| D.1. Linux Devices | ||
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Appendix D. Random Bits | 
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| D.1. Linux Devices | ||
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Appendix D. Random Bits |
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In Linux various special files can be found under the directory
/dev. These files are called device files and
behave unlike ordinary files. The most common types of device files
are for block devices and character devices. These files are an
interface to the actual driver (part of the Linux kernel) which in
turn accesses the hardware. Another, less common, type of device file
is the named pipe.
The most important device files are listed in the tables below.
sda |
First hard disk |
sdb |
Second hard disk |
sda1 |
First partition of the first hard disk |
sdb7 |
Seventh partition of the second hard disk |
sr0 |
First CD-ROM |
sr1 |
Second CD-ROM |
ttyS0 |
Serial port 0, also referred to as COM1 |
ttyS1 |
Serial port 1, also referred to as COM2 |
psaux |
PS/2 mouse device |
gpmdata |
Pseudo device, repeater data from GPM (mouse) daemon |
cdrom |
Symbolic link to the CD-ROM drive |
mouse |
Symbolic link to the mouse device file |
null |
Anything written to this device will disappear |
zero |
One can endlessly read zeros out of this device |
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| Appendix D. Random Bits |  |
D.2. Disk Space Needed for Tasks |