Device Drivers

Device Drivers

1. A piece of software that originates from the OS that interacts with hardware

   • For example, keyboard drivers allow the user to type a letter, this interprets the input and produces the required output.
   • Examples include keyboards, mouse, touchscreens, speakers, printers, scanners,
   • This is a form of abstraction...
     • ...because the device driver acts as a type of translator between peripherals devices and the result on the monitor.

2. Specific to the operating system on the device.

3. How do device drivers work?

   • Divided up into two layers.
     • Logical Layer
     • Physical Layer

4. Types of device drivers

   • Kernel
     • Are found in the kernel of the operating system.
   • User Mode
     • Found on RAM, used for gaming devices that are "plug in and play"