@craig_howard said:
a better question would be “How do I programmatically get a driver started for a driver already in the driver store for a PCIe device already attached to the system but not recognized”
To start a driver it must be installed on the device first. Driver already in the store does not mean it is installed.
To complete the PnP install ceremony, the bus driver MUST recognize the device and make various IDs that match the driver.
No matter how many drivers you put in the store, if the bus driver cannot enumerate it - the game is over.
but for medical devices, high availability datacenters (like bladeservers) and factory floors that is simply not an option.
A lot of systems have hot plug PCIe and even legacy PCI. PCIe has special provision for hot plug … the rest is software.
No interruption on the line, no glitch on the MRI machine, no taking a datacenter down, just put on the new tires while the engine is running and done
Yes, exactly this way.
The tricky part is in getting the PCIe device to load the new driver without needing a reboot, and that’s where everyone seems to be playing the “assume” card.
Really? the tricky part is proper handling of surprise removal. Especially, usermode apps must not hold on any handle that pins down the surprise-removed instance so that it can be restarted quickly.
Not mentioning what if the hardware or firmware cuts some corners of the spec because the other OS can tolerate it… Windows is not too bad after all.