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  • I wouldn't definitely think of it as a stupid question because I am just starting to learn how to do this stuff. And I guess I may need more steps to make it work. I just compiled the driver libraries for the device and not really sure how to go from here to actually make them available in my system to recognize the device. What next steps should I be looking for? Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 9:40
  • Take a look for any file named INSTALL or README- although they might just be generic. You are likely to find that there will be a separate make install stage which (a) inserts the module file into the right place in /lib/modules, and (b) you might also find it necessary to use modprobe explicitly after plugging in the device if udev etc. doesn't know about it. In extremis look at the Makefile and see if there's an install section in it, which will probably run depmod as its final action. Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 9:55
  • That's where I get into trouble. I don't have any README or INSTALL files for the driver, just a C file with the source code and a couple header files. The driver was originally compiled and included with ThorLabs software for Windows to use this device. I was lucky that the vendor included the source code in the original software bundle. I basically had to track down the required libraries for Linux to compile it. So after reading your answer I am thinking that I may have to make some more tinkering with the source file to compile it. Commented Oct 11, 2020 at 19:57
  • I might have been making the wrong assumption (based on your reference to "driver source code") that you were building a kernel module. Where did you get the source stuff from and did it have a makefile? Commented Oct 11, 2020 at 20:35
  • Sorry if I wasn't clear in providing context for this issue. The manufacturer (ThorLabs) provided the driver source code containing the required functions to communicate with the device (e.g. collecting data, checking device status, etc.). The catch is that it was intended to be used on Windows systems, although I think it's possible to build it to work on Linux. No makefile was available, only the C code for the device driver and some header files for libraries. Until now I managed to compile it linking the required libraries but was unable to make it visible on Linux. Commented Oct 12, 2020 at 8:34