5.2.6. /proc/devices
5.2.6. /proc/devices This file displays the various character and block devices currently configured (not including devices whose modules are not loaded). Below is a sample output from this file: The output from /proc/devices includes the major number and name of the device, and is broken into two major sections: Character devices and Block devices . Character devices are similar to block devices , except for two basic differences: Character devices do not require buffering. Block devices have a buffer available, allowing them to order requests before addressing them. This is important for devices designed to store information - such as hard drives - because the ability to order the information before writing it to the device allows it to be placed in a more efficient order. Character devices send data with no preconfigured size. Block devices can send and receive information in blocks of a size configured per device. For more information about devices refer to the following installed documentation:
Character devices: 1 mem 4 /dev/vc/0 4 tty 4 ttyS 5 /dev/tty 5 /dev/console 5 /dev/ptmx 7 vcs 10 misc 13 input 29 fb 36 netlink 128 ptm 136 pts 180 usb Block devices: 1 ramdisk 3 ide0 9 md 22 ide1 253 device-mapper 254 mdp /usr/share/doc/kernel-doc- <version> /Documentation/devices.txt