2.11BSD/man/cat4/mem.0
MEM(4) UNIX Programmer's Manual MEM(4)
NAME
mem, kmem - main memory
SYNOPSIS
major device number(s):
raw: 1
minor device encoding:
mem: 0; kmem: 1; null: 2
DESCRIPTION
_M_e_m is a special file that is an image of the main memory of
the computer. It may be used, for example, to examine (and
even to patch) the system.
Byte addresses in _m_e_m are interpreted as physical memory
addresses. References to non-existent locations cause
errors to be returned.
The file _k_m_e_m is the same as _m_e_m except that kernel virtual
memory rather than physical memory is accessed. Only kernel
virtual addresses that are mapped to memory are allowed.
Examining and patching device registers is likely to lead to
unexpected results when read-only or write-only bits are
present.
On PDP-11s, the I/O page begins at location 0160000 of _k_m_e_m
and the per-process data segment for the current process
begins at 0140000 and is USIZE clicks (64 bytes each) long.
FILES
/dev/mem
/dev/kmem
/dev/MAKEDEV script to create special files
/dev/MAKEDEV.local script to localize special files
BUGS
On PDP-11's, specifying an odd kernel or user address, or an
odd transfer count is [generally] slower than using all even
parameters.
On machines with ENABLE/34(tm) memory mapping boards the I/O
page can be accessed only through _k_m_e_m.
Printed 11/26/99 January 28, 1988 1