Method and system for enforcing hardware/software compatibility constraints

A computer program product comprising:

• a first tangible computer-readable storage medium containing first functional descriptive material that, when executed by a computer, directs the computer to perform actions that include:
• reading identification numbers from the peripheral device;
• determining, from the identification numbers, if the peripheral device may be used with a particular device driver;
• and
• in response to a determination that the peripheral device may be used with a particular device driver, writing a signature to a scratchpad register in a configuration space of the peripheral device.

A peripheral device comprising:

• at least one non-volatile store;
• an interface adapted to provide connectivity between the at least one non-volatile store and a computer system;
• and
• a set of instructions within the at least one non-volatile store, wherein the set of instructions are adapted to be executed by the computer system so as to direct the computer system to perform actions that include:
• reading identification numbers from the peripheral device;
• determining, from the identification numbers, if the peripheral device may be used with a particular device driver;
• and
• in response to a determination that the peripheral device may be used with a particular device driver, writing a signature to a scratchpad register in a configuration space of the peripheral device.

A data processing system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• at least one memory;
• a peripheral device having a non-volatile store;
• a first set of instructions in the non-volatile store, wherein the at least one processor executes the first set of instructions to perform actions of:
• reading identification numbers from the peripheral device;
• determining, from the identification numbers, if the peripheral device may be used with a particular device driver;
• and
• in response to a determination that the peripheral device may be used with a particular device driver, writing a signature to a scratchpad register in a configuration space of the peripheral device;
• a second set of instructions in the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor executes the second set of instructions to perform actions of:
• determining whether the signature has been written to the configuration space;
• and
• in response to a determination that the signature has been written to the configuration space, enabling the device driver.