Hi all,
I want to know what changes need to be done to convert a static driver to make it as a laodable module ? thanks.
Warm Regards,
ravi.

Recompile the kernel and choose 'M' for the specific driver when configuring.

is that all that is required ? I was thinking we have to do come code changes are specific to loadable modules as compared to static drivers?


Regards,
Ravi Kulkarni.

Obviously, from a software-design perspective, there are. Your driver must "understand" that it is designed to be dynamically loadable, and it must do all the right things to be certain that Linux I/O activity occurs properly ... when the driver isn't loaded, when it's being loaded/unloaded, when it is loaded. If your driver does not have that "additional intelligence," it can't survive as a loadable module.

Can u Please elaborate more on the "Additional Intelligence" required by the static driver to be a loadable module?






Regards,
Ravi Kulkarni.

Far more informative than anything I could whip up here ... would be an actual search of the source-code of your own system. Device drivers can be loaded at several different points in the lifetime of a Linux system, and, in particularly in the case of a USB-connected device, they can be dynamically unloaded again. I am not "dodging" your question when I say quite frankly that the very best way that you can answer any of these questions, and many more, is to: "Use the Source, Luke!"

You can, and should, also skim the various HOWTOs that you will find concerning this subject. The operative word here, in my mind, is "skim." If you don't quickly perfect the skill of "skimming," you will first-hand experience what has been aptly called a "Sip from the Firehose."

No source of information about software on this planet beats the careful inspection of existing software that actually works, hence my very-pointed reference to that particular source. Look at it, and pay attention to whatever existing module out there might be closest to whatever-it-is that you now want to do. There is zero reason to start from scratch. Actum Ne Agas: Do Not Do A Thing Already Done. One thing that you will find in a great many existing drivers is the cordial acknowledgment of "prior work" from which the driver was "cabbaged." If you are starting your work from a blank editor screen, then you are most likely starting your work in the wrong place.