DRIVER LOAD WHEN CSME IS ASSOCIATED AND A SESSION IS ACTIVE(9)

💖 DRIVER LOAD WHEN CSME IS ASSOCIATED AND A SESSION IS ACTIVE (9) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual, section 9 — this one's a whole saga about what happens when CSME is already out there living its life and you come along wanting the device. buckle up 🎀

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so first things first, let's define the vibe: a "session" is active when CSME is associated to an access point and the link is being used to attach a remote driver or to control the system remotely. like, CSME is mid-conversation, okay? don't be rude. 💅

when a session is active, we really want to make sure it won't disconnect when we take ownership on the device. so here's the tea:

• the driver can get the device, but it'll need to make sure it connects to the exact same AP (same BSSID). no cap, same one. 🫶
• to do that, CSME will send the connection parameters through SAP, and then the host can check if it can connect to this same AP.
• if yes? it can request ownership through SAP and connect quickly — no scanning all the channels, just probing the AP on the channel that CSME was connected to. iconic behavior honestly ✨

now, to signal this specific scenario to iwlwifi, iwlmei will immediately require iwlwifi to report RF-Kill to the network stack. why? because this RF-Kill prevents the stack from getting the device — and it has a reason attached that tells userspace the device is in RF-Kill because it is not owned by the host. it's giving "not yours, don't touch" 😭

once userspace has configured the right profile, it'll be able to let iwlmei know that it can request ownership over SAP — which removes the RF-Kill and finally allows the host to connect. slay. 🦋

⏰ the clock is ticking: the host then has 3 seconds to connect (including DHCP). if the host fails to connect within those 3 seconds, CSME will take the device back. periodt. no extensions, bestie.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• Kernel file ./drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mei/iwl-mei.h
• Introduction(9)
• Life cycle(9)
• Memory layout(9)
• Concurrency(9)
• Probe and remove from mei bus driver(9)
• Driver load when CSME owns the device(9)
• CSME behavior regarding the ownership requests(9)
• Datapath(9)
• enum iwl_mei_nvm_caps(9)
• struct iwl_mei_nvm(9)
• enum iwl_mei_pairwise_cipher(9)
• enum iwl_mei_akm_auth(9)
• struct iwl_mei_conn_info(9)
• struct iwl_mei_colloc_info(9)
• enum iwl_mei_sap_version(9)
• iwl_mei_is_connected(9)
• iwl_mei_get_nvm(9)
• iwl_mei_get_ownership(9)
• iwl_mei_set_rfkill_state(9)
• iwl_mei_set_nic_info(9)
• iwl_mei_set_country_code(9)
• iwl_mei_set_power_limit(9)
• iwl_mei_register(9)
• iwl_mei_start_unregister(9)
• iwl_mei_unregister_complete(9)
• iwl_mei_set_netdev(9)
• iwl_mei_tx_copy_to_csme(9)
• iwl_mei_host_associated(9)
• iwl_mei_host_disassociated(9)
• iwl_mei_device_state(9)
• iwl_mei_pldr_req(9)
• iwl_mei_alive_notif(9)

and that's the whole page, bestie 💜 — sourced from ./drivers/net/wireless/intel/i... (yeah it's truncated like that, don't come for me 🙈), dated October 2026, filed under Driver load...on is active(9). go forth and don't lose the device to CSME 🧚‍♀️✨