OS/2 Boot Files and Drivers

This is a quick list of the different kinds of drivers that OS/2 and eComStation has according to its type.

ADD - Adapter Device Driver
Adapter device drivers provide a uniform software interface to the hardware devices they manage.

ADD files are device drivers files for the OS/2 Operating System. ADD files are loaded to OS/2 on the config.sys by putting them on "BASEDEV=".

BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD BASEDEV=IBM2FLPY.ADD BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD
 * Examples

DMD - Device Managers
DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\OS2CDROM.DMD /Q BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD BASEDEV=OS2LVM.DMD
 * Examples

FLT - Filter Device Driver
Filter device drivers are a special class of device drivers that provide the following:
 * Generic value-added services, such as data stripping or encryption.
 * Device-specific services, such as adjusting and altering the command stream between a device manager and an adapter device driver to support a particular type of device.

FLT files are loaded to OS/2 on the config.sys by putting them on "BASEDEV=".

BASEDEV=IBMIDECD.FLT
 * Example

IFS - Installable File Systems
"Installable File System": refers to an OS/2 driver used to manage a file system type. Available IFSes include NFS (used with TCP/IP networks), CD-ROM, HPFS, and HPFS386 (supplied with IBM LAN Server Advanced).

It can be thought of as a specialized kind of physical device driver (PDD), although it is structured very differently. IFS files are loaded on the config.sys by using "IFS=".

IFS=C:\OS2\DRIVERS\JFS.IFS /AUTOCHECK:* IFS=C:\OS2\DRIVERS\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:2048 /CRECL:4 /AUTOCHECK:C
 * Examples

OS2 NDIS
These are drivers based on the "Network Driver Interface Specification". This kind of device drivers are used on OS/2 for Network MACs (media access control) and protocol device driver.

DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\LANPDD.OS2 DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBEUI.OS2 DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBIOS.OS2 DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\MACS\IBMEANDI.OS2 DEVICE=C:\IRDD\IRDA_PHY.OS2
 * Examples

PSD - Platform Specific Drivers
PSD stands for "PLATFORM SPECIFIC DRIVERS". These drivers provide an abstraction layer for the underlying hardware by allowing the operating system to call generic functions to perform platform -specific operations without worrying about the actual hardware implementation.

If multiple PSD statements are encountered, OS/2 will load each PSD in the order listed in CONFIG.SYS, and call the PSD's install function. The first PSD which successfully installs will be the one OS/2 uses.

PSD statements are processed before BASEDEV, IFS, and DEVICE statements.

PSD=ACPI.PSD /Q PSD=OS2APIC.PSD
 * Examples

SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\LOG.SYS BASEDEV=IBMKBD.SYS BASEDEV=CHKDSK.SYS BASEDEV=TIMER0.SYS
 * Examples

Links

 * OS/2 Installable File Systems - Part 1/3
 * Storage Device Driver Reference