1Ioctl Numbers
219 October 1999
3Michael Elizabeth Chastain
4<mec@shout.net>
5
6If you are adding new ioctl's to the kernel, you should use the _IO
7macros defined in <linux/ioctl.h>:
8
9    _IO    an ioctl with no parameters
10    _IOW   an ioctl with write parameters (copy_from_user)
11    _IOR   an ioctl with read parameters  (copy_to_user)
12    _IOWR  an ioctl with both write and read parameters.
13
14'Write' and 'read' are from the user's point of view, just like the
15system calls 'write' and 'read'.  For example, a SET_FOO ioctl would
16be _IOW, although the kernel would actually read data from user space;
17a GET_FOO ioctl would be _IOR, although the kernel would actually write
18data to user space.
19
20The first argument to _IO, _IOW, _IOR, or _IOWR is an identifying letter
21or number from the table below.  Because of the large number of drivers,
22many drivers share a partial letter with other drivers.
23
24If you are writing a driver for a new device and need a letter, pick an
25unused block with enough room for expansion: 32 to 256 ioctl commands.
26You can register the block by patching this file and submitting the
27patch to Linus Torvalds.  Or you can e-mail me at <mec@shout.net> and
28I'll register one for you.
29
30The second argument to _IO, _IOW, _IOR, or _IOWR is a sequence number
31to distinguish ioctls from each other.  The third argument to _IOW,
32_IOR, or _IOWR is the type of the data going into the kernel or coming
33out of the kernel (e.g.  'int' or 'struct foo').  NOTE!  Do NOT use
34sizeof(arg) as the third argument as this results in your ioctl thinking
35it passes an argument of type size_t.
36
37Some devices use their major number as the identifier; this is OK, as
38long as it is unique.  Some devices are irregular and don't follow any
39convention at all.
40
41Following this convention is good because:
42
43(1) Keeping the ioctl's globally unique helps error checking:
44    if a program calls an ioctl on the wrong device, it will get an
45    error rather than some unexpected behaviour.
46
47(2) The 'strace' build procedure automatically finds ioctl numbers
48    defined with _IO, _IOW, _IOR, or _IOWR.
49
50(3) 'strace' can decode numbers back into useful names when the
51    numbers are unique.
52
53(4) People looking for ioctls can grep for them more easily when
54    this convention is used to define the ioctl numbers.
55
56(5) When following the convention, the driver code can use generic
57    code to copy the parameters between user and kernel space.
58
59This table lists ioctls visible from user land for Linux/i386.  It contains
60most drivers up to 2.3.14, but I know I am missing some.
61
62Code	Seq#	Include File		Comments
63========================================================
640x00	00-1F	linux/fs.h		conflict!
650x00	00-1F	scsi/scsi_ioctl.h	conflict!
660x00	00-1F	linux/fb.h		conflict!
670x00	00-1F	linux/wavefront.h	conflict!
680x02	all	linux/fd.h
690x03	all	linux/hdreg.h
700x04	all	linux/umsdos_fs.h
710x06	all	linux/lp.h
720x09	all	linux/md.h
730x12	all	linux/fs.h
74		linux/blkpg.h
750x1b	all	InfiniBand Subsystem	<http://www.openib.org/>
760x20	all	drivers/cdrom/cm206.h
770x22	all	scsi/sg.h
78'#'	00-3F	IEEE 1394 Subsystem	Block for the entire subsystem
79'1'	00-1F	<linux/timepps.h>	PPS kit from Ulrich Windl
80					<ftp://ftp.de.kernel.org/pub/linux/daemons/ntp/PPS/>
81'8'	all				SNP8023 advanced NIC card
82					<mailto:mcr@solidum.com>
83'A'	00-1F	linux/apm_bios.h
84'B'	C0-FF				advanced bbus
85					<mailto:maassen@uni-freiburg.de>
86'C'	all	linux/soundcard.h
87'D'	all	asm-s390/dasd.h
88'E'	all	linux/input.h
89'F'	all	linux/fb.h
90'H'	all	linux/hiddev.h
91'I'	all	linux/isdn.h
92'J'	00-1F	drivers/scsi/gdth_ioctl.h
93'K'	all	linux/kd.h
94'L'	00-1F	linux/loop.h
95'L'	E0-FF	linux/ppdd.h		encrypted disk device driver
96					<http://linux01.gwdg.de/~alatham/ppdd.html>
97'M'	all	linux/soundcard.h
98'N'	00-1F	drivers/usb/scanner.h
99'P'	all	linux/soundcard.h
100'Q'	all	linux/soundcard.h
101'R'	00-1F	linux/random.h
102'S'	all	linux/cdrom.h		conflict!
103'S'	80-81	scsi/scsi_ioctl.h	conflict!
104'S'	82-FF	scsi/scsi.h		conflict!
105'T'	all	linux/soundcard.h	conflict!
106'T'	all	asm-i386/ioctls.h	conflict!
107'U'	00-EF	linux/drivers/usb/usb.h
108'U'	F0-FF	drivers/usb/auerswald.c
109'V'	all	linux/vt.h
110'W'	00-1F	linux/watchdog.h	conflict!
111'W'	00-1F	linux/wanrouter.h	conflict!
112'X'	all	linux/xfs_fs.h
113'Y'	all	linux/cyclades.h
114'a'	all				ATM on linux
115					<http://lrcwww.epfl.ch/linux-atm/magic.html>
116'b'	00-FF				bit3 vme host bridge
117					<mailto:natalia@nikhefk.nikhef.nl>
118'c'	00-7F	linux/comstats.h	conflict!
119'c'	00-7F	linux/coda.h		conflict!
120'd'	00-FF	linux/char/drm/drm/h	conflict!
121'd'	00-DF	linux/video_decoder.h	conflict!
122'd'	F0-FF	linux/digi1.h
123'e'	all	linux/digi1.h		conflict!
124'e'	00-1F	linux/video_encoder.h	conflict!
125'e'	00-1F	net/irda/irtty.h	conflict!
126'f'	00-1F	linux/ext2_fs.h
127'h'	00-7F				Charon filesystem
128					<mailto:zapman@interlan.net>
129'i'	00-3F	linux/i2o.h
130'j'	00-3F	linux/joystick.h
131'l'	00-3F	linux/tcfs_fs.h		transparent cryptographic file system
132					<http://mikonos.dia.unisa.it/tcfs>
133'l'	40-7F	linux/udf_fs_i.h	in development:
134					<http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-udf/>
135'm'	all	linux/mtio.h		conflict!
136'm'	all	linux/soundcard.h	conflict!
137'm'	all	linux/synclink.h	conflict!
138'm'	00-1F	net/irda/irmod.h	conflict!
139'n'	00-7F	linux/ncp_fs.h
140'n'	E0-FF	video/matrox.h          matroxfb
141'p'	00-0F	linux/phantom.h		conflict! (OpenHaptics needs this)
142'p'	00-3F	linux/mc146818rtc.h	conflict!
143'p'	40-7F	linux/nvram.h
144'p'	80-9F				user-space parport
145					<mailto:tim@cyberelk.net>
146'q'	00-1F	linux/serio.h
147'q'	80-FF				Internet PhoneJACK, Internet LineJACK
148					<http://www.quicknet.net>
149'r'	00-1F	linux/msdos_fs.h
150's'	all	linux/cdk.h
151't'	00-7F	linux/if_ppp.h
152't'	80-8F	linux/isdn_ppp.h
153'u'	00-1F	linux/smb_fs.h
154'v'	00-1F	linux/ext2_fs.h		conflict!
155'v'	all	linux/videodev.h	conflict!
156'w'	all				CERN SCI driver
157'y'	00-1F				packet based user level communications
158					<mailto:zapman@interlan.net>
159'z'	00-3F				CAN bus card
160					<mailto:hdstich@connectu.ulm.circular.de>
161'z'	40-7F				CAN bus card
162					<mailto:oe@port.de>
1630x80	00-1F	linux/fb.h
1640x81	00-1F	linux/videotext.h
1650x89	00-06	asm-i386/sockios.h
1660x89	0B-DF	linux/sockios.h
1670x89	E0-EF	linux/sockios.h		SIOCPROTOPRIVATE range
1680x89	F0-FF	linux/sockios.h		SIOCDEVPRIVATE range
1690x8B	all	linux/wireless.h
1700x8C	00-3F				WiNRADiO driver
171					<http://www.proximity.com.au/~brian/winradio/>
1720x90	00	drivers/cdrom/sbpcd.h
1730x93	60-7F	linux/auto_fs.h
1740x99	00-0F				537-Addinboard driver
175					<mailto:buk@buks.ipn.de>
1760xA0	all	linux/sdp/sdp.h		Industrial Device Project
177					<mailto:kenji@bitgate.com>
1780xA3	80-8F	Port ACL		in development:
179					<mailto:tlewis@mindspring.com>
1800xA3	90-9F	linux/dtlk.h
1810xAB	00-1F	linux/nbd.h
1820xAC	00-1F	linux/raw.h
1830xAD	00	Netfilter device	in development:
184					<mailto:rusty@rustcorp.com.au>	
1850xB0	all	RATIO devices		in development:
186					<mailto:vgo@ratio.de>
1870xB1	00-1F	PPPoX			<mailto:mostrows@styx.uwaterloo.ca>
1880xCB	00-1F	CBM serial IEC bus	in development:
189					<mailto:michael.klein@puffin.lb.shuttle.de>
1900xDD	00-3F	ZFCP device driver	see drivers/s390/scsi/
191					<mailto:aherrman@de.ibm.com>
1920xF3	00-3F	video/sisfb.h		sisfb (in development)
193					<mailto:thomas@winischhofer.net>
1940xF4	00-1F	video/mbxfb.h		mbxfb
195					<mailto:raph@8d.com>
196