This means that you should only use tcdrain() before you do something that requires the other end has received the transmission; for example before trying to read the response.
However, if this is a query-response interface, and you do intend to also read from the serial device, you should set tty.c_cc[VMIN] and tty.c_cc[VTIME] to reflect how you intend to use the interface. I prefer asynchronous full-duplex operation, but that requires select()/poll() handling. For half-duplex, with these exact structures only, you can use tty.c_cc[VMIN] = sizeof (struct packetData) with say tty.c_cc[VTIME] = 30, which causes read() to try and wait until a full structure is available, but at most 30 deciseconds (3.0 seconds). Something like tty.c_cc[VMIN] = 1; tty.c_cc[VTIME] = 1; is more common; that causes read() to return a short count (even 0!) if there is no additional data received within a decisecond (0.1 seconds). Then, the receive function could be along the following lines:
int read_all(const int fd, void *buf, const size_t len)
{
char *const ptr = buf;
size_t have = 0;
ssize_t n;
/* This function is to be used with half-duplex query-response protocol,
so make sure we have transmitted everything before trying to
receive a response. Also assumes c_cc[VTIME] is properly set for
both the first byte of the response, and interbyte response interval
in deciseconds. */
tcdrain(fd);
while (have < len) {
n = read(fd, ptr + have, len - have);
if (n > 0) {
have += n;
} else
if (n == 0) {
/* Timeout or disconnect */
errno = ETIMEDOUT;
return -1;
} else
if (n != -1) {
/* C library bug, should never occur */
errno = EIO;
return -1;
} else {
/* Read error; errno set by read(). */
return -1;
}
}
/* Success; no errors. */
return 0;
}
If this returns -1 with errno == ETIMEDOUT, the other side took too long to answer. There may be remainder of the late response in the buffer, which you can discard with tcflush(TCIFLUSH) (or with tcflush(TCIOFLUSH), which also discards any written data not yet transmitted). Synchronization in this case is a bit difficult, because the above read_all() function doesn't return how many bytes it received (and therefore how many bytes to discard of a partial structure).
Sometimes the interface used always returns the number of bytes, but also sets errno (to 0 if no error occurred, and a nonzero error constant otherwise). That would be better for a query-response interface read and write functions, but many programmers find this use case "odd", even though it is perfectly okay by POSIX.1 standard (which is the relevant standard here).

How to handle buffering serial data

I am trying to figure out a nice solution to reading serial data, and what to do when a read() is done but it contains an incomplete message.
The expected messages between devices have a defined start and end byte so its easy to see when a message starts and ends.
I can open a serial port fine and read from the serial port. But I am encountering the computer is reading faster than data coming through and I get an incomplete message.
For this example, lets say the message expected is
0x10 0xFF 0xFF 0xFF 0xFF 0x11
With 0x10 the start, 0x11 the end, and 0xFF is the data bytes
I am new to C so I may be missing something obvious,
My current solution
int main() {
/* Ommited serial port opening and checking*/
char read_buffer[80];
char message_buffer[80];
int message_buffer_index = 0;
int start_index = -1;
int end_index = -1;
int read_bytes;
read_bytes = read(serial_port, read_buffer, sizeof(read_buffer) - 1);
/* Now lets say read_bytes returns 3 and read buffer is {0x10, 0xFF, 0xFF} */
/* What should I do with the read_buffer? Currently appending to message buffer*/
memcpy(&message_buffer[message_buffer_index], &read_buffer[0], read_bytes);
/* Now check the message buffer for a full message */
for (int i = 0; i < 80; i++) {
if (message_buffer[i] = 0x10) {
start_index = i;
continue;
}
if (message_buffer[i] = 0x11) {
end_index = i;
}
if (start_index != -1 && end_index != -1) {
/* Found a message, do something with it, not super important here */
process_message();
/* Now how to erase the full message from the
buffer and push any non processed data to the
front? */
remove_message();
}
}
}
int process_message();
int remove_message();
To minimize the overhead of making many read() syscalls of small byte counts (e.g. the misguided solution of reading a byte at a time), use an intermediate buffer in your code.
The read() of the serial terminal should be in blocking mode to avoid a return code of zero bytes.
#define BLEN 1024
unsigned char rbuf[BLEN];
unsigned char *rp = &rbuf[BLEN];
int bufcnt = 0;
/* get a byte from intermediate buffer of serial terminal */
static unsigned char getbyte(void)
{
if ((rp - rbuf) >= bufcnt) {
/* buffer needs refill */
bufcnt = read(fd, rbuf, BLEN);
if (bufcnt <= 0) {
/* report error, then abort */
}
rp = rbuf;
}
return *rp++;
}
For proper termios initialization code for the serial terminal, see this answer. You should increase the VMIN parameter to something closer to the BLEN value or at least the length of longest expected message, and a VTIME of 1.
Now you can conveniently access the received data a byte at a time with minimal performance penalty.
#define MLEN 1024 /* choose appropriate value for message protocol */
int main()
{
unsigned char mesg[MLEN];
...
while (1) {
while (getbyte() != 0x10)
/* discard data until start found */ ;
length = 0;
while ((mesg[length] = getbyte()) != 0x11) {
/* accumulate data until end found */
length++;
}
/* process the message */
...
} /* loop for next message */
...
}
Note that your detection for a message frame is not robust.
If the data is binary and therefore can use the same values as these start and end bytes, then this parsing of the received data is prone to misaligned message frames.
See this answer for a description of a proper alogrithm.
You need circular buffer. Place data in the buffer and the process takes them when for example there is enough data or in any convenient moment.
Wikipedia has excellent article about it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_buffer
Better use stdio for reading, something like this:
FILE *fp = fdopen(serial_port, "r");
while (blabla) {
while (fgetc(fp) != 0x10)
; // wait until start
while ((c = fgetc(fp)) != 0x11)
message_buffer[message_buffer_index++] = c;
// here you have a complete message
}
Insert checks for EOF and errors if needed

Using sleep() when reading from a serial port

I am writing an application to read data from /dev/ttyUSB0.
I found it necessary to call sleep before calling read in the while loop so that I get the entire line at once. Otherwise, sometimes I get part of the line and the rest in the next iteration.
Do I have to package my data with a header containing the length of the string being sent over? Or is there a better way?
while(1) {
usleep(10000);
unsigned char buf[80];
int rdlen;
ioctl(fd, FIONREAD, &rdlen);
if (rdlen > 0) {
rdlen = read(fd, buf, rdlen);
}
if (rdlen > 0) {
...
}
The better way is to simply deal with receiving partial lines, have your code reading the data figure out when you have a complete line if that is important.
something like (not tested at all):
char buffer[1000];
size_t offset = 0;
while(1 ){
int len = read(fd, buffer+offset,(unsigned)(sizeof(buffer)-offset));
if(!strchr(buffer+offset, '\n')){
/* no end-of-line */
offset +=len;
}
else
{
/* deal with complete line */
offset = 0;
}
}

Send a File with socket in C for Linux

I'm writing a small and simple server (in C language for Linux stations).
A client requests a file to my server, my server asks this file to another server which sends it to my server.
My server should NOT receive ALL the file before sending it to the client BUT must send the bytes of the file so as they arrive.
This is an exercise in school so I can not dissociate myself from this requirement.
I have implemented the function explained below. The problem is that the client receives a non-deterministic number of bytes and NEVER the entire file.
int Recv_and_send_file (int socketa, int socketb, char *buffer, size_t file_size){
size_t n;
ssize_t nread;
ssize_t nwritten;
char c;
for (n=1; n<file_size; n++)
{
nread=recv(socketa, &c, 1, 0);
if (nread == 1)
{
nwritten = send(socketb,&c,1,0);
}
else if (nread == 0)
{
*buffer = 0;
return (-1); /* Errore */
}
else
return (-1); /* Errore */
}
}
*buffer = 0;
return (n);
}
Someone could kindly tell me where I'm wrong?
Is it an stupid idea to change the values ​​SO_SNDBUF and SO_RCVBUF on both the server and the client?
Assuming the file_size is the total number of bytes you want to send, then your for loop will only send file_size - 1 bytes. In other words, you are off by one. Start from 0 instead to fix this:
for (n=0; n<file_size; n++)
{ //..
You capture the return value of send(), but you do not check to see if it was successful or not.
You are treating a 0 return value from recv() the same as an error. Since you do not show what you do after returning -1 from your function, I don't know if this may be contributing to your problem or not.
Certain errors on send() and recv() are "soft", in that you are allowed to retry the operation for those particular errors. One such error is EINTR, but check the documentation on your system to see if there are others.
In order to optimize performance and simplify your code, you can use splice()+pipes. Sendfile enables you to "forward" data between file descriptors, without the copy to user space.
Are you sure you have copied the correct code? That part as it is would not compile, there is a } in the last else which don't match with a corresponding {.
Also, how you get to know the file size? if it's send thru the socket as an integer, bear in mind the possible byte order of the source and destination machines.
Anyway, you are reading one byte at a time, you should improve it this way:
EDIT: use buffer and not the extra buff[2048];
int Recv_and_send_file (int socketa, int socketb, char *buffer, size_t file_size){
ssize_t nread;
ssize_t nwritten;
ssize_t bLeft=file_size;
while (bLeft > 0)
{
nread=recv(socketa, buffer, bleft, 0);
if (nread > 0)
{
nwritten = send(socketb, buffer, nread, 0);
bLeft -= nread;
buffer+=nread;
}
else if (nread == 0)
{
// I think this could raise a memory exception, read below
*buffer = 0;
return (-1); /* Errore */
}
else
{
return (-1); /* Errore */
}
}
// If buffer is allocated with file_size bytes this one will raise a memory exception
// *buffer = 0;
return (file_size-bLeft);
}

Linux device driver, Is it possible to get the minor number using a file descriptor?

I am writing a device driver for Linux. It creates a device with 4 minor numbers. Whenever we attempt to write to the device at minor number 3, we are suppose to kill the device and currently it isn't suppose to do anything else except print it is writing to the booga device. Here is some of my current code and I can post more code if necessary:
Write method:
static ssize_t booga_write (struct file *filp, const char *buf, size_t count, loff_t *f_pose) {
printk("Attempting to write to booga device\n");
/* need to protect this with a semaphore if multiple processes
will invoke this driver to prevent a race condition */
if (down_interruptible (&booga_device_stats->sem))
return (-ERESTARTSYS);
booga_device_stats->num_bytes_written += count;
up(&booga_device_stats->sem);
return count; // pretend that count bytes were written
}
How it is tested:
static void run_write_test(char *device, int bufsize)
{
char *buf;
int src;
int out;
src = open(device, O_WRONLY);
if (src < 0) {
perror("Open for write failed:");
exit(1);
}
buf = (char *) malloc(sizeof(char)*(bufsize+1));
fprintf(stderr, "Attempting to write to booga device\n");
out = write(src, buf, bufsize);
fprintf(stderr, "Wrote %d bytes.\n", out);
free(buf);
close(src);
}
I am wondering if there is a way to get the minor number. I looked in linux/fs.h and saw that the file struct has a member called private_data but whenever I attempt to call this, it will crash my system as it is currently set to null.
Or should I not be trying to get the minor number from the struct file at all and should attempt to keep track of it when I first open the device?
You can get the minor number like so:
iminor(filp->f_path.dentry->d_inode)

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