raw mode

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

<operating system> A mode that allows a program to transfer bits directly to or from an I/O device without any processing, abstraction, or interpretation by the operating system.

Systems that make this distinction for a disk file are generally regarded as broken.

Compare rare mode, cooked mode. [Jargon File]

(2002-04-14)

The Jargon File

A mode that allows a program to transfer bits directly to or from an I/O device (or, under bogus operating systems that make a distinction, a disk file) without any processing, abstraction, or interpretation by the operating system. Compare rare mode, cooked mode. This is techspeak under Unix, jargon elsewhere.