Section 4: special files
null, zero – data sink Description Data written to the /dev/null and /dev/zero special files is discarded. Reads from /dev/null always return end of file (i.e., read(2) returns 0), whereas reads from /dev/zero always return bytes containing zero (‘\0’ characters). These devices are typically created by: mknod -m 666 /dev/null c 1 3 mknod -m…
wireshark-filter – Wireshark filter syntax and reference Synopsis wireshark [other options] [ -R “filter expression” ] tshark [other options] [ -R “filter expression” ] Description Wireshark and TShark share a powerful filter engine that helps remove the noise from a packet trace and lets you see only the packets that interest you. If a packet meets the requirements expressed in your…
wavelan – AT&T GIS WaveLAN ISA device driver Synopsis insmod wavelan_cs.o [io=B,B..] [ irq=I,I..] [name=N,N..] Description This driver is obsolete: it was removed from the kernel in version 2.6.35. wavelan is the low-level device driver for the NCR / AT&T / Lucent WaveLAN ISA and Digital (DEC) RoamAbout DS wireless ethernet adapter. This driver is…
wacom – Wacom input driver Synopsis Section "InputDevice" Identifier "idevname" Driver "wacom" Option "Device" "devpath" … EndSection Description wacom is an X input driver for Wacom devices. The wacom driver functions as a pointer input device. Supported Hardware This driver supports the Wacom IV and Wacom V protocols. Serial tablets only need this driver. USB…
voodoo – Voodoo video driver Synopsis Section N’34’DeviceN’34’ Identifier N’34’devnameN’34’ Driver N’34’voodooN’34’ … EndSection Description voodoo is an Xorg driver for Voodoo 1 and Voodoo 2 series video adapters. On the Voodoo 1 the driver uses a shadow buffer in system memory as the video adapter has only 3D acceleration. Selected portions of the shadow…
void – null input driver Synopsis Section "InputDevice" Identifier "idevname" Driver "void" … EndSection Description void is an dummy/null Xorg input driver. It doesn’t connect to any physical device, and it never delivers any events. It functions as both a pointer and keyboard device, and may be used as X server’s core pointer and/or core…
vmware – VMware SVGA video driver Synopsis Section "Device" Identifier "devname" Driver "vmware" … EndSection Description vmware is an Xorg driver for VMware virtual video cards. Modesetting, Xinerama And Randr12 If the driver can connect to the "vmwgfx" kernel module on linux, it will attempt to use kernel modesetting and will then also use RandR12…
vmmouse – VMware Mouse input driver Synopsis Section "InputDevice" Identifier "idevname" Driver "vmmouse" … EndSection Description vmmouse is an XFree86 input driver for mice. The driver supports most available mouse types and interfaces. USB mice are only supported on some OSs, and the level of support for PS/2 mice depends on the OS. The vmmouse…
veth – Virtual Ethernet Device Description The veth devices are virtual Ethernet devices. They can act as tunnels between network namespaces to create a bridge to a physical network device in another namespace, but can also be used as standalone network devices. veth devices are always created in interconnected pairs. A pair can be created…
vesa – Generic VESA video driver Synopsis Section "Device" Identifier "devname" Driver "vesa" … EndSection Description vesa is an Xorg driver for generic VESA video cards. It can drive most VESA-compatible video cards, but only makes use of the basic standard VESA core that is common to these cards. The driver supports depths 8, 15…
vcs, vcsa – virtual console memory Description /dev/vcs0 is a character device with major number 7 and minor number 0, usually with mode 0644 and ownership root:tty. It refers to the memory of the currently displayed virtual console terminal. /dev/vcs[1-63] are character devices for virtual console terminals, they have major number 7 and minor number…
vcs, vcsa – virtual console memory Description /dev/vcs0 is a character device with major number 7 and minor number 0, usually with mode 0644 and ownership root:tty. It refers to the memory of the currently displayed virtual console terminal. /dev/vcs[1-63] are character devices for virtual console terminals, they have major number 7 and minor number…
v4l – video4linux driver Synopsis Section "Module" … Load "v4l" EndSection Description v4l is an Xorg driver for video4linux cards. It provides a Xvideo extension port for video overlay. Just add the driver to the module list within the module section of your xorg.conf file if you want to use it. There are no config…
random, urandom – kernel random number source devices Synopsis #include <linux/random.h> int ioctl(fd, RNDrequest, param); Description The character special files /dev/random and /dev/urandom (present since Linux 1.3.30) provide an interface to the kernel’s random number generator. The file /dev/random has major device number 1 and minor device number 8. The file /dev/urandom has major device…
twpolicy – Tripwire policy file reference Description The policy file describes system objects to be monitored by Tripwire, and specifies what properties for each object should be collected and stored in the database file. Each object in the policy file is associated with a property mask, which describes what changes to the file or directory…
twconfig – Tripwire configuration file reference Description The configuration file stores system-specific information, including the location of Tripwire data files, and the settings used to send email notification. The configuration file settings are generated during the installation process, but can be changed by the system administrator at any time. The configuration file is signed with…
ioctl_tty – ioctls for terminals and serial lines Synopsis #include <termios.h> int ioctl(int fd, int cmd, …); Description The ioctl(2) call for terminals and serial ports accepts many possible command arguments. Most require a third argument, of varying type, here called argp or arg. Use of ioctl makes for nonportable programs. Use the POSIX interface…
ttyS – serial terminal lines Description ttyS[0-3] are character devices for the serial terminal lines. They are typically created by: mknod -m 660 /dev/ttyS0 c 4 64 # base address 0x3f8 mknod -m 660 /dev/ttyS1 c 4 65 # base address 0x2f8 mknod -m 660 /dev/ttyS2 c 4 66 # base address 0x3e8 mknod -m…
ttyI – ISDN character devices with modem emulator Description ttyI[0-63] are emulated tty devices of the Linux ISDN subsystem. These devices can be used in the same way as the traditional serial devices ttySx. The official major device numbers are 43 for ttyI . The minor device numbers start with 0 and end with 63….
tty – controlling terminal Description The file /dev/tty is a character file with major number 5 and minor number 0, usually with mode 0666 and ownership root:tty. It is a synonym for the controlling terminal of a process, if any. In addition to the ioctl(2) requests supported by the device that tty refers to, the…