Compiling custom drivers on Ubuntu10.04

[irishabh]

Hi,

I am new to the kernel world and to this forum. Did a search on the forum but did not find an answer. Would appreciate any insights/advice/suggestion/solution for the following problem.

I was trying to write a helloworld driver as suggested here: (cyberciti.biz/tips/compiling-linux-kernel-module.html). So I created foodriver.c (instead of foo.c) accordingly and went ahead with a "make". It gave the following error:

----------------------------------------------------

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-24-generic/build M=/home/myd/code/drivers/foo modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic'
  CC [M]  /home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.o
In file included from include/linux/gfp.h:4,
                 from include/linux/kmod.h:22,
                 from include/linux/module.h:13,
                 from /home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.c:1:
include/linux/mmzone.h:18:26: error: linux/bounds.h: No such file or directory
include/linux/mmzone.h:258:5: warning: "MAX_NR_ZONES" is not defined
include/linux/mmzone.h:260:7: warning: "MAX_NR_ZONES" is not defined
include/linux/mmzone.h:262:7: warning: "MAX_NR_ZONES" is not defined
In file included from include/linux/gfp.h:4,
                 from include/linux/kmod.h:22,
                 from include/linux/module.h:13,
                 from /home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.c:1:
include/linux/mmzone.h:300: error: ‘MAX_NR_ZONES’ undeclared here (not in a function)
/home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.c:18: fatal error: opening dependency file /home/myd/code/drivers/foo/.foodriver.o.d: Permission denied
compilation terminated.
make[2]: *** [/home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [_module_/home/myd/code/drivers/foo] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic'
make: *** [all] Error 2

----------------------------------------------------------------

I saw a "Permission denied" in the output and so went ahead with "sudo make" instead of "make" (this is what I usually do when I see Permission denied).
Got the following error:

------------------------------------------------

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-24-generic/build M=/home/myd/code/drivers/foo modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic'
  CC [M]  /home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.o
In file included from include/linux/gfp.h:4,
                 from include/linux/kmod.h:22,
                 from include/linux/module.h:13,
                 from /home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.c:1:
include/linux/mmzone.h:18:26: error: linux/bounds.h: No such file or directory
include/linux/mmzone.h:258:5: warning: "MAX_NR_ZONES" is not defined
include/linux/mmzone.h:260:7: warning: "MAX_NR_ZONES" is not defined
include/linux/mmzone.h:262:7: warning: "MAX_NR_ZONES" is not defined
In file included from include/linux/gfp.h:4,
                 from include/linux/kmod.h:22,
                 from include/linux/module.h:13,
                 from /home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.c:1:
include/linux/mmzone.h:300: error: ‘MAX_NR_ZONES’ undeclared here (not in a function)
make[2]: *** [/home/myd/code/drivers/foo/foodriver.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [_module_/home/myd/code/drivers/foo] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic'
make: *** [all] Error 2

-----------------------------------------

Googling for it gave solutions that required compiling the kernel from source. But I don't think that one needs to recompile the source in order to compile a new driver module, or is it so? moreover, I am a little skeptical about compiling the kernel lest it should break my system altogether.

Is there a way I can get around this problem and compile my driver module?

Other details:
"uname -a" gives "Linux mybox 2.6.32-24-generic #38-Ubuntu SMP Mon Jul 5 09:22:14 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux"

In case I posted in the wrong forum, I apologize, and would appreciate if you could tell me the right forum to post in.

Please help.

Thanks in advance.
IR

[irishabh]

In case the link in the post above does not work, here is the code (copy-pasted):
-----------------------------------------

#include <linux/module.h>       /* Needed by all modules */
#include <linux/kernel.h>       /* Needed for KERN_INFO */
#include <linux/init.h>         /* Needed for the macros */

static int __init hello_start(void)
{
printk(KERN_INFO "Loading hello module...\n");
printk(KERN_INFO "Hello world\n");
return 0;
}

static void __exit hello_end(void)
{
printk(KERN_INFO "Goodbye Mr.\n");
}

module_init(hello_start);
module_exit(hello_end);

-----------------------------------------

The makefile is:

obj-m = foodriver.o
KVERSION = 2.6.32-24-generic
PWD = /home/myd/code/drivers/foo
all:
<tab>make -C /lib/modules/$(KVERSION)/build M=$(PWD) modules
clean:
<tab>make -C /lib/modules/$(KVERSION)/build M=$(PWD) clean

Any help please...

[irishabh]

Just an update:

The same code and Makefile work when compiled on Fedora 12. However, I NEED to do that on Ubuntu.

Please help.
Thanks,
IR

[coopstah13]

you should only post code inside code tags, so it is easier to read

that being said, F12 and ubuntu have different kernels, the API can be different, but what you are doing shouldn't have changed between the 2

are you sure you have the right package installed on ubuntu? you need like sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

[irishabh]

Thanks coopstah13 for your reply. Will use code tags henceforth.

I do have headers for the kernel version I am running. I will anyway run the linux-header installer command as you suggested and post again if things still don't work.

[irishabh]

Hi coopstah13,

I tried your suggestion. The headers already existed. This was the output of sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`:

linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic is already the newest version.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libglib1.2ldbl plasma-dataengines-workspace kdepim-runtime libprocessui4
  libtaskmanager4 libqimageblitz4 libkscreensaver5 libsolidcontrolifaces4
  libgtk1.2 libswt-cairo-gtk-3.5-jni plasma-widgets-workspace
  mysql-client-core-5.1 libswt-gtk-3.5-jni liblog4j1.2-java
  libswt-mozilla-gtk-3.5-jni libplasma-geolocation-interface4
  libcommons-cli-java mysql-server-core-5.1 libksgrd4 kdebase-workspace-bin
  libkworkspace4 libplasmagenericshell4 libkfontinst4 libkephal4
  kdebase-workspace-data libgtk1.2-common ksysguardd libplasmaclock4
  libweather-ion4 kdebase-workspace-kgreet-plugins libsolidcontrol4
  akonadi-server libcommons-lang-java libswt-gnome-gtk-3.5-jni
  libswt-gtk-3.5-java libplasma-applet-system-monitor4 libprocesscore4
  java-wrappers
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

What else can I try?

Thanks,
IR

[chester45]

Maybe try Makefile like this:

obj-m += foodriver.o

all:
	make -C /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build M=$(PWD) modules

clean:
	make -C /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build M=$(PWD) clean

Simple make command should work.