x86 discoverability is over rated

for x86 systems, most devices connect to a bus where you can send a query to the bus asking what devices are connected. The very small subset of devices that don't work this way tend to be devices that are standard across all manufacturers.

on many embedded systems (including ARM) this isn't the case. the kernel running on the system has no way of guessing what will happen if it sends data out to some I/O address. The kernel must be told about every device in the system and where it is.

it's the fact that almost every device on an x86 system is on a bus that can report what is there that makes the systems "discoverable"