Operating Systems Module 6 to 11

Question 1

Which of the following is not true about I/O devices and device drivers?
a. Device drivers provide communication services between the physical device and the OS.
b. Device drivers handle input from the keyboard and mouse.
c. User applications usually communicate directly with a device driver.
d. The control register on a device takes commands from the device driver.

Answer 1

c. User applications usually communicate directly with a device driver.

Question 2

What communicates between the OS and computer devices?
a. device driver
b. OS kernel
c. Applications
d. user interface

Answer 2

a. device driver

Question 3

You need to check a printer parameter for a Linux printer. In what directory should you look for information about the printer configuration?
a. /dev/printers
b. /bin/ptr
c. /usr/printer
d. /etc/cups

Answer 3

d. /etc/cups
(CUPS means Common UNIX Printing System)

Question 4

When a Linux application prints a document, what accepts the document and stores it in a temporary location before it is sent to the printer?
a. print device
b. print spooler
c. printer service
d. printer process

Answer 4

b. print spooler
it stores the print document in a temporary location known as the print queue before it is sent to the printer.

Question 5

You support the Windows 10 computers in your organization. A new network interface driver has been issued to plug a security hole. Which tool would you use to quickly install this driver update?
a. Device Manager
b. Add Network Interface Wizard
c. PnP
d. Registry editor

Answer 5

a. Device Manager

Question 6

Which of the following is not a component of most I/O devices?
a. I/O controller
b. data register
c. instruction register
d. control register

Answer 6

c. instruction register
it is a part of the CPU and not the I/O devices

Question 7

You are writing a device driver for an audio device connected to your computer. Your code needs to determine if the device is busy or ready to accept a new command. How can the driver determine this?
a. Read the status register.
b. Query the IRQ line.
c. Write to the data register.
d. Query the DMA controller.

Answer 7

a. read the status register
it indicates whether a device is busy or ready to accept commands.

Question 8

Which component might you include in a device you are designing if the device needs to accept bursts of data that can be held until the CPU is ready for it?
a. control register
b. FIFO chip
c. port-mapped memory
d. programmed I/O

Answer 8

b. FIFO (First In First Out) Chip

Question 9

What component of a device does a device driver access if data should be output by the device?
a. I/O controller
b. status register
c. FIFO chip
d. data register

Answer 9

d. data register
this is where the device driver writes data that the device outputs, and reads data that the device inputs.

Question 10

In which type of I/O does the CPU execute special instructions to read and write the I/O ports?
a. memory-mapped I/O
b. DMA-controlled I/O
c. port-mapped I/O
d. programmed I/O

Answer 10

c. port-mapped I/O
uses dedicated memory addresses, referred to as ports, and special CPU instructions to communicate with I/O devices.

Question 11

A new junior technician asks you why it takes so long to access a file on your tape backup system compared to the server’s hard drive. What can you tell her is the most likely explanation for the slow access?
a. The tape backup system uses FIFO chips, which are very slow.
b. The tape backup system is a sequential-access device.
c. The tape backup system uses DMA instead of PIO.
d. The tape backup system uses polling instead of interrupts.

Answer 11

b. The tape backup system is a sequential-access device.

Tape backup is a method of backing up data in case the hard drive fails. It reads data in a sequence; in contrast to random access.

Question 12

After you install a new sound card and its related device drivers, your monitor frequently pauses or stops working. You often have to reboot the system, but the problem persists. Which of the following is most likely to be the problem?
a. You need a new monitor.
b. You need a new display adapter.
c. There is an I/O address range conflict.
d. You need to update the display driver.

Answer 12

c. There is an I/O address range conflict.

Question 13

You are the computer support person in your small company. One of the employees has installed an off-brand network interface card (NIC) in his Windows 10 computer that he recently used with his old Windows XP computer. He is now trying to install the device driver that he downloaded from the Internet. However, Windows 10 will not install the driver. You bring a NIC that you have installed in many other Windows 10 computers, and the driver installs successfully. What is a likely reason why Windows 10 would not allow the driver for the off-brand NIC to be installed?
a. driver signing
b. a network firewall rule
c. The device is defective.
d. It is a Linux driver.

Answer 13

a. driver signing

Question 14

Which command in Linux enables you to create a device special file?
a. tty
b. mknod
c. mkspc
d. Devmake

Answer 14

b. mknod (stands for Make Node)

Question 15

When you create a device special file in Linux, in what folder should it be stored?
a. /etc
b. /dev
c. /sbin
d. /tmp

Answer 15

/dev
(where device files are located)

Question 16

Where are print jobs stored before being sent to the print device?
a. spooler
b. job file
c. print queue
d. printer cache

Answer 16

c. print queue

Question 17

What is the most common printing system used in contemporary Linux distributions?
a. Print Management
b. IPP
c. LPD
d. CUPS

Answer 17

d. CUPS
Common UNIX Printing Sytem

Question 18

In Linux, which type of device special file is used to handle internal communications such as output redirection?
a. named pipes
b. block special files
c. PIO files
d. character special files

Answer 18

a. named pipes

Question 19

In UNIX and Linux, which of the following is true about device drivers? (Choose all that apply.)
a. They must be written in C or Pascal.
b. They can be loadable modules.
c. They can be NLMs.
d. They must never be kernel modules.

Answer 19

b. they can be loadable modules

Question 20

You have been troubleshooting a performance issue with a system that has just had a new block device installed along with its driver. The driver code was written by a new software development intern. When the device is accessed, you notice high CPU utilization. Which of the following is the most likely solution to the problem?
a. Add a FIFO chip to the device.
b. Change the device to use character streaming.
c. Use DMA to perform data transfers.
d. Use programmed I/O to communicate with the device registers.

Answer 20

c. Use DMA to perform data transfers.

Question 21

Describe how OSs communicate with various categories of I/O devices

Question 22

Explain the need for device drivers