Device Software Management

What does the PnP system do?

A system that Windows uses to automatically detect new hardware plugged into your computer. It then recognizes and installs the appropriate software to manage it.

What is an example of how the cumulative update model of Windows might be beneficial?

A Windows machine that's been turned off for a while. When it boots up again after a long period of inactivity, it'll need to download all of the updates that it's missed and apply them. If it's been off for a really long time, this could mean it'll need to download and apply hundreds of updates. With the cumulative update model, a computer like that would only need to download the latest cumulative update.

What happens on a Linux system, when a device is connected to the computer?

A device file is created in the /dev directory.

Null device (/dev/null)

A device file that discards all data written to it but reports that the write operation succeeded.

/dev directory

A directory that contains device files. There are a lot of devices in this directory, but not all of them are actually physical devices. For example, the /dev/null devices are in here.

What is everything considered in Linux, even hardware devices?

A file

Kernel module

A portion of the kernel that you can load and unload to add or remove functionality on a running Linux system. A developer can create this to extend the kernel's functionality without them actually touching the kernel.

Driver

A software component used to help hardware devices interact with the OS

Why is the /dev/null device considered a character device?

Because it's used to transfer data, character by character.

How do you configure Windows Update?

By searching updates in the search box and going to Windows Update settings. From there, you can tell the Windows Update Client to check for new updates, look at the history of updates installed, or change the way that it'll download and apply patches by clicking into the settings section. From there, you can tell the Update Client how you want to manage your updates and even set a time when you want them installed.

How do you view what kernel version you have on your Linux machine?

By using the uname command with the -r flag, for kernel release.

Run dialog box

Command box in which users can enter the name of a particular program to run; an alternative to locating the icon in older versions of Windows. Run open a program, folder, document or Website. Supplanted in Windows Vista and later with the Search box.

How device drivers are stored on Linux:

Device drivers aren't always stored in the /dev directory. Sometimes they're part of the Linux kernel. A lot of hardware support is built into the kernel. So when you plug in a device, it automatically works. But if there are devices that don't have support built into the kernel, they most likely have something called a kernel module.

How does Windows install updates?

If the Windows Update Client finds updates that should be applied to your computer, it'll download them, if you decided to allow it to. Once the download has completed, depending on your Windows Update settings, the Windows Update Client will ask you if it's ok to install the updates or just go ahead and install them automatically. This process usually requires a restart of your computer, which the Client performs after requesting permission.

What is one downside of cumulative updates?

In Windows, installing updates is no longer optional. You also can't pick and choose the updates you want to apply, since they're all rolled into one monthly release.

How does Windows 10 do updates differently?

Instead of downloading a handful of independent updates that you can choose to apply or not apply to your computer, updates are cumulative. This means that every month a package of updates and patches is released that supersedes the previous month's updates.

Where does Windows OS search for drivers?

It looks for drivers in a few places, starting with a local list of well-known drivers. Then it goes on to Windows Update or the driver store if it needs to expand the search. Sometimes the device will come with an installation disk, which contains custom driver software and you can tell Windows to look there too.

Block devices

Like USB drives, hard drives, and CDROMS, transfer blocks of data; a data block is just a unit of data storage. The storage devices that transfer data to and from the system in chunks of many data bits by caching the information in RAM; they are represented by block device files.

Character devices

Like a keyboard or a mouse, transmit data character by character. The storage devices that transfer data to and from the system one data bit at a time; they are represented by character device files.

uname command

Linux command that displays the system information.

Grouping in Device Manager

Most devices on your computer will be grouped together according to some broad categories by Windows. So any displays you might be using with your computer would show up under the Monitors section in the Device Manager. This grouping usually happens automatically when you plug in a new device.

Security patch

Software programs that fix potential security breaches in an operating system, often provided as free downloads or automatic updates to all owners of the OS.

How does Windows keep you informed of updates to install?

The Windows Update Client service runs in the background on your computer to download and install updates, and patches for your OS. It does this by checking in with the Windows Update server at Microsoft every so often.

What commands do you use to update and upgrade software on a Linux machine?

The apt update and apt upgrade commands.

What controls the core components of the OS in Linux?

The kernel

Why is it vital to instal security patches right away?

The longer you wait the more prone you are to being effected by a security hole.

/dev/sda or sdb or sdc

These files are block devices. SD devices are mass storage devices like our hard drives, memory sticks, etc. An A after SD means the device was detected by the computer first.

PnP (Plug and Play) system

This is a device or computer bus is one with a specification that facilitates the discovery of a hardware component in a system without the need for physical device configuration or user intervention in resolving resource conflicts. This term has since been expanded to a wide variety of applications to which the same lack of user setup applies.

How do you interact directly with the Windows drivers?

Through the Device Manager console. You can expand any of the categories in the Device Manager to view the devices inside them. You can also right-click to open up a menu with options to work with them. You can uninstall, disable, and update a device driver from this menu. You can also tell Windows to look for hardware changes like a newly plugged in device. If you choose Properties from here, you can see some details about the device and its driver. Like its manufacturer and the driver version being used.

How do you update the kernel and other packages?

Use the apt command with the option full-upgrade. Before running this command, remember to update your application sources with apt update. Ex: sudo apt udate sudo apt full-upgrade If there's a new version of the kernel available, it will install it for us. Once you reboot the computer, you can start using it. You can verify the latest kernel is being used with the uname -r command.

Device Manager

Utility that enables us to examine and configure all the hardware and drivers in a Windows PC.

How does the PnP system work?

When you plug in a new device, like a mouse or keyboard, into your computer, the Windows OS will go through a few steps to try and get it working. Most vendors or computer hardware manufacturers will assign a special string of characters to their devices called a hardware ID. When Windows notices that a new device has been connected, the first thing it'll do is ask the device that's been plugged in for its hardware ID. Once Windows has the new device's ID, this uses it to search for the right driver for the device. Windows will take the driver software it found and install it so you can use your new device. Although this process mostly happens automatically behind the scenes, you can interact directly with the Windows drivers through the Device Manager console.

How do you install kernel module for a specific type of device?

You can install the same way you install all software in Linux.

How do you access the Device Manager in Windows?

You can open the Run dialog box and type in devmgmt.msc. Or you can right-click on This PC, select Manage, and click on the Device Manager option in the left-hand navigation menu.

Why is it important to keep your OS up to date?

You want the newest features that your OS has, and you want the security updates that your OS needs.

What file types will you see in the output of an ls -l command of the /dev directory?

b for block device c for character device