A simple character device driver - c

Question

I wrote a simple character device driver & wanted to cross-compile it for craneboard (ARM architecture). My file name is gDev.c. I copied the file to kernel/drivers/char directory in craneboard source. I modified the Kconfig file in that same directory & added the following lines to it.
config TEST_GCHARD
tristate "My Character driver"
default m
I added the following line to the Makefile in the same directory.
obj-$(CONFIG_TEST_GCHARD) += gDev.o
I added the following line in the am3517_crane_defconfig in arch/arm/configs directory.
CONFIG_TEST_GCHARD=m
My problem is, when I set it as m in am3517_crane_defconfig, the file is not getting included for compilation. But, if I change it as y, it is getting compiled. But, I need it to be a module which I must insmod after board boots up. Please guide me whether I'm missing any steps. Thanks.

Answer 1

here goes the driver in megharajchard.c
#include<linux/module.h>
#include<linux/kernel.h>
#include<linux/fs.h> /*this is the file structure, file open read close */
#include<linux/cdev.h> /* this is for character device, makes cdev avilable*/
#include<linux/semaphore.h> /* this is for the semaphore*/
#include<linux/uaccess.h> /*this is for copy_user vice vers*/
int chardev_init(void);
void chardev_exit(void);
static int device_open(struct inode *, struct file *);
static int device_close(struct inode *, struct file *);
static ssize_t device_read(struct file *, char *, size_t, loff_t *);
static ssize_t device_write(struct file *, const char *, size_t, loff_t *);
static loff_t device_lseek(struct file *file, loff_t offset, int orig);
/*new code*/
#define BUFFER_SIZE 1024
static char device_buffer[BUFFER_SIZE];
struct semaphore sem;
struct cdev *mcdev; /*this is the name of my char driver that i will be registering*/
int major_number; /* will store the major number extracted by dev_t*/
int ret; /*used to return values*/
dev_t dev_num; /*will hold the major number that the kernel gives*/
#define DEVICENAME "megharajchard"
/*inode reffers to the actual file on disk*/
static int device_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp) {
if(down_interruptible(&sem) != 0) {
printk(KERN_ALERT "megharajchard : the device has been opened by some other device, unable to open lock\n");
return -1;
}
//buff_rptr = buff_wptr = device_buffer;
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : device opened succesfully\n");
return 0;
}
static ssize_t device_read(struct file *fp, char *buff, size_t length, loff_t *ppos) {
int maxbytes; /*maximum bytes that can be read from ppos to BUFFER_SIZE*/
int bytes_to_read; /* gives the number of bytes to read*/
int bytes_read;/*number of bytes actually read*/
maxbytes = BUFFER_SIZE - *ppos;
if(maxbytes > length)
bytes_to_read = length;
else
bytes_to_read = maxbytes;
if(bytes_to_read == 0)
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : Reached the end of the device\n");
bytes_read = bytes_to_read - copy_to_user(buff, device_buffer + *ppos, bytes_to_read);
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : device has been read %d\n",bytes_read);
*ppos += bytes_read;
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : device has been read\n");
return bytes_read;
}
static ssize_t device_write(struct file *fp, const char *buff, size_t length, loff_t *ppos) {
int maxbytes; /*maximum bytes that can be read from ppos to BUFFER_SIZE*/
int bytes_to_write; /* gives the number of bytes to write*/
int bytes_writen;/*number of bytes actually writen*/
maxbytes = BUFFER_SIZE - *ppos;
if(maxbytes > length)
bytes_to_write = length;
else
bytes_to_write = maxbytes;
bytes_writen = bytes_to_write - copy_from_user(device_buffer + *ppos, buff, bytes_to_write);
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : device has been written %d\n",bytes_writen);
*ppos += bytes_writen;
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : device has been written\n");
return bytes_writen;
}
static loff_t device_lseek(struct file *file, loff_t offset, int orig) {
loff_t new_pos = 0;
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : lseek function in work\n");
switch(orig) {
case 0 : /*seek set*/
new_pos = offset;
break;
case 1 : /*seek cur*/
new_pos = file->f_pos + offset;
break;
case 2 : /*seek end*/
new_pos = BUFFER_SIZE - offset;
break;
}
if(new_pos > BUFFER_SIZE)
new_pos = BUFFER_SIZE;
if(new_pos < 0)
new_pos = 0;
file->f_pos = new_pos;
return new_pos;
}
static int device_close(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp) {
up(&sem);
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : device has been closed\n");
return ret;
}
struct file_operations fops = { /* these are the file operations provided by our driver */
.owner = THIS_MODULE, /*prevents unloading when operations are in use*/
.open = device_open, /*to open the device*/
.write = device_write, /*to write to the device*/
.read = device_read, /*to read the device*/
.release = device_close, /*to close the device*/
.llseek = device_lseek
};
int chardev_init(void)
{
/* we will get the major number dynamically this is recommended please read ldd3*/
ret = alloc_chrdev_region(&dev_num,0,1,DEVICENAME);
if(ret < 0) {
printk(KERN_ALERT " megharajchard : failed to allocate major number\n");
return ret;
}
else
printk(KERN_INFO " megharajchard : mjor number allocated succesful\n");
major_number = MAJOR(dev_num);
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : major number of our device is %d\n",major_number);
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : to use mknod /dev/%s c %d 0\n",DEVICENAME,major_number);
mcdev = cdev_alloc(); /*create, allocate and initialize our cdev structure*/
mcdev->ops = &fops; /*fops stand for our file operations*/
mcdev->owner = THIS_MODULE;
/*we have created and initialized our cdev structure now we need to add it to the kernel*/
ret = cdev_add(mcdev,dev_num,1);
if(ret < 0) {
printk(KERN_ALERT "megharajchard : device adding to the kerknel failed\n");
return ret;
}
else
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : device additin to the kernel succesful\n");
sema_init(&sem,1); /* initial value to one*/
return 0;
}
void chardev_exit(void)
{
cdev_del(mcdev); /*removing the structure that we added previously*/
printk(KERN_INFO " megharajchard : removed the mcdev from kernel\n");
unregister_chrdev_region(dev_num,1);
printk(KERN_INFO "megharajchard : unregistered the device numbers\n");
printk(KERN_ALERT " megharajchard : character driver is exiting\n");
}
MODULE_AUTHOR("A G MEGHARAJ(agmegharaj#gmail.com)");
MODULE_DESCRIPTION("A BASIC CHAR DRIVER");
//MODULE_LICENCE("GPL");
module_init(chardev_init);
module_exit(chardev_exit);
Make file for the same.
obj-m := megharajchard.o
KERNELDIR ?= /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build
PWD := $(shell pwd)
all:
$(MAKE) -C $(KERNELDIR) M=$(PWD)
clean:
rm -rf *.o *~ core .depend .*.cmd *.ko *.mod.c .tmp_versions
load script
#!/bin/sh
sudo insmod megharajchard.ko
sudo mknod /dev/megharajchard c 251 0
sudo chmod 777 /dev/megharajchard
unload script
#!/bin/sh
sudo rmmod megharajchard
sudo rm /dev/megharajchard
A C application to test the functionalities of the driver.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<fcntl.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<malloc.h>
#define DEVICE "/dev/megharajchard"
//#define DEVICE "megharaj.txt"
int debug = 1, fd = 0;
int write_device() {
int write_length = 0;
ssize_t ret;
char *data = (char *)malloc(1024 * sizeof(char));
printf("please enter the data to write into device\n");
scanf(" %[^\n]",data); /* a space added after"so that it reads white space, %[^\n] is addeed so that it takes input until new line*/
write_length = strlen(data);
if(debug)printf("the length of dat written = %d\n",write_length);
ret = write(fd, data, write_length);
if(ret == -1)
printf("writting failed\n");
else
printf("writting success\n");
if(debug)fflush(stdout);/*not to miss any log*/
free(data);
return 0;
}
int read_device() {
int read_length = 0;
ssize_t ret;
char *data = (char *)malloc(1024 * sizeof(char));
printf("enter the length of the buffer to read\n");
scanf("%d",&read_length);
if(debug)printf("the read length selected is %d\n",read_length);
memset(data,0,sizeof(data));
data[0] = '0\';
ret = read(fd,data,read_length);
printf("DEVICE_READ : %s\n",data);
if(ret == -1)
printf("reading failed\n");
else
printf("reading success\n");
if(debug)fflush(stdout);/*not to miss any log*/
free(data);
return 0;
}
int lseek_device() {
int lseek_offset = 0,seek_value = 0;
int counter = 0; /* to check if function called multiple times or loop*/
counter++;
printf("counter value = %d\n",counter);
printf("enter the seek offset\n");
scanf("%d",&lseek_offset);
if(debug) printf("seek_offset selected is %d\n",lseek_offset);
printf("1 for SEEK_SET, 2 for SEEK_CUR and 3 for SEEK_END\n");
scanf("%d", &seek_value);
printf("seek value = %d\n", seek_value);
switch(seek_value) {
case 1: lseek(fd,lseek_offset,SEEK_SET);
return 0;
break;
case 2: lseek(fd,lseek_offset,SEEK_CUR);
return 0;
break;
case 3: lseek(fd,lseek_offset,SEEK_END);
return 0;
break;
default : printf("unknown option selected, please enter right one\n");
break;
}
/*if(seek_value == 1) {
printf("seek value = %d\n", seek_value);
lseek(fd,lseek_offset,SEEK_SET);
return 0;
}
if(seek_value == 2) {
lseek(fd,lseek_offset,SEEK_CUR);
return 0;
}
if(seek_value == 3) {
lseek(fd,lseek_offset,SEEK_END);
return 0;
}*/
if(debug)fflush(stdout);/*not to miss any log*/
return 0;
}
int lseek_write() {
lseek_device();
write_device();
return 0;
}
int lseek_read() {
lseek_device();
read_device();
return 0;
}
int main()
{
int value = 0;
if(access(DEVICE, F_OK) == -1) {
printf("module %s not loaded\n",DEVICE);
return 0;
}
else
printf("module %s loaded, will be used\n",DEVICE);
while(1) {
printf("\t\tplease enter 1 to write\n \
2 to read\n \
3 to lseek and write\
4 to lseek and read\n");
scanf("%d",&value);
switch(value) {
case 1 :printf("write option selected\n");
fd = open(DEVICE, O_RDWR);
write_device();
close(fd); /*closing the device*/
break;
case 2 :printf("read option selected\n");
/* dont know why but i am suppoesed to open it for writing and close it, i cant keep open and read.
its not working, need to sort out why is that so */
fd = open(DEVICE, O_RDWR);
read_device();
close(fd); /*closing the device*/
break;
case 3 :printf("lseek option selected\n");
fd = open(DEVICE, O_RDWR);
lseek_write();
close(fd); /*closing the device*/
break;
case 4 :printf("lseek option selected\n");
fd = open(DEVICE, O_RDWR);
lseek_read();
close(fd); /*closing the device*/
break;
default : printf("unknown option selected, please enter right one\n");
break;
}
}
return 0;
}

Answer 2

This is because you have to build the modules in a separate process:
make modules
Also, you can install them with:
make modules_install
If this is not for your own system, but for another one, like an embedded one, you should "install" them in a specific directory which you will then copy on the target, using INSTALL_MOD_PATH:
make INSTALL_MOD_PATH=/tmp/modules_for_target modules_install