RE: [PATCH 06/41] IB/hfi1: add char device instantiation code

Hefty, Sean
2015-06-15T17:22:32Z

> > +int __init dev_init(void)
> > +{
> > + int ret;
> > +
> > + ret = alloc_chrdev_region(&hfi1_dev, 0, HFI1_NMINORS,
> DRIVER_NAME);
> > + if (ret < 0) {
> > + pr_err("Could not allocate chrdev region (err %d)\n", -
> ret);
> > + goto done;
> > + }
> > +
> > + class = class_create(THIS_MODULE, class_name());
> > + if (IS_ERR(class)) {
> > + ret = PTR_ERR(class);
> > + pr_err("Could not create device class (err %d)\n", -
> ret);
> > + unregister_chrdev_region(hfi1_dev, HFI1_NMINORS);
> > + }
> > +
> > +done:
> > + return ret;
> > +}
>
> so what's the role of the char-device?

Someone from Mike's team can chime in, but I believe this supports non-verbs interfaces (i.e. PSM), similar to what's done for qib.