From: alan@nabeth.enet.dec.com (Alan Rollow - Alan's Home for Wayward Tumbleweeds.)
Subject: Re: uncodumented config options
Reply-To: alan@nabeth.enet.dec.com (Alan Rollow - Alan's Home for Wayward Tumbleweeds.)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 19:23:07 GMT


In article <1992Dec21.123338.23427@lth.se>, perf@efd.lth.se (Per Foreby) writes:
>From: perf@efd.lth.se (Per Foreby)
>Newsgroups: comp.unix.ultrix
>Subject: uncodumented config options
>Reply-To: perf@efd.lth.se (Per Foreby)
>
>The "Configuration File Maintenance" manual specifies far from all the
>options and pseudo-devices. Maybe DEC doesn't think that we are supposed
>to know about them.

Or engineer that added support for them didn't tell the group writing
the documentation that they existed, or the product manager that
requested support for them didn't tell the documentation group
about them, etc.  Use the Reader's Comments page to let the
documentation group know what's missing.

>Does anyone have a complete list

There is not a monolithic group in DEC doing work on ULTRIX.  There
is a group that tries to maintain a registry of all this stuff, but
usually all they have is names and not function.  Even then some
groups go off on their own and don't register stuff.

>or at least an 
>explanation of the ones I've found which aren't in the manual:
>

In general "options" get turned into -DOPTION-NAME options to the
command lines that build the source parts of the distribution.  What
the source files do with them (if anything) is their business.  What
this means is that you can check the source files or include files
to see if anything has an #ifdef OPTION-NAME.  From that you may be
able to derive the meaning of an option.

>options         BINARY

I believe this is used to build kernel object files intended to be
distributed in object format.  Check the "Guide to Writting Device
Drivers".

>options         NETMAN

I believe this is part of the support for DECnet-OSI (Phase V).

>options         CDFS

I'm surprised this one isn't in the Guide.  CD File System.  See
also cdfs(5cdfs).

Pseudo-device are harder to track down.  Sometimes you can find
manual pages that mention a particular pseudo-device as being
necessary to include support for a particular kernel feature.
Many times they're things needed to include parts of device
drivers (X11 related stuff).

Many of the pseudo-devices you'll find mentioned in the Chapter
4 manual pages, but not in a way that makes them easy to find.
Try grep(1).

>pseudo-device   netman

See NETMAN above.

>pseudo-device   fddi

Probably needed to support the FDDI TURBOchannel adapter.

>pseudo-device   sl

SLIP.

>pseudo-device   xcons
>pseudo-device   ws
>pseudo-device   tc
>pseudo-device   tb
>pseudo-device   pcm
>pseudo-device   gwscreen

For the most part these are X11 server things.  I think "tc" is include
low level support the TURBOchannel.

>pseudo-device   cdfs

See CDFS above.

>pseudo-device   msdup

One of the V4 versions added for the DUP protocol used to communicate
diagnostic information to MSCP and TMSCP servers.  This pseudo-device
includes that support in the kernel.  See the fya(4) manual page for
more information you have a KDM70 or HSC on the system.

>pseudo-device   xisoftdev

Never heard of it.

>
>-- 
>Per Foreby (perf@efd.lth.se)
>System manager @ EFD, Lund Institute of Technology
>Snailmail: DDG, Maildelivery 7, PO BOX 118, S-221 00 LUND, SWEDEN
>Phone: +46 46 107492, Fax: +46 46 104013	
>
--
Alan Rollow				alan@nabeth.cxo.dec.com

Newsgroups: comp.unix.ultrix