COMEDI_ARM_CHANNEL(3)

💖 COMEDI_ARM_CHANNEL 💖

okay bestie, we're in the Comedi reference manual, section 3, and today's main character is comedi_arm_channel. yes it's giving "low-level C library function" and yes you're gonna eat this up. 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

comedi_arm_channel — arm a subdevice channel 🌸

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <comedilib.h>

int comedi_arm_channel(comedi_t * device, unsigned int subdevice,
                       unsigned int channel, unsigned int source);

like literally copy that include, it's not optional, she's the blueprint 🦋

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✨ STATUS ✨

alpha

(yeah. she's still in her alpha era. we love her anyway 💅)

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

soooo what does she actually do?? she arms a specified channel of a subdevice. think of it like, idk, cocking something to fire — except here it might be arming a counter so it can begin counting. 🔥

the source parameter is the vibe-setter, fr fr: it tells Comedi what source should trigger the subdevice to begin. and here's the thing — the possible sources are driver-dependant. so no, I can't just hand you a list, bestie, it depends on your driver. iykyk 😭

also, super important, ngl: this function is only useable on subdevices that provide support for the INSN_CONFIG_ARM configuration instruction. if your subdevice doesn't do that, she's not gonna work, no cap.

and here's the plot twist 🫶 — some subdevices treat this whole thing as an instruction to arm the whole subdevice and just straight up ignore the channel you passed in. rude? maybe. canon? yes. for those subdevices, comedi_arm is normally called instead. 💀

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✨ RETURN VALUE ✨

• 0 — success, slay 👑
• -1 — error, we're crying 😭

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✨ AUTHORS ✨

these are the icons that made her happen, show some respect:

• David Schleef <ds@schleef.org> — Author.
• Frank Mori Hess <fmhess@users.sourceforge.net> — Author.
• Herman Bruyninckx <Herman.Bruyninckx@mech.kuleuven.ac.be> — Author.
• Bernd Porr <tech@linux-usb-daq.co.uk> — Author.
• Ian Abbott <abbotti@mev.co.uk> — Author.
• Éric Piel <piel@delmic.com> — Author.

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✨ COPYRIGHT ✨

Copyright © 1998-2003 David Schleef Copyright © 2001-2003, 2005, 2008 Frank Mori Hess Copyright © 2002-2003 Herman Bruyninckx Copyright © 2012 Bernd Porr Copyright © 2012 Ian Abbott Copyright © 2012, 2015 Éric Piel

okay legal bestie moment, but it's important so read it 🎀

This document is part of Comedilib. In the context of this document, the term "source code" as defined by the license is interpreted as the XML source.

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 2.1 of the License.

⚠️ This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

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okay that's the whole page, you ate that 💅

Comedi · 03/20/2026 · COMEDI_ARM_CHANNEL(3) — mwah, love u, go arm something responsibly 🦋✨💖