Difference between revisions of "EBC Exercise 26 Device Drivers"

From eLinux.org
Jump to: navigation, search
m (Minimal Device Driver Example: Switched with compiling)
m (Part 2: A Character Device: Added)
Line 81: Line 81:
 
  [Sep24 16:54] EBB: Goodbye Prof.Yoder from the BBB LKM!
 
  [Sep24 16:54] EBB: Goodbye Prof.Yoder from the BBB LKM!
  
== Improvements to the Code in the Book==
+
== Part 2: A Character Device ==
The code in Listing 8-10 is incompleteIf you compile it as is and load the module, it will work, but if you then remove the module and try to reinsert it it may fail with an error. The reason for this is that the module is registered with the kernel on load with a command like this:
+
 
<pre>
+
Part 2 of Molloy's example [http://derekmolloy.ie/writing-a-linux-kernel-module-part-2-a-character-device/] is a character deviceThe code needs a slight change before it will run.
register_chrdev(MAJOR_NUMBER, NAME, FILE_OPERATIONS*);
+
 
</pre>
+
bone$ '''cd exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar'''
But it is never unregistered when the module is unloaded. To properly unload the module, add this line of code to your module's exit function
+
 
<pre>
+
Edit '''ebbchar.c''' and make the following changes.
unregister_chrdev(MAJOR_NUMBER, NAME);
+
 
</pre>
+
bone$ '''git diff ebbchar.c'''
This will properly unregister the module from the kernel and allow it to be inserted and removed from the kernel at will without restarting your system in between.
+
diff --git a/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.c b/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.c
<br /><br />Listing 8-10 also uses the ioctl field in the file_operations struct. Newer kernels have removed this. If the code from the listing complains about ioctl being an unknown field, use unlocked_ioctl in its place:
+
index 771b859..f869859 100644
<pre>
+
--- a/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.c
struct file_operations hello_fops = {
+
+++ b/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.c
    owner:           THIS_MODULE,
+
@@ -142,7 +142,9 @@ static ssize_t dev_read(struct file *filep, char *buffer, size_t len, loff_t *of
    read:           hello_read,
+
  *  @param offset The offset if required
    write:           hello_write,
+
  */
    unlocked_ioctlhello_ioctl,
+
  static ssize_t dev_write(struct file *filep, const char *buffer, size_t len, loff_t *offset){
    open:           hello_open,
+
-  sprintf(message, "%s(%zu letters)", buffer, len);   // appending received string with its length
    release:         hello_release,
+
+  unsigned long ret;
};
+
  +  // sprintf(message, "%s(%zu letters)", buffer, len);  // appending received string with its length
</pre>
+
+  ret = copy_from_user(message, buffer, len);
 +
    size_of_message = strlen(message);                // store the length of the stored message
 +
    printk(KERN_INFO "EBBChar: Received %zu characters from the user\n", len);
 +
    return len;
 +
 
 +
Add the lines starting with '''+''' and comment out the '''sprintf''' starting with '''-'''.
 +
 
 +
Now make and insert.
 +
 
 +
bone$ '''make'''
 +
make -C /lib/modules/4.14.67-ti-r73/build/ M=/home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar modules
 +
make[1]: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-4.14.67-ti-r73'
 +
  CC [M]  /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.o
 +
  Building modules, stage 2.
 +
  MODPOST 1 modules
 +
  CC      /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.mod.o
 +
  LD [M]  /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.ko
 +
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-4.14.67-ti-r73'
 +
cc testebbchar.c -o test
 +
bone$ '''sudo insmod ebbchar.ko'''
 +
bone$ '''dmesg -H | tail -4
 +
[Sep24 17:08] EBBChar: Initializing the EBBChar LKM
 +
[  +0.011910] EBBChar: registered correctly with major number 241
 +
[  +0.016113] EBBChar: device class registered correctly
 +
[  +0.010024] EBBChar: device class created correctly
 +
 
 +
Now test it.
 +
bone$ '''sudo ./test'''
 +
Starting device test code example...
 +
Type in a short string to send to the kernel module:
 +
'''This is a test!'''
 +
Writing message to the device [This is a test!].
 +
Press ENTER to read back from the device...
 +
 +
Reading from the device...
 +
The received message is: [This is a test!]
 +
End of the program
 +
bone$ '''dmesg -H | tail -8'''
 +
[Sep24 17:08] EBBChar: Initializing the EBBChar LKM
 +
[  +0.011910] EBBChar: registered correctly with major number 241
 +
[  +0.016113] EBBChar: device class registered correctly
 +
[  +0.010024] EBBChar: device class created correctly
 +
[Sep24 17:09] EBBChar: Device has been opened 1 time(s)
 +
[ +9.333771] EBBChar: Received 15 characters from the user
 +
[  +1.185798] EBBChar: Sent 15 characters to the user
 +
[  +0.009778] EBBChar: Device successfully closed
 +
 
 +
Look over '''ebbchar.c''' and '''testebbchar.c''' to see how the user space and the kernel interact.
  
 
== Driver Methods ==
 
== Driver Methods ==

Revision as of 14:12, 24 September 2018

thumb‎ Embedded Linux Class by Mark A. Yoder


Derek Molloy's excelent Exploring BeagleBone [1] has an Extra Content section [2] on Linux Kernel Programming. Part 1 [3] is a nice example of a writing a minimal kernel module.

Here are instructions for compiling the example on the Bone.

Cloning Source and Compiling

You need to load the correct kernel headers on the bone before you can compile the driver.

bone$ time sudo apt install linux-headers-`uname -r`

Note: Those are back quotes (top left on the keyboard, above the TAB key) around uname -r.

The uname command looks up the number of the kernel that's currently running. The back quotes take that number and past it after linux-headers- and does an apt install on it. A couple minutes later you have all the headers loaded.

Now load the examples.

bone$ git clone https://github.com/derekmolloy/exploringBB.git

Now you are ready to run the examples.

Part 1: Introduction - Minimal Device Driver Example

Change to the correct directory and make.

bone$ cd exploringBB/extras/kernel/hello
bone$ make
make -C /lib/modules/4.14.67-ti-r73/build/ M=/home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/hello modules
make[1]: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-4.14.67-ti-r73'
  CC [M]  /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/hello/hello.o
  Building modules, stage 2.
  MODPOST 1 modules
  CC      /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/hello/hello.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/hello/hello.ko
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-4.14.67-ti-r73'
bone$ ls
 hello.c   hello.mod.c  hello.o   modules.order
hello.ko  hello.mod.o  Makefile  Module.symvers

Your newly compiled kernel module is in hello.ko.

Inserting your module

See if your module is there

bone$ modinfo hello
filename:       /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/hello/hello.ko
version:        0.1
description:    A simple Linux driver for the BBB.
author:         Derek Molloy
license:        GPL
srcversion:     0DD9FE0DE42157F9221E608
depends:        
name:           hello
vermagic:       4.14.67-ti-r73 SMP preempt mod_unload modversions ARMv7 p2v8 
parm:           name:The name to display in /var/log/kern.log (charp)

That looks good, now insmod the module and check the log file.

bone$ insmod hello.ko
bone$ dmesg -H | tail -1

[ +2.857480] EBB: Hello world from the BBB LKM!

You should see your Init message. And then...

bone$ rmmod hello
bone$ dmesg -H | tail -2
[  +4.182591] EBB: Hello world from the BBB LKM!
[  +3.542350] EBB: Goodbye world from the BBB LKM!

should show your Exit message.

Passing Parameters

You can pass parameters when inserting a module.

bone$ sudo insmod hello.ko name="Prof.Yoder"
bone$ dmesg -H | tail -1
[Sep24 16:53] EBB: Hello Prof.Yoder from the BBB LKM!
bone$ sudo rmmod hello
bone$ dmesg -H | tail -2
[Sep24 16:53] EBB: Hello Prof.Yoder from the BBB LKM!
[Sep24 16:54] EBB: Goodbye Prof.Yoder from the BBB LKM!

Part 2: A Character Device

Part 2 of Molloy's example [4] is a character device. The code needs a slight change before it will run.

bone$ cd exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar

Edit ebbchar.c and make the following changes.

bone$ git diff ebbchar.c
diff --git a/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.c b/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.c
index 771b859..f869859 100644
--- a/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.c
+++ b/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.c
@@ -142,7 +142,9 @@ static ssize_t dev_read(struct file *filep, char *buffer, size_t len, loff_t *of
  *  @param offset The offset if required
  */
 static ssize_t dev_write(struct file *filep, const char *buffer, size_t len, loff_t *offset){
-   sprintf(message, "%s(%zu letters)", buffer, len);   // appending received string with its length
+   unsigned long ret;
+   // sprintf(message, "%s(%zu letters)", buffer, len);   // appending received string with its length
+   ret = copy_from_user(message, buffer, len);
    size_of_message = strlen(message);                 // store the length of the stored message
    printk(KERN_INFO "EBBChar: Received %zu characters from the user\n", len);
    return len;

Add the lines starting with + and comment out the sprintf starting with -.

Now make and insert.

bone$ make
make -C /lib/modules/4.14.67-ti-r73/build/ M=/home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar modules
make[1]: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-4.14.67-ti-r73'
  CC [M]  /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.o
  Building modules, stage 2.
  MODPOST 1 modules
  CC      /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/debian/exploringBB/extras/kernel/ebbchar/ebbchar.ko
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-4.14.67-ti-r73'
cc testebbchar.c -o test
bone$ sudo insmod ebbchar.ko
bone$ dmesg -H | tail -4
[Sep24 17:08] EBBChar: Initializing the EBBChar LKM
[  +0.011910] EBBChar: registered correctly with major number 241
[  +0.016113] EBBChar: device class registered correctly
[  +0.010024] EBBChar: device class created correctly

Now test it.

bone$ sudo ./test
Starting device test code example...
Type in a short string to send to the kernel module:
This is a test!
Writing message to the device [This is a test!].
Press ENTER to read back from the device...

Reading from the device...
The received message is: [This is a test!]
End of the program
bone$ dmesg -H | tail -8
[Sep24 17:08] EBBChar: Initializing the EBBChar LKM
[  +0.011910] EBBChar: registered correctly with major number 241
[  +0.016113] EBBChar: device class registered correctly
[  +0.010024] EBBChar: device class created correctly
[Sep24 17:09] EBBChar: Device has been opened 1 time(s)
[  +9.333771] EBBChar: Received 15 characters from the user
[  +1.185798] EBBChar: Sent 15 characters to the user
[  +0.009778] EBBChar: Device successfully closed

Look over ebbchar.c and testebbchar.c to see how the user space and the kernel interact.

Driver Methods

Section 8.3 on page 217 gives a longer example of how to use the file interface with modules. Implement the example. Be sure to fix the unsigned int format error, and make sure your exit function unregisters the device (unlike the Listing). I've created a build.sh script based on Section 8.5 of the text that makes building much faster.

host$ cd exercises/modules
host$ ./build.sh
make: Entering directory `/home/yoder/BeagleBoard/linux-dev/KERNEL'
  CC [M]  /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello1.o
  CC [M]  /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello2.o
  CC [M]  /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello3.o
  Building modules, stage 2.
  MODPOST 3 modules
  CC      /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello1.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello1.ko
  CC      /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello2.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello2.ko
  CC      /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello3.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/yoder/BeagleBoard/exercises/modules/hello3.ko
make: Leaving directory `/home/yoder/BeagleBoard/linux-dev/KERNEL'
Warning: Permanently added 'bone,192.168.7.2' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
hello1.ko                                     100% 3571     3.5KB/s   00:00    
hello2.ko                                     100% 4344     4.2KB/s   00:00    
hello3.ko                                     100% 6097     6.0KB/s   00:00 

It just compiled all three modules and scp'ed them to the bone. A quick listing shows many intermediate files were created.

host$ ls -a
.               .hello1.mod.o.cmd  .hello2.mod.o.cmd  .hello3.mod.o.cmd
..              hello1.o           hello2.o           hello3.o
build.sh        .hello1.o.cmd      .hello2.o.cmd      .hello3.o.cmd
hello1.c        hello2.c           hello3.c           Makefile
hello1.ko       hello2.ko          hello3.ko          modules.order
.hello1.ko.cmd  .hello2.ko.cmd     .hello3.ko.cmd     Module.symvers
hello1.mod.c    hello2.mod.c       hello3.mod.c       .tmp_versions
hello1.mod.o    hello2.mod.o       hello3.mod.o

Clean the extra files up with

host$ ./clean.sh

Now go to the Beagle and move the .ko file to the right place.

beagle$ cd /lib/modules/3.8.13-bone28/kernel/drivers/char/examples
beagle$ cp ~/hello3.ko .

Rebuild the dependency file and insert the module.

beagle$ depmod -a
beagle$ modprobe hello3

Create a node for the module and test it.

beagle$ mknod /dev/hello3 c 234 0
beagle$ cat /dev/hello3 
beagle$ dmesg | tail -4
[   71.219651] [drm:output_poll_execute], [CONNECTOR:5:HDMI-A-1] status updated from 2 to 2
[   76.099158] hello_open: successful
[   76.099260] hello_read: returning zero bytes
[   76.099294] hello_release: successful

It working!

Some Questions

  • The major device number 234 is part of a range of unassigned numbers. What is the range?
  • What's the new line added to hello_init do?
  • What does mknod do?
  • Once your device is running try $ cat /proc/devices. Do you see your device?

Optional Driver Work

Chapter 3 of Linux Device Drivers by Corbet, Rubini and Kroah-Hartman ([5]) gives some more details on device drivers. Our text uses an older, static, method for major device number allocation. The book, referenced above, uses the newer dynamic allocation.

  • Convert the example in our text to use the newer method. It's only a couple of additional lines, but you will have to read the book to know how to do it.
  • Modify the scull_load script (call it hello_load) on page 47, of chapter 3, to load your module. Hint: the back quotes are missing in this line in the text:
major=`awk "\\$2==\"$module\" {print \\$1}" /proc/devices)`

  • Test it with use-hello.c from page 222 of Embedded Linux Primer.
  • Write a hello_unload script that will rmmod the driver and remove the nodes in /dev
  • Modify hello.c to pass the major device number in as a parameter during insmod.

Optional: Stretch time, I though these would be easy, but after reading up on them, they look rather involved.

  • How can your driver find what the minor device number is?
  • Modify the driver to return some characters when /dev/hello1 is read.

Reference

How to Write and Submit a Linux Kernel Patch




thumb‎ Embedded Linux Class by Mark A. Yoder