BCMA(4)

📦 version 12.2, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 BCMA(4) 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because today we're talking about bcma — the Broadcom AMBA Backplane driver from the Kernel Interfaces Manual. yes she's a section 4 girlie. yes she's iconic. let's get into it 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

bcma — Broadcom AMBA Backplane driver

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

so like, if you wanna compile this driver straight into the kernel, you gotta add these lines to your kernel configuration file:

device bhnd
device bcma

and if you'd rather load the driver as a module at boot, you drop this line into loader.conf(5):

bcma_load="YES"

that's it. that's the whole vibe check. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so the bcma driver is the one that provides bhnd(4) support for devices rockin' the ARM AMBA-based backplane architecture — the one you'll find in later Broadcom Home Networking Division's network chipsets and embedded systems. no cap, that's literally her whole job. 👑

here's the tea: a common interconnect connects all of the backplane's functional blocks together. and these functional blocks? they're known as cores ✨ (yes, cores, we love a name that eats). they use the ARM AMBA AXI or APB interface to communicate with the devices attached to that interconnect. it's giving very much "everyone's connected, everyone's talking, it's a whole group chat." 💬

and here's a lil history moment for you: the IP cores used in siba(4) devices were adapted by Broadcom for compatibility with the new interconnect. so basically glow-up energy. the old cores walked so the new interconnect could run. 🧚

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

👑 HISTORY 👑

the bcma device driver first appeared in FreeBSD 11.0. a debut. a moment. a main character entrance. ⭐

🫶 AUTHORS 🫶

the bcma driver was written by Landon Fuller <landonf@FreeBSD.org>. absolute legend behavior, we stan. 💜

and that's the whole page bestie!! this lil gem comes to you from the Debian edition, dated June 3, 2016 — so yeah, vintage, but still slaying. mwah 💋 🍓

📦 where this page comes from