Device Registry (DevReg) Patch 0.2.0

Tim Jansen
2001-04-24T01:08:26Z

The Linux Device Registry (devreg) is a kernel patch that adds a device
database in XML format to the /proc filesystem. It collects all information
about the system's physical devices, creates persistent device ids and
provides them in the file /proc/devreg.

Devreg has three purposes:
- collect all configuration data from drivers so the user can browse his
hardware configuration.
-allow an application to display all devices that provide a certain interface
(for example all mice) so the user can chose one.
-allow an application to find the device that the user has selected after a
reboot or a hotplug action: the device files in /dev do not offer stable
names, they depend on the order in that the devices have been plugged in or
powered on.

Changes since last release (0.1.1):
- converted file format to XML
- bus-specific information from pci and usb added
- fixed locking

The patch (for 2.4.3) can be found at
http://www.tjansen.de/devreg/devreg-2.4.3-0.2.0.diff.gz
To test it, apply the patch, select CONFIG_DEVFS_FS and CONFIG_DEVREG and
compile. Note that the patch will break binary drivers.

Supported hardware in version 0.2.0: PCI subsystem, USB subsystem, most PCI
sound cards, USB HID devices, USB hubs, USB printers

Other information and a user-space library can be found at