[ros-kernel] How to get started writing ReactOS drivers

[Robert Köpferl]

Why not make a kind of FAQ and put it on the wiki or to KJK?

Or ask me to do...

Vizzini schrieb:

> I just got an e-mail from someone off-list about how to get started
> writing drivers, and I thought I'd copy my response to this list in case
> anyone else out there in TV land has the same question.
> 
>  -Vizzini
> 
> ----------------------------------
> 
> 
>>I was wondering, how do you plan to do (or already do) device driver 
>>development for ReactOS.
>>I guess using MS DDK is not a very "free" option...
> 
> 
> We have people who use both the DDK and the ReactOS build environment. 
> In general, the code is almost completely compatible (with a couple of
> exceptions, noted below), and the binaries are 100% compatible.  The
> build systems are not compatible, however, so you do have to either pick
> one or go out of your way to support both.
> 
> The DDK method is exactly as it is for normal Windows driver
> development.  You create a SOURCES file and copy in a Makefile.  Do your
> coding, run build, and get a .sys file in the end.  This sys file can be
> copied onto your reactos disk, and once you edit the registry to create
> the SCM entry (just like windows, too), the driver will load and run.  
> 
> The other method is using the ReactOS source tree.  The easiest way is
> to start with a Makefile and .rc file from another driver in the
> reactos/drivers/ directory.  The whole system runs off of standard GNU
> make, rather than  using build and/or nmake.  You must use a ReactOS
> Makefile, though, which collides with the Makefile that build expects
> from the DDK.  To get around this, you can name your makefile
> GNUmakefile, so you can have both files in the same directory if you
> choose to support both build environments.  MinGW make will only look at
> GNUmakefile, if it exists.
> 
> In practice, I usually support both, as it's critical to develop and
> test drivers under Windows 2000/XP/2003, including running under
> Verifier and running Prefast.  This ensures that if there are any
> compatibilities between the ReactOS kernel and the Windows kernel, they
> will be found.
> 
> One minor legal point - I don't think it's legal to distribute a binary
> driver built from the Windows DDK for use with ReactOS.  You can
> distribute the SOURCES and Makefile files, though, and you can build and
> test with the DDK yourself, so this isn't really an issue.
> 
> As far as source code compatibility goes, Microsoft's CL.EXE supports
> some extensions that our compiler (MinGW GCC) doesn't.  In particular,
> there is no support for SEH constructs, including __try, __except, and
> __finally.  If you call ProbeForRead(), ProbeForWrite(),
> MmProbeAndLockPages(), ZwClose(), or anything else that can throw an
> exception, you have to surround the SEH stuff with 
> 
> #if MSC_VER
> #endif
> 
> Inline ASM syntax is different (MS uses Intel syntax, whereas GCC
> expects AT&T), and include paths are parsed differently (backslash vs
> forward slash).  File names are case-sensitive on UNIX, of course, as
> well.  Also, declarations like __stdcall are a little different.  See an
> example driver for details.  Finally, many (all?) DDK headers use a
> compiler switch to force the default calling convention to stdcall.  We
> do not, however, so you have to be careful to actually define any
> callbacks that need to be stdcall in the proper wya.
> 
> I have ported a few of my own drivers to build in the native ReactOS
> environment, and in no case has it taken me more than a few hours.  
> 
> Our kernel is fairly complete, but generally windows drivers are missing
> a few imports on ReactOS.  This is where you go from being a driver
> developer to a kernel developer. ;-)  If you find that some kernel
> functionality is missing, I would encourage you to dive in and take a
> shot at coding it up.
> 
> There is one major caveat to the above:  our kernel does not support PnP
> or Power Management just yet.  It is being actively worked on, but so
> far, WDM drivers that expect PnP notifications won't work without some
> special work on your part.  If PnP is a project you'd like to chip in
> on, let me know, and I'll set you up with the guys who are working on it
> now.  I'm sure they'd appreciate the help.
> 
> What sorts of drivers are you interested in working on?  I like to try
> to keep a general idea of what is going on in the kernel, so if you do
> decide to venture out on a project, drop me a note.
> 
> Best of luck, and don't hesitate to let me know if you have questions or
> need help.  Also, come by #reactos on irc.freenode.net - there are
> usually people there (myself included) that can help.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-kernel mailing list
> Ros-kernel at reactos.com
> http://reactos.com/mailman/listinfo/ros-kernel
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