Device Driver Flashcards
What is a system resource?
Any physical or virtual component of limited availability within a computer system.
An IRQ (Interrupt Request) does what?
Allows a device to interrupt the CPU and request processing time.
What is DMA(Direct Memory Access)?
DMA channels are conduits high-speed devices used to bypass the CPU and communicate with RAM directly.
Hard drives, sound cards, and firewire cards use DMA to do what?
Increase the speed of data transfers.
True or false: Devices must have a unique DMA channel?
True.
An I/O address (port address) allows two devices in a computer to do what?
Send information to each other.
When a device wants to send information to another one, what does it do?
It addresses the data to the receiving I/O port number and sends it out on the system bus.
Each device in a computer must have its own______
I/O address.
What does plug and play allow you to do?
Add and remove devices without having to do manual configuration.
What is a driver?
A driver is program that enables the OS to interact with the hardware devices.
What is a legacy device?
A device that doesn’t support plug and play.
What is a “signed driver”?
A driver that has a digital signature which means the driver…
Comes from the reported publisher.
Has not been altered or modified.
Is compatible with the OS version.
An unsigned driver is?
One without a digital signature,
Self-signed drivers are?
Drivers that have a digital signature, but they could not be verified.
What are hot swapping/plugging devices?
Devices that can be added and removed without shutting down the computer.
