Operating Systems Chapter 6

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

a. A device driver communicates between the OS and the computer's physical devices.

You are the computer support person in your small company. An employee has installed an off-brand 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.

a. Driver signing prevents unverified drivers from being installed in Windows 10. Driver signing could be overridden in Windows XP.

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

a. Named pipes are used for handling internal communications such as output redirection.

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.

a. The status register indicates whether a device is busy or ready to accept commands.

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

a. You can use Device Manager in Windows to install a new driver for any device, including a network interface

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

b. A FIFO chip can accept bursts of data that is held until the CPU is ready to process it.

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.

b. Access to files on a tape backup system is likely to be slow because tape drives are sequential-access devices.

In UNIX and Linux, which of the following is true about device drivers? 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.

b. Device drivers can be loadable modules.

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

b. Device special files should be stored in the /dev folder.

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

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

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

b. mknod is used to create a device special file in Linux.

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

c. A print queue is a temporary storage place where print jobs are held until they can be sent to the printer.

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.

c. Because the problem started when a new sound card was installed, the sound card is most likely causing the problem, perhaps due to an I/O address range conflict.

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.

c. DMA can help reduce CPU utilization caused by accessing a block device.

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

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

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

c. The instruction register is a component of the CPU and is not a component of I/O devices

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.

c. This is not true. Applications do not communicate directly with a device driver. Applications make a request to the OS to use a device and the OS communicates with the device driver.

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

d. CUPS is the most common printing system used in contemporary Linux distributions.

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

d. The /etc/cups directory contains printer configuration information.

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

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