# can not mknod



## mroussin51 (Feb 2, 2012)

Hello,

I need to create a device node. The standard make directory and make node commands are not not working.


```
$ su
Password:
laptop# cd /dev
laptop# mkdir dri
mkdir: dri: Operation not supported
```

I am surprised that root can not perform this operation. Does root have to use a configuration file for this operation?


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## DutchDaemon (Feb 2, 2012)

/dev is 'operated' as a separate (devfs) filesystem, so neither root nor anyone else are supposed to be doing anything in there directly.

See devfs(5), devfs(8), devfs.conf(5), devfs.rules(5).


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## mroussin51 (Feb 2, 2012)

*Thanks for that info*

Mr. DutchDaemon,

I appreciate the work you are doing here. I apologize for the improper format. I just realized that you edited my post manually. I thought it was automated.

I will read the man pages you referenced.

regards,

Mike


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## mroussin51 (Feb 3, 2012)

*devfs not working properly*

The devfs is not generating the appropriate node /dev/dri/card0. Can the node /dev/dri/card0 be manually generated in FreeBSD? I am beginning to think I am going to have to live with the errors or revert to a working configuration.


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## adamk (Feb 3, 2012)

If it's not being created, your card likely does not support DRI.  What video card do you have?

Adam


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## mroussin51 (Feb 3, 2012)

*dri gpu compatibility*

Adam,

Thanks. I am sure the card supports dri as it works fine on linux.

Here is the linux Xorg.0.log:


```
(II) CHROME(0): - Blanked
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenByBusid: Searching for BusID PCI:1:0:0
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 10, (OK)
drmOpenByBusid: drmOpenMinor returns 10
drmOpenByBusid: drmGetBusid reports pci:0000:01:00.0
(II) [drm] loaded kernel module for "via" driver.
(II) [drm] DRM interface version 1.3
(II) [drm] DRM open master succeeded.
```


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## adamk (Feb 3, 2012)

mroussin51 said:
			
		

> Adam,
> 
> Thanks. I am sure the card supports dri as it works fine on linux.



But this isn't linux, now is it?  What hardware drivers support on Linux has no bearing on what it does on FreeBSD.

What's the output of *dmesg | grep drm*?  Clearly the Chrome DDX thinks the via kernel module should support direct rendering, and tells Xorg to load the kernel module.  That doesn't mean that the kernel module actually supports your GPU on FreeBSD.

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/src/sys/dev/drm/

As you can see, the via DRM driver hasn't seen any serious updates in quite a while. I suggest taking a look at the PCI IDs supported by the via kernel module and see if yours is listed.

Adam


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## mroussin51 (Feb 9, 2012)

*Done*

Adam,

Thanks for the advise.

On v. 8.2 the pattern drm was not found in dmesg. I upgraded to 9 and the drm module loaded but the node /dev/dri/card0 failed to exist. Since then the laptop has been dismantled due to a failure. I got 8 years of service and resurrected it a number of times. This time it's passing on to the afterlife and I am getting a new one.

regards,

Mike


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