Operativsystemet, andre applikationsprogrammer og de forskellige hardwareenheder er alle bygget af forskellige grupper af mennesker. Derfor kan operativsystemet og andre programmer som standard ikke kommunikere med hardwareenhederne. Det er her en enhedsdriver kommer ind i billedet. Det er et stykke software, der fungerer som en oversætter mellem operativsystemerne og hardwareenhederne. En enhedsdrivers opgave er at tillade problemfri funktion af hardwareenheder, der er tilsluttet systemet. En printerdriver fortæller OS, hvordan de valgte oplysninger skal udskrives på siden. For at operativsystemet kan oversætte bits i en lydfil til passende output, er en lydkortdriver nødvendig. Som dette findes der enhedsdrivere for hver hardwareenhed, der er tilsluttet dit system.

Hvad er en enhedsdriver?^{(What is a Device Driver?)}

OS behøver ikke at kende detaljerne bag hardwarens funktion. Ved at bruge enhedsdriveren har den kun grænseflader med det pågældende stykke hardware. Hvis den tilsvarende enhedsdriver ikke er installeret, er der ingen kommunikationsforbindelse mellem operativsystemet og hardwaren. En sådan hardwareenhed fungerer muligvis ikke korrekt. En enhedsdriver og den tilsvarende hardwareenhed kommunikerer gennem den computerbus, som enheden er tilsluttet. Enhedsdrivere^(Device) varierer for hvert operativsystem, og de er hardwareafhængige. En enhedsdriver er også kendt som en softwaredriver eller blot en driver.

Hvordan fungerer enhedsdrivere?^{(How do device drivers work?)}

En hardwareenhed ønsker at kommunikere med et program på dit system. Du kan tænke på denne situation som to enheder, der taler forskellige sprog. Der er således behov for en oversætter. Enhedsdriveren spiller her rollen som oversætteren. Softwaren giver driveren information, der forklarer, hvad hardwaren skal udføre. Enhedsdriveren bruger oplysningerne til at få driveren til at udføre arbejdet.

En enhedsdriver oversætter instruktionerne fra et softwareprogram/operativsystemet til et sprog, der forstås af hardwareenheden. For at systemet kan køre effektivt, skal du have alle de nødvendige enhedsdrivere. Når du tænder dit system, kommunikerer operativsystemet med enhedsdriverne og BIOS'en^(BIOS) for at beslutte, om du skal udføre forskellige hardwareopgaver.

Hvis ikke for en enhedsdriver, ville der enten ikke være nogen måde for systemet at kommunikere med enhederne, eller softwareprogrammer ville være nødt til at vide, hvordan de direkte interfaces med hardwaren (i betragtning af det brede udvalg af programmer og hardwareenheder, vi har i dag, dette ville være svært). Det er ikke muligt at bygge software med mulighed for direkte at kommunikere med alle slags hardwareenheder. Enhedsdrivere er således game-changers.

Begge – hardwareenheder og softwareprogrammer afhænger af enhedsdrivere for problemfri funktion. Programmer^(Programs) bruger normalt generelle kommandoer til at få adgang til enheder. En enhedsdriver oversætter disse til specialiserede kommandoer, som kan forstås af enheden.

Enhedsdrivere^(Device) kommer normalt som indbyggede komponenter i et OS. De leveres af producenten. Hvis en hardware- eller softwarekomponent udskiftes eller opdateres, bliver disse enhedsdrivere ubrugelige.

Virtuelle enhedsdrivere^{(Virtual device drivers)}

En virtuel enhedsdriver er en komponent i en enhedsdriver, der hjælper en hardwareenhed med at etablere kommunikation med operativsystemet eller et program. De er drivere til virtuelle enheder. Virtuelle enhedsdrivere hjælper med det glatte dataflow. Flere applikationer kan få adgang til en bestemt hardwareenhed uden konflikt. Når en virtuel enhedsdriver modtager et afbrydelsessignal fra en hardwareenhed, bestemmer den det næste handlingsforløb baseret på enhedsindstillingernes status.

Hvor bruges en virtuel enhedsdriver?^{(Where is a virtual device driver used?)}

Når vi bruger software til at efterligne en hardwareenhed, bruges en virtuel enhedsdriver til en sådan enhed. Et passende eksempel ville være at bruge en VPN . Du opretter et virtuelt netværkskort, så du sikkert kan oprette forbindelse til internettet. Dette er et virtuelt netværkskort oprettet af VPN . Der kræves en passende driver til dette kort, som normalt vil blive installeret af selve VPN -softwaren.

Har alle enheder brug for drivere?^{(Do all devices need drivers?)}

Hvorvidt^(Whether) en enhed kræver en driver eller ej, afhænger af, om dit operativsystem genkender hardwareenheden og dens funktioner. Nogle perifere enheder, der er ukendte for operativsystemet og kræver en driver, er - Videokort^(Video) , USB -enhed, lydkort, scanner, printer, controller-modem, netværkskort, kortlæser osv.. Operativsystemer har normalt nogle generiske drivere, der tillader almindelige hardwareenheder at arbejde på et grundlæggende niveau. Igen^(Again) er betingelsen, at operativsystemet skal genkende enhedens funktioner. Nogle enheder, der kan arbejde med generiske drivere, er - RAM , tastatur, mus, højttalere, skærm, harddisk, diskdrev, CPU, strømforsyning, joystick osv... Man skal være opmærksom på, at den generiske driver leveret af operativsystemet ikke opdateres så ofte som driverne leveret af hardwareproducenten.

Læs også: ^{(Also Read:)} Hvad er en computerfil? ^{(What is a Computer file? )}

Hvad sker der, hvis du ikke har installeret en driver?^{(What will happen if you have not installed a driver?)}

Hvis du ikke har installeret en driver til en enhed, fungerer enheden muligvis slet ikke eller fungerer muligvis kun delvist. For eksempel vil enheder som mus/tastatur fungere uden en driver. Men hvis din mus har ekstra knapper, eller dit tastatur har nogle specielle taster, så vil disse funktioner ikke fungere. Hvis du er Windows -bruger, kan du finde driverkonfliktfejlen i enhedshåndteringen, hvis du mangler en driver. Normalt udgiver producenten en driveropdatering for at slette de fejl, som driveren producerer. Hav derfor altid den opdaterede version af driveren til dine hardwareenheder.

En driver virker kun, hvis du har den tilsvarende enhed installeret på dit system. Hvis du forsøger at installere en driver til hardware, der ikke findes, sker det ikke. For eksempel vil installation af en videokortdriver, når du ikke har et videokort på dit system, ikke give dit system mulighed for at arbejde med et videokort. Du skal have begge dele - hardwareenheden og den opdaterede enhedsdriver til det.

Typer af enhedsdrivere^{(Types of device drivers)}

Der findes en enhedsdriver til næsten alle hardwareenheder, der bruges i dag. Disse drivere kan bredt klassificeres i følgende 2 kategorier - brugerenhedsdrivere og kerneenhedsdrivere

Bruger enhedsdrivere^{(User device drivers)}

Disse er enhedsdrivere, som brugeren udløser, mens han/hun bruger systemet. Disse er til de enheder, som brugeren har tilsluttet til systemet, bortset fra dem, der vedrører kernesoftwaren^{(kernel software)} . Enhedsdriverne til plug and play-enheder betragtes som brugerenhedsdrivere. For at løfte trykket fra systemressourcerne skrives brugerenhedsdrivere til disken. Men enhedsdriverne til spilleenheder opbevares normalt i hovedhukommelsen.

Læs også:  ^{(Also Read: )}Hvad er en ISO-fil?^{(What is an ISO File?)}

Kernel enhedsdrivere^{(Kernel device drivers)}

Generiske drivere, der er tilgængelige som indbygget software sammen med operativsystemet, kaldes kerne-enhedsdrivere. De indlæses i hukommelsen som en del af operativsystemet. En pointer til driveren er gemt i hukommelsen og kan aktiveres, når det er nødvendigt. Kernelenhedsdrivere^(Kernel) er til enheder som processoren, bundkortet, BIOS og andre enheder, der vedrører kernesoftwaren.

Med kerneenhedsdrivere er der et almindeligt problem. Ved påkaldelse indlæses en kerneenhedsdriver i RAM'en^(RAM) . Dette kan ikke flyttes til virtuel hukommelse. Hvis der kører flere enhedsdrivere samtidigt, bliver systemet langsomt. For at løse dette problem har hvert operativsystem et minimumssystemkrav. Operativsystemerne sammensætter de ressourcer, som kerneenhedsdrivere krævede. Dette sikrer, at brugerne ikke behøver at bekymre sig om hukommelseskrav.

Andre typer enhedsdrivere^{(Other types of Device Driver)}

1. Generiske og OEN-drivere^{(1. Generic and OEN drivers)}

Hvis enhedsdriveren er tilgængelig sammen med operativsystemet, kaldes den en generisk enhedsdriver. En generisk enhedsdriver fungerer for en bestemt enhed, uanset dens mærke. Windows 10 har generiske enhedsdrivere til almindeligt anvendte hardwareenheder.

Nogle gange har hardwareenhederne visse funktioner, som et OS ikke kan genkende. Enhedsproducenten leverer den tilsvarende driver til sådanne enheder. Disse kaldes OEM -enhedsdrivere. For at sådanne enheder skal fungere korrekt, skal driverne installeres separat efter installation af operativsystemet. Omkring det tidspunkt, hvor Windows XP var i brug, skulle selv drivere til bundkortet installeres separat. I dag har de fleste moderne systemer indbyggede generiske enhedsdrivere.

2. Blok- og karakterdrivere^{(2. Block and character drivers)}

Enhedsdrivere^(Device) kan klassificeres som blokdrivere eller tegndrivere baseret på hvordan data læses og skrives. Enheder^(Device) såsom harddiske, cd- rom'er^(ROMs) og USB - drev er klassificeret baseret på den måde, de bruges på.

Udtrykket blokdriver bruges, når mere end ét tegn læses eller skrives ad gangen. Der oprettes en blok, og blokenheden forsøger at hente den mængde information, der passer til blokkens størrelse. Harddiske^{(Hard disks)} og cd- rom'er^(ROMS) anses for at blokere enhedsdrivere.

Udtrykket tegndriver bruges, når data skrives et tegn ad gangen. Character -enhedsdrivere gør brug af serielle busser. Enhver enhed, der er tilsluttet den serielle port, har en tegndriver. For eksempel er en mus en enhed forbundet til en seriel port. Den gør brug af en tegnenhedsdriver.

Læs også: ^{(Also Read:)} Hvad er Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 ax)?^{(What is Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 ax)?)}

Håndtering af enhedsdrivere^{(Managing device drivers)}

Alle driverne på dit Windows -system administreres af Enhedshåndtering^{(Device Manager)} . Enhedsdrivere^(Device) behøver ikke meget opmærksomhed efter installation. Nogle gange har de opdateringer til at rette en fejl eller en opdatering, der giver en ny funktion. Derfor er det en god praksis at tjekke for driveropdateringer og installere dem (hvis nogen) en gang imellem. For at gøre dit arbejde nemt, er der nogle programmer, der kontrollerer og opdaterer dine enhedsdrivere.

Driveropdateringerne leveret af producenten er altid tilgængelige gratis på deres officielle hjemmeside. Pas på ikke at betale for en enhedsdriveropdatering!

Det er vigtigt at opdatere dine drivere, fordi mange problemer med en hardwareenhed ofte kan spores tilbage til et problem med enhedsdriveren.

Resumé^(Summary)

• En enhedsdriver hjælper OS og andre programmer med at forbinde med hardwareenheder, der er tilsluttet systemet
• Moderne operativsystemer leverer indbyggede enhedsdrivere til almindeligt anvendte ydre enheder
• For at bruge andre hardwareenheder skal du installere de tilsvarende enhedsdrivere fra producenten
• At holde dine enhedsdrivere opdaterede er afgørende for systemets funktion.
• En ekstern enhedsdriver er kun nødvendig for de enheder, hvis funktioner ikke genkendes af dit operativsystem.

What is a Device Driver? How Does It Work?

Τhe operating system, other application programs аnd the various hardware devices аre all built by different groups of people. Thеrefore, by default, the OS and other programs cannot interface with the hardware devices. This is whеre a devicе driver comеs in. It is a piece of software that acts as a translatоr between the operating systems and the hardware devices. A dеvice driver’s jоb is to allоw smooth functioning of hardware devices attached to the system. A printer driver tells the OS how to print the selected information on the page. For the OS to translatе the bits in an audio file into аppropriate outpυt, а sound card driver іs necessary. Like this, device drivers exist for each hardware device thаt is connected to your systеm.

What is a Device Driver?

The OS need not know the details behind the working of the hardware. Using the device driver, it only interfaces with that particular piece of hardware. If the corresponding device driver is not installed, there is no communication link between the OS and the hardware. Such a hardware device may not work properly. A device driver and the corresponding hardware device communicate through the computer bus to which the device is connected. Device drivers vary for each operating system and they are hardware dependent. A device driver is also known as a software driver or simply a driver.

How do device drivers work?

A hardware device wants to communicate with a program on your system. You can think of this situation as two entities that speak different languages. Thus, there is a need for a translator. The device driver plays the role of the translator here. The software gives the driver information that explains what the hardware should perform. The device driver uses the information to get the driver to do the job.

A device driver translates the instructions of a software program/the OS to a language understood by the hardware device. For the system to run efficiently, you have to have all the necessary device drivers. When you turn on your system, the OS communicates with the device drivers and the BIOS to decide on performing various hardware tasks.

If not for a device driver, either there would be no way for the system to communicate with the devices or software programs would have to know how to directly interface with the hardware (given the wide range of programs and hardware device we have today, this would be difficult). It is not possible to build software with the capability to directly communicate with all kinds of hardware devices. Thus, device drivers are the game-changers.

Both – hardware devices and software programs depend on device drivers for smooth functioning. Programs usually use general commands to access devices. A device driver translates these into specialized commands that can be understood by the device.

Device drivers usually come as built-in components in an OS. They are provided by the manufacturer. If a hardware or software component is replaced or updates, these device drivers are rendered useless.

Virtual device drivers

A virtual device driver is a component of a device driver that helps a hardware device to establish communication with the OS or a program. They are drivers for virtual devices. Virtual device drivers help in the smooth data flow. Multiple applications can access a particular hardware device without conflict. When a virtual device driver receives an interrupt signal from a hardware device, it determines the next course-of-action based on device settings’ status.

Where is a virtual device driver used?

When we use software to emulate a hardware device, a virtual device driver is used tor un such a device. An appropriate example would be using a VPN. You create a virtual network card so that you can securely connect to the internet. This is a virtual network card created by the VPN. An appropriate driver is required for this card which will usually be installed by the VPN software itself.

Do all devices need drivers?

Whether or not a device requires a driver depends on whether your operating system recognizes the hardware device and its features. Some peripherals that are unknown to the operating system and require a driver are – Video card, USB device, sound card, scanner, printer, controller modem, network card, card reader etc… Operating systems usually have some generic drivers that allow common hardware devices to work on a basic level. Again, the condition is that the OS should recognize the features of the device. Some devices that can work with generic drivers are – RAM, keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, hard drive, disk drive, CPU, power supply, joystick etc… One must be aware that the generic driver provided by the operating system is not updated as frequently as the drivers provided by the hardware manufacturer.

Also Read: What is a Computer file? 

What will happen if you have not installed a driver?

If you have not installed a driver for a device, the device may not function at all or may function only partially. For example, devices such as mouse/keyboard will work without a driver. But if your mouse has extra buttons or your keyboard has some special keys, then those features will not work. If you are a Windows user, you can find the driver conflict error in the device manager, if you have a missing driver. Usually, the manufacturer releases a driver update to erase the errors produced by the driver. Therefore, always have the up to date version of the driver for your hardware devices.

A driver will work only if you have the corresponding device installed on your system. If you try to install a driver for hardware that does not exist, it will not happen. For instance, installing a video card driver when you do not have a video card on your system will not give your system the capability to work with a video card. You need to have both – the hardware device and the updated device driver for it.

Types of device drivers

There exists a device driver for almost every hardware device in use today. These drivers can be broadly classified into the following 2 categories – user device drivers and kernel device drivers

User device drivers

These are device drivers that the user triggers while he/she is using the system. These are for the devices that the user has connected to the system, other than those pertaining to the kernel software. The device drivers for plug and play devices are considered as user device drivers. To lift the pressure off the system resources, user device drivers are written to the disk. But the device drivers for gaming devices are usually kept in main memory.

Also Read: What is an ISO File?

Kernel device drivers

Generic drivers that are available as built-in software along with the OS are called kernel device drivers. They load into the memory as a part of the OS. A pointer to the driver is stored in memory and can be invoked whenever required. Kernel device drivers are for devices such as the processor, the motherboard, BIOS, and other devices pertaining to the kernel software.

With kernel device drivers, there is a common issue. Upon invocation, a kernel device driver is loaded into the RAM. This cannot be moved to virtual memory. If there are several device drivers running simultaneously, the system becomes slow. To overcome this issue, each OS has a minimum system requirement. The operating systems put together the resources that kernel device drivers required. This ensures that users do not have to worry about memory requirement.

Other types of Device Driver

1. Generic and OEN drivers

If the device driver is available along with the operating system, it is called a generic device driver. A generic device driver works for a particular device irrespective of its brand. Windows 10 has generic device drivers for commonly used hardware devices.

Sometimes, the hardware devices have certain features that an OS cannot recognize. The device manufacturer provides the corresponding driver for such devices. These are called OEM device drivers. For such devices to function properly, the drivers have to be installed separately after installing the OS. Around the time when Windows XP was in use, even drivers for the motherboard had to be installed separately. Today, most of the modern systems provide built-in generic device drivers.

2. Block and character drivers

Device drivers can be classified as block drivers or character drivers based on how data is read and written. Devices such as hard disks, CD ROMs and USB drives are classified based on the way they are used.

The term block driver is used when more than one character is read or written at a time. A block is created, and the block device tries to retrieve the amount of information that suits the size of the block. Hard disks and CD ROMS are considered to block device drivers.

The term character driver is used when data is written one character at a time. Character device drivers make use of serial buses. Any device that is connected to the serial port has a character driver. For example, a mouse is a device connected to a serial port. It makes use of a character device driver.

Also Read: What is Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 ax)?

Managing device drivers

All the drivers on your Windows system are managed by the Device Manager. Device drivers do not need much attention after installation. Occasionally, they have updates to fix a bug or an update that provides a new feature. Therefore, it is a good practice to check for driver updates and install them (if any) once in a while. To make your job easy, there are some programs that will check and update your device drivers.

The driver updates provided by the manufacturer are always available for free on their official website. Take care to not pay for a device driver update!

Updating your drivers are important because, often time, many issues with a hardware device can be traced back to an issue with the device driver.

Summary

• A device driver helps the OS and other programs interface with the hardware devices connected to the system
• Modern operating systems provide built-in device drivers for commonly used peripherals
• To use other hardware devices, you need to install the corresponding device drivers provided by the manufacturer
• Keeping your device drivers up to date is crucial to the functioning of the system.
• An external device driver is only required for those devices whose features are not recognized by your operating system.

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