Linux DKMS for Dektec device drivers

IMPORTANT: This project is now archived. Starting with version 2024.06.0, the Dektec LinuxSDK includes its own DKMS installation and this specific project is no longer necessary.

About Dektec device drivers

Dektec is a manufacturer of PC add-on cards, USB devices, IP converters and software for the professional digital-television market. Their products are used for test and measurement and to build broadcast infrastructure.

Dektec provides device drivers for Windows and Linux. See their comprehensive download page.

On Windows, WinSDK, the SDK and device drivers package, is a standard binary installer which properly installs and configures the DTAPI and the device drivers. There is nothing to add.

Installing the drivers on Linux

On Linux systems, the Dektec device drivers are provided in source form only, as part of the LinuxSDK package. On lab or production systems where the kernel can be periodically updated, dealing with drivers in source form is not very handy. Most Linux distros have an answer for this: DKMS, Dynamic Kernel Module Support. The source code of the drivers are installed in /usr/src and the drivers are automatically recompiled and reinstalled in case of kernel update.

The Dektec LinuxSDK package now provides its own DKMS installation. After downloading the LinuxSDK archive from the Dektec download page, expand it into some temporary directory. Everything is expanded under a root subdirectory named LinuxSDK.

Important: Before installing the drivers, verify that your system is ready for DKMS. On most distros, this means installing a package named dkms and a few dependencies.

To install the Dektec device drivers into the DKMS build system, use the following command:

sudo LinuxSDK/Drivers/Install

The command installs the drivers source code in /usr/src/dektec-2024.06.0/ (for version 2024.06.0) and builds the drivers for the current kernel in /var/lib/dkms/dektec/2024.06.0/. Each time the kernel will be upgraded, the Dektec device drivers (and all drivers in the DKMS system) will be automatically recompiled.

To remove the Dektec device drivers from the DKMS system, use the following command:

sudo LinuxSDK/Drivers/Uninstall