Software Driver Installation
Linux
(c) Spectrum GmbH
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Linux
Overview
The Spectrum boards are delivered with drivers for linux. It is necessary to install them manually following the steps explained afterwards.
The linux drivers can be found on CD in the directory /Driver/linux. As linux is an open source operating system there are several distributions
in use world-wide that are compiled with different kernel settings. As we are not able to install and maintain hundreds of different distributions
and versions we had to focus on some common used linux distributions.
However if your distribution does not work with one of these pre-compiled kernel modules or you have a specialized kernel installed (like a
SMP kernel) you can get the linux driver sources directly from us. With this sources it’s no problem to compile and use the linux driver on your
system. Please contact your local distributor to get the sources. The Spectrum linux drivers are compatible with kernel versions 2.4, 2.6 and
3.x.
On this CD you’ll find pre-compiled linux kernel modules for the following versions
64 bit
The Spectrum Linux Drivers also run under 64 bit systems based on the AMD 64 bit architecture (AMD64). The Intel architecture (IA64)
is not supported and has not been tested. All drivers, examples and programs need to be recompiled to run under 64 bit Linux. The
64 bit support is available starting with driver version 3.18. Due to the different pointer size two additional functions have been
implemented that are described later on. All special functionality concerning 64 bit Linux support is marked with the logo seen on the right.
Installation
Login as root.
It is necessary to have the root rights for installing a driver.
Select the right driver from the CD.
Refer to the list shown above. If your distribution is not listed there please select the module that most closely matches your installed kernel
version. Copy the driver kernel module spc.o from the CD directory to your hard disk. Be sure to use a hard disk directory that is a accessible
by all users who should work with the board.
First time load of the driver
The linux driver is shipped as the loadable module spc.o. The driver includes all Spectrum PCI, PXI and CompactPCI boards. The boards are
recognized automatically after driver loading.Load the driver with the insmod command:
The insmod command may generate a warning that the driver module was compiled for another kernel version. In that case you may try to
load the driver module with the force parameter and test the board very carefully.
If the kernel module could not be loaded in your linux installation it is necessary to compile the driver directly on your system. Please con-
tactSpectrum to get the needed source files including the compilation description.
Distribution
Kernel Version
Processor
Width
Distribution
Kernel Version
Processor
Width
Suse 9.0
2.4.21
single only
32 bit
Redhat 9.0
2.4.20
single and smp
32 bit
Suse 9.1
2.6.4
single and smp
32 bit
Fedora Core 3
2.6.9
single and smp
32 bit
Suse 9.3
2.6.11
single and smp
32 bit
Fedora Core 4
2.6.11
single and smp
32 bit
Suse 10.0
2.6.13
single only
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora Core 5
2.6.15
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 10.1
2.6.16
single only
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora Core 6
2.6.18
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 10.2
2.6.18
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora Core 7
2.6.21
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 10.3
2.6.22
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 8
2.6.23
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 11.0
2.6.25
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 9
2.6.25
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 11.1
2.6.27
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 10
2.6.27
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 11.2
2.6.31
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 11
2.6.29
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 11.3
2.6.34
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 12
2.6.31
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 11.4
2.6.38
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 13
2.6.33.3
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Suse 12.1
3.1
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 14
2.6.35.6
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 15
2.6.38.6
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Debian Sarge
2.4.27
single
32 bit
Fedora 16
3.1
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Debian Etch
2.6.18
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Fedora 17
3.3.4
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Debian Sarge
2.6.8
single
32 bit
Debian Lenny
2.6.26
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
3.2
single and smp
32 bit and 64 bit
linux:~ # insmod spc.o
linux:~ # insmod -f spc.o
