Missing and undetected device-driver states

Detection starts with enumeration

A device can be physically present while its bus or connection layer has not produced a usable device representation. Enumeration is the process by which a platform learns that an endpoint exists and reads enough identity or capability data to describe it. It is different from loading a function-specific driver.

Identity and matching are separate

Once a device is represented, the platform can compare its identifiers and requirements with package declarations. A missing match means the selection model lacks a suitable declaration; it does not by itself establish that the hardware is absent or that a package is defective.

Selection is not activation

A package can be stored or ranked for a device while the runtime relationship remains inactive, incomplete, or represented by another layer. Device status, package records, bus state, and application visibility are related observations, not interchangeable definitions of detection.

State language stays descriptive

Useful reference terms include enumerated, identified, matched, selected, started, and exposed. Each term answers a different question about a boundary. This vocabulary describes what a system record means without turning a status label into a claim about cause.

Questions and answers