mingw32 gives error when I include ddk/winddk.h

Question

I'm new to Win environment, trying to write code which use win kernel API but on Ubuntu 10.04 ... using mingw32 (more specifically, i586-mingw32msvc)

My code:

#include<ddk/winddk.h>
int main()
{
        return 0;
}

But I'm getting to many errors with ddk/winddk.h header: Compiling as: i586-mingw32msvc-gcc WaitForSingleObj_2.c

All errors are like this:

/usr/lib/gcc/i586-mingw32msvc/4.2.1-sjlj/../../../../i586-mingw32msvc/include/ddk/winddk.h:9208: error: expected '=', ',', ';', 'asm' or '__attribute__' before 'NTSTATUS'

Am I missing something for this? As I tried to compile with headers iostream and windows.h, that works fine.

EDIT:

#include<ntdef.h>
#include<ddk/ntddk.h>
#include<ddk/winddk.h>
#include<ddk/ntddndis.h>

int main()
{
        KTIMER *timer;
        KeInitializeTimer(timer);
        return 0;
}

till KTIMER its fine, now new error: /tmp/cc0epAQA.o:WaitForSingleObj_2.c:(.text+0x1d): undefined reference to `_imp_KeInitializeTimer@4' collect2: ld returned 1 exit status

Can anyone tell me, now which header file to include plz?

Edit: [As others commented already, and I experienced(!) PLEASE try to avoid using other platform for Windonws Kernel development]

I switched to Visual C++ Express, downloaded WDK, given additional include path from Project Property->c/c++ .. ->Additional Include directory (C:\WinDDK\7600.16385.1\inc\ddk;C:\WinDDK\7600.16385.1\inc\api;)

BUT (I hate this but!) I'm getting many compiling error like

    1>c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\crtdefs.h(543): error C2143: syntax error : missing ')' before 'const'
1>c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\crtdefs.h(543): error C2143: syntax error : missing '{' before 'const'
1>c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\crtdefs.h(543): error C2059: syntax error : ','
1>c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\crtdefs.h(543): error C2059: syntax error : ')'
1>c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\crtdefs.h(550): error C2143: syntax error : missing ')' before 'const'

My Code:

#include <wdm.h>
int mian()
{
    /*
     * PKTIMER Timer;
     */
}

If anyone has idea please help!

Answer 1

Are you sure that ntdef.h is being included, either explicitly or by certain #define values being set? That's the header that defines NTSTATUS and that error message is the one gcc normally spits out when a symbol/type has not been defined.

In any case, developing Windows device drivers using a non-MS compiler will almost certainly have more problems than with Microsoft's own toolchain.

Answer 2

Dhara Darji, you still haven't quite understood what I was writing before. It is not merely the toolchain that is important. As I pointed out you will not be able to get your driver certified (although you might get it - or the .cat - cross-signed). I stand by every word from my comment:

Well, you should know your tools. Developing for KM on Windows (as for many other platforms) is no kid's play. If your UM app crashes, the app dies. If your driver crashes, the system dies. Please reconsider using unsupported tools for creating Windows KM drivers. Not to mention that your idea of drivers seems to be non-existent from the code snippet above. It is completely different from UM and should not be taken lightly.

Even now in your last attempt, except for the misspelled main (as mian), you don't seem to know that a driver requires an entry point called DriverEntry and that this takes parameters completely different from a classic main.

As I pointed out before, you are mixing user mode (UM) and kernel mode (KM) concepts. This will simply not work. There are no ifs and buts. A few years ago people even argued that C++ wasn't the right language to write KM code. Mostly because of the semantics of new and the implications with paged and nonpaged pool. These days C++ is accepted for its type-checking. There we have the next thing "pool", what's that? You have to learn at least the basics of the Windows internals, and I'm afraid that at least the edition of "Windows ???? Internals" I read back in the days didn't quite cut it. You'll want to get a proper book about drivers, such as Oney's "Programming the Microsoft Windows Driver Model" or a number of the books - including old titles - from the guys at OSR. Even very old books from NT4 times still contain a lot of valuable information, even though you will likely want something for at least Windows 2000, because of the overhaul of the PnP system and more in Windows 2000.

OSR is also an excellent online resource, although I have to caution you: they are selling courses and those courses are excellent. Natrually they'll not provide every detail in the online available resources. I thought I knew something about driver programming, until I took two of their courses in 2005. They also host three mailing lists

Other than the difference between paged and nonpaged pool you will have to learn concepts such as IRQLs and what you can do at which IRQL. Also, most people think of drivers as "programs", which is another fallacy. One can more compare them with DLLs, even though this comparison also has its shortcomings. It is hard for drivers to maintain global state because many threads from various processes in UM and KM may be hammering it with requests. And all of this still has to be running at a reasonable speed. You may also want to learn tools such as WinDbg, even though with the new VS 11 WDK integration you may not need that anymore (VisualKD is an older option for the same problem).

If you think you can get away with Windows UM programming skills in KM, think again! The best scenario I can imagine is that your driver will be badly written and will work only because you used one of the more recent driver models from the WDF, which simplify many of the things that otherwise require in-depth knowledge. However, will it run reliably? You must consider that a crashing program just crashes the program, but your crashing driver will inevitably crash the OS, the repercussions of which may become clear only later. Especially when considering that PCs are also used in hospitals or nuclear power plants.

Also one last note: as I pointed out before you do not need Visual Studio at all. Be it the Express edition or another. The reason being that the WDK is reportedly a subset of the environment used to build the OS (i.e. Windows) itself. This means you can use Vim or whatever your favorite editor and still build your driver. After all, the build environment of the WDK is nmake-based, with an application named build on top and the sources file in your folder being the central file in your make process. Look at any one sample in the WDK, there are plenty. But most of all RTFM (read the friendly manual). The WDK documentation is excellent, especially if you have the comparison from Windows NT4, 2000 or even XP times.