FIREWIRE(4)

📦
version 15.1 · 2 versions
, in freebsd 15.1, nixpkgs unstable

🔥 FIREWIRE(4) 💅 — the firewire girlies' manual page

ok so like, this is section 4 of the manual (kernel interfaces, iykyk) and today we're talking about firewire — IEEE1394 High-performance Serial Bus. yes bestie, that firewire. she's iconic, she's legacy, she's... listen, we'll get to the deprecation thing, don't panic yet 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

firewire — IEEE1394 High-performance Serial Bus

like literally that's the whole vibe. a serial bus. high performance. IEEE1394. no cap.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

ok so if you wanna compile this driver into the kernel (the commitment-phobe way is the module, but do you boo), you put this line in your kernel configuration file:

device firewire

orrrr, alternatively, if you'd rather load the driver as a module at boot time — lowkey the chiller option — you put this line in loader.conf(5):

firewire_load="YES"

that's it. that's the whole synopsis. slay 💅

⚠️ DEPRECATION NOTICE ⚠️

ok bestie I need you to sit down for this one. the firewire driver is slated to be removed prior to FreeBSD 16.0. 😭 I know. I know. she's giving end-of-an-era, she's giving sunsetting, she's giving "enjoy her while she's here." not me getting emotional about a bus driver fr fr.

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

FreeBSD provides machine-independent bus support and raw drivers for firewire interfaces. machine-independent!! so she works everywhere, she's versatile, she's a queen 👑

The firewire driver consists of two layers: the controller and the bus layer. the way that this works is genuinely so clean:

  • the controller attaches to a physical bus (like pci(4))
  • the firewire bus attaches to the controller
  • additional drivers can be attached to the bus

it's giving nested dolls but make it kernel architecture. obsessed.

Up to 63 devices, including the host itself, can be attached to a firewire bus. sixty-three!! that's your whole friend group and then some. 🎀

The root node is dynamically assigned with a PHY device function. and the other firewire bus specific parameters — e.g., node ID, cycle master, isochronous resource manager and bus manager — are also dynamically assigned, after bus reset is initiated. so like, everything just... figures itself out? main character energy honestly. and on the firewire bus, every device is identified by an EUI 64 address. periodt.

Debugging over the firewire interface is possible with the dcons(4) driver. 💖 please see https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/developers-handbook/kerneldebug/#kerneldebug-dcons for details on how to setup debugging with firewire. go read it, it's good for you, drink water while you're at it 🫶

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /dev/fw0.0
  • /dev/fwmem0.0

those are the files. love them, respect them, don't lose them. 💜

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

ok the reading list bestie, all of these are required:

iykyk ✨

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

The firewire driver first appeared in FreeBSD 5.0. a true icon of her time, we stan a vintage queen 👑

💖 AUTHORS 💖

The firewire driver was written by Katsushi Kobayashi and Hidetoshi Shimokawa for the FreeBSD project. legends!! absolute legends!! give them their flowers 💐🫶

💀 BUGS 💀

See fwohci(4) for security notes. that's it, that's the bug section — go read fwohci(4) if you want the tea, we're not spilling it here 🙈

ok that's the whole page bestie!! now go forth and firewire responsibly, and remember: deprecated prior to FreeBSD 16.0 so maybe don't build your whole personality around her 💅

Debian · January 23, 2025 · FIREWIRE(4) — mwah, love u, bye!! 💋✨

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