file for remote users.
HARDWARE CONFIGURATION
/etc/conf.modules - setup for the Linux kernel modules. Modules are like "device drivers" under MS Windows or DOS.
/etc/fstab - contains information on partitions and filesystems used by system to mount different partitions and devices on the directory tree.
/etc/mtab - shows currently mounted devices and partitions and their status.
/etc/lilo.conf - configuration file for lilo boot loader.
/boot/grub/grub.conf - configuration file for grub boot loader.
/etc/printcap - setup for printers.
/etc/termcap - ASCII database defining the capabilities and characteristics of different consoles, terminals, and printers. You typically don't want to change these.
/etc/X11/XF86Config - X configuration file. For XFree version 4.xx, the file is /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 (if it does not exist, then XF86Config is tried).
5.4.3 What are all the device files?
Devices appear as files in the directory /dev. They can be read, or written to, if you have the permission to do so. The listing of the file reveals some important details about the device, for example:
ls -l /dev/ttyS3
on my system produces the following output:
crwxr-xr-x 1 root tty 4, 67 Mar 13 22:59 ttyS3
The initial "c" indicates a character device. "b" would mean "block device", "p"=FIFO device, "u"=unbuffered character device, "d"=directory, "l"=symbolic link. The numbers "4, 67" mean that the device major number is 4 and the minor number is 67.
To make some devices usable to all users on your system, you may need to set the proper permissions. For example:
ls -l /dev/usb/scanner0
chmod 666 /dev/usb/scanner0
Here is a list of some common devices:
/dev/ttyS0 - the first serial port. The mouse is typically connected here.
/dev/ttyS1 - the second serial port. This may well be the device to which your modem is connected.
/dev/ttyS2 and /dev/ttyS3 the third and fourth serial port (typically not present, but your internal modem may well be configured as one of these).
/dev/modem - the serial modem. In the typical case, a symbolic link to /dev/ttyS1, /dev/ttyS2, /dev/ttyS3 or /dev/ttyS0, depending to which serial port your modem is connected.
/dev/mouse - mouse. In the typical case, a symbolic link to /dev/ttyS0 or similar (see above), depending to which serial port your mouse is connected.
/dev/lp0 - printer on the first parallel port. That's where normally printers are connected.
/dev/lp1 - printer on the second parallel port (typically not present).
/dev/fd0 - first floppy disk drive (almost always present).
/dev/fd0H1440 - driver for the first floppy drive in the high-density mode (1440 kB). Generally, this (or a driver with a device with a similar descriptive name) is invoked when formatting a floppy drive to a particular density. Slackware also comes with drivers that allow for formatting a 3.5" diskette with up to 1.7MB of space. Red Hat and Mandrake do not contain these device drivers files by default.
/dev/fd1 - second floppy disk drive.
/dev/hda - first IDE hard drive (whole drive). Most hard drives on IBM-compatibile PCs are IDE.
/dev/hdb - second IDE hard drive (whole drive). On many computers, the IDE cdrom drive is attached here.
/dev/hdc - third IDE drive (whole drive). On many computers, the IDE cdrom drive is attached here.
/dev/cdrom - a symbolic link to the appropriate drive interface, typically /dev/hdc or /dev/hdb (a CDROM) or /dev/scd0 (a CD-R/RW writer).
/dev/hda1 - the first partition on the first IDE hard drive. /dev/hda2 is the second partition on the first IDE hard drive. As one could guess, /dev/hdd8 would be the eight partition on the fourth IDE hard drive.
/dev/tty1 - the first text console. /dev/tty2 is the second text console, etc.
/dev/dsp - digital audio, i.e., the sound card. "dsp" stands for "digital signal processing".
/dev/sndstat - do cat /dev/sndstat to learn about the status of your sound devices.
/dev/null - used when you want to send output into oblivion.
/dev/random - used to read pseudo-random numbers. Do cat /dev/random to display garbage-looking characters on your screen. There