-Prerequisites:
- - a machine capable of compiling Linux modules
- - a correctly installed kernel source tree. Specifically,
- you need to have the file /usr/src/linux/.config and
- /usr/src/linux/include/linux/autoconf.h. If these are
- not present, you can create them by compiling a new
- kernel. Some distributions don't provide these by
- default.
- - a 2.2 or 2.4 series kernel. 2.0.38 may also work, but
- it's not actively maintained. (But feel free to try it
- and report problems.)
-
-Configure using 'make'. The first time you run make, it will take
-you through configuration options similar to compiling a linux
-kernel. If you need to run the configuration again, use 'make config'.
-Red Hat users note: Red Hat does not ship with kernel headers
-capable of compiling Comedi. You either need to install the
-kernel source RPMs, or download a kernel tarball and build a
-new kernel.
-
-Make the dependency list by running 'make' again.
-
-Compile using 'make'. If this doesn't work, make sure you have the
-basic tools installed to compile. If you can successfully compile
-other things, consult the author, as he has probably made a mistake.
+* Linux source:
+
+In order to compile the Comedi modules, you will need to have
+a correctly configured Linux kernel source tree. The best
+way to get one is to download a tarball from kernel.org and
+compile your own kernel. Kernel sources that are distributed
+with Red Hat Linux are not supported, because they are too
+heavily modified. Comedi should work with most 2.2 and 2.4
+Linux kernels. 2.0.3x may also work, but support for this
+is not actively maintained, but bugs will be fixed as they
+are reported.
+
+* RTAI support:
+
+If you want to use the real-time capabilities of Comedi with
+RTAI, you need to compile and install RTAI first. It is
+necessary to use the rthal patch instead of the "copyto"
+scripts. Known working versions are RTAI-1.6, RTAI-24.1.4,
+and current RTAI CVS. Remember to enable Kcomedilib support,
+since you will be accessing Comedi from other kernel modules.
+
+* RTLinux support:
+
+If you want to use the real-time capabilities of Comedi with
+RTAI, you need to compile RTLinux (both the kernel and the
+modules) first. Known working versions are 2.x and 3.0.
+Remember to enable Kcomedilib support, since you will be
+accessing Comedi from other kernel modules.
+
+* Configuration:
+
+Configure using 'make'. This will ask you the location of the
+Linux kernel source tree. If it detects that you have a kernel
+patched for RTAI or RTLinux, it will also ask you for the location
+of the RTAI or RTLinux source directory. Then the configuration
+script will ask questions for a couple general Comedi features
+and then whether or not compile each driver.
+
+* Compiling:
+
+Compile using 'make'. If this fails for some reason, send the
+_entire_ build log to the mailing list. Without the build
+log, it is impossible to find problems.
+
+* Installation:
Install using 'make install' as root. This installs the files:
- /lib/modules/<<kernel version>>/misc/comedi.o
- /lib/modules/<<kernel version>>/misc/kcomedilib.o
- /lib/modules/<<kernel version>>/misc/<<driver files>>.o
+
+ /lib/modules/<<kernel version>>/misc/comedi.o
+ /lib/modules/<<kernel version>>/misc/kcomedilib.o
+ /lib/modules/<<kernel version>>/misc/<<driver files>>.o
You need to create device files to access the hardware from a
user process. These can be created using 'make dev'. The following
special files will be created:
- /dev/comedi0
- /dev/comedi1
- /dev/comedi2
- /dev/comedi3
-To use comedi, the driver module must be loaded into the kernel.
-In general, this is done by a command similar to
+ /dev/comedi0
+ /dev/comedi1
+ /dev/comedi2
+ /dev/comedi3
+
+* Comedilib:
+
+Now would be a good time to compile and install Comedilib. Comedi
+and Comedilib are completely independent, so it doesn't matter
+which is installed first.
+
+* Running Comedi:
+
+To use comedi, the driver module and the core Comedi modules must
+be loaded into the kernel. This is done by a command similar to
- /sbin/modprobe <<driver>>
+ /sbin/modprobe <<driver>>
If your module dependencies are set up correctly, this will load
-both comedi.o and your driver. See the man pages for modprobe
-and insmod for more details.
+both comedi.o and your driver. If you get unresolved symbols, check
+the FAQ or the mailing list archives. Also look at the man pages
+for modprobe and insmod.
-The default behavior when the module is loaded is to _not_ configure
-it automatically, i.e., you have a device file (/dev/comedi0) associated
-with a driver, but the driver is not associated with a device. To
-associate a device file/driver with a device, you need to run the
+In order to configure a driver module to use a particular device
+file (/dev/comediN) and a particular device, you need to use the
command /usr/sbin/comedi_config, which is part of the comedilib
-distribution. This is also used to supply additional information,
-such as I/O address, IRQ, and possibly DMA channels. The following
-commands are examples:
+distribution. Comedi_config is invoked using
- /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi0 dt282x 0x240,3
- /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi1 ni_atmio 0x260,4
- /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi2 dt2817 0x228
- /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi0 ni_pcimio
+ /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi0 <device name> <option list>
+
+The device name may or may not be the same as the module name. In
+general, if the device type can be autoprobed (as with ISA PnP or
+PCI devices), the device name will be the same as the module name.
+Otherwise, you will need to check Documentation/comedi/drivers.txt
+for information about what device name is appropriate for your
+hardware. The option list is to supply additional information,
+such as I/O address, IRQ, DMA channels, and other jumper settings.
+Information about option lists appropriate for a driver is in
+drivers.txt. The following commands are examples:
+
+ /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi0 dt2821 0x240,3
+ /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi1 ni_atmio 0x260,4
+ /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi2 dt2817 0x228
+ /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi3 ni_pcimio
Try a 'man comedi_config' for information on how to use
-this utility. The options (numbers at the end, above) have
-different meanings for different drivers, and you should consult
-the file Documentation/comedi/drivers.txt for details about
-each driver. Scripts have been written for a few of the drivers
+this utility. Scripts have been written for a few of the drivers
with very complicated option lists -- these are found in the etc
directory.
+* Module Autoloading:
+
If you like to autoload your modules, put the lines
- alias char-major-98 comedi
- alias char-major-98-0 your_driver
- post-install your_driver /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi0 your_driver <<options>>
+ alias char-major-98 comedi
+ alias char-major-98-0 your_driver
+ post-install your_driver /usr/sbin/comedi_config /dev/comedi0 your_driver <<options>>
Alternatively, for complicated option lists, the scripts in etc
are designed to be copied into /etc, so that you could put the
following lines into /etc/conf.modules:
- alias char-major-98-0 dt282x
- post-install dt282x /etc/dt282x.conf
+ alias char-major-98-0 dt282x
+ post-install dt282x /etc/dt282x.conf
If you have a National Instruments AT-MIO or PCI-MIO board, you probably
will want to run comedi_calibrate, an autocalibration tool that is part
of comedilib in a bootup script.
-To write programs that use comedi, there are demo programs included
-with comedilib.
+* PCMCIA:
+
+Linux-2.4 kernels are recommended for PCMCIA drivers, since 2.2
+kernel require the separate PCMCIA package. It is possible to
+use 2.2 kernels with PCMCIA, although it is necessary to modify
+the top level Makefile.
+Comedi works with several PCMCIA cards, and the driver modules can
+be loaded and unloaded upon insertion and removal of the card.
+Copy the files in etc/pcmcia/ to /etc/pcmcia and restart card
+services. The pcmcia script provided is very simple -- it only
+uses /dev/comedi0 for devices, which is a limitation if you have
+other Comedi devices in your system.
-Upgrading:
+* Upgrading:
From versions prior to 0.6.0, you will need to edit and recompile
all programs that use comedi or comedilib, since the names of
-For installation instructions, look at the file INSTALL. For notes
-of what is happening/changing in recent comedi releases, see the
-file NOTES.
+ COMEDI
+ The Linux Control and Measurement Interface
+ David Schleef <ds@schleef.org>
-This distribution contains just the Comedi kernel module. You will
+
+* About Comedi:
+
+Comedi is a collection of drivers for data acquisition hardware.
+These drivers work with Linux, and also with Linux combined with
+the real-time extensions RTAI and RTLinux. The Comedi core, which
+ties all the driver together, allows applications to be written
+that are completely hardware independent.
+
+Comedi supports a variety of data acquisition hardware; an
+incomplete list can be found in Documentation/comedi/drivers.txt.
+
+This distribution contains just the Comedi kernel modules. You will
almost certainly also want to download Comedilib, which is a user
space library, a few utilities, and some example programs.
+* Installation:
+
+For installation instructions, look at the file INSTALL.
+
+* Mailing List:
+
Comedi has a mailing list. Send "subscribe comedi" to
comedi-request@stm.lbl.gov to subscribe. Traffic is light, and mainly
questions/answers about comedi installation, bugs, and programming.
You can always unsubscribe by sendinging "unsubscribe" (spell
it correctly!) to comedi-request@stm.lbl.gov.
+* More Information:
+
Comedi also has a web page, at http://stm.lbl.gov/comedi. New versions
of comedi can be found on the ftp site ftp://stm.lbl.gov/pub/comedi.
-Instructions for anonymous CVS access to the Comedi and Comedilib
-repositories are found at http://oss.lineo.com/cvs_anon.html.
+Often bugfixes and new features that are not in the current release
+can be found in the CVS repository. Instructions for anonymous CVS
+access to the Comedi and Comedilib repositories are found at
+http://oss.lineo.com/cvs_anon.html.
Comedi may be freely distibuted and modified in accordance with the
GNU General Public License.
projects / comedi.git / commitdiff