ICHWD(4)

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

💜 ichwd(4) — the Kernel Interfaces Manual page for your new bestie, the Intel ICH watchdog interrupt timer 🎀

okay so picture this: it's the Kernel Interfaces Manual, it's section 4, and it's literally all about ichwd — the device driver for the Intel ICH watchdog interrupt timer. she's niche, she's iconic, let's get into it ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

ichwd — device driver for the Intel ICH watchdog interrupt timer. that's her. that's the whole name. no cap 🫶

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

so there's two ways to get her in your life, and honestly both slay.

way one: bake her into the kernel. add this line to your kernel configuration file:

device ichwd

way two: load her as a module at boot time. put this line in loader.conf(5):

ichwd_load="YES"

pick your fighter 💅

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

the ichwd driver provides watchdog(4) support for the watchdog interrupt timer that's present on all Intel ICH motherboard chipsets. all of them. every last one. she's not picky 💖

here's the tea on timing: the ICH WDT counts down in ticks of approximately 0.6 seconds — and bestie, key word approximately, because the exact value depends on hardware quality and environmental factors 😭 it's giving "we tried our best." supported watchdog intervals range from 2 to 63 ticks. that's the range. memorize it 🎀

ngl there's a lil catch 👀 on some ICH-based systems, the WDT may be present but disabled — either in hardware or by the BIOS. the ichwd driver attempts to detect this condition and will refuse to attach if it believes the WDT is disabled. she does a vibe check and if the vibe is off, she's not coming to the party. periodt 💀

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

also, for the lore girlies: Using the Intel ICH Family Watchdog Timer (WDT), Intel Application Note AP-725, Document Number 292273-001 📚⭐

🌈 HISTORY 🌈

the ichwd driver first appeared in FreeBSD 5.3. she's been around. she's got history. literal main character energy 👑

👑 AUTHORS 👑

the ichwd driver was written by Wm. Daryl Hawkins <dhawkins@tamu.edu> of Texas A&M University and Dag-Erling Smørgrav <des@FreeBSD.org>. and this very manual page was written by Dag-Erling Smørgrav <des@FreeBSD.org> too — double duty, we love a multi-hyphenate 🫶💜

and that's the page!! 🍓 cute lil sign-off: this one's tagged Debian, dated August 20, 2008 — yes she's a vintage icon and she's still serving 💅✨🧚

📦 where this page comes from