__drm_dev_alloc(9)

💅 __drm_dev_alloc — a kernel API manual moment

okay so bestie, welcome to the __drm_dev_alloc(9) page, straight out of the Kernel API Manual. no cap, this one's niche but it's iconic niche. grab a matcha, we're doing pointer allocation lore 🍓

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✨ NAME ✨

__drm_dev_alloc — the allocation of a &drm_device instance, aka bringing a whole DRM device into existence 💫

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

void * __drm_dev_alloc (struct device *parent , const struct drm_driver
*driver , size_t size , size_t offset );

like, four arguments, one pointer out. she's efficient 💅

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• parent — the parent device object 🫶 the literal mother figure here
• driver — the DRM driver. the main character, fr fr 👑
• size — the size of the struct that contains struct drm_device. yes, the container, not the device itself, keep up bestie 🧚
• offset — the offset of the drm_device within that container. it's giving "where's the device hiding inside the bigger struct" energy 🔍

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the tea, and this part is loud: this should *NOT* be used by any drivers. like, at all. not even a little. it's a dedicated interface made specifically for the corresponding Rust abstraction ✨ so unless you're that, step away from the function 🙈

behavior-wise, it's the same as devm_drm_dev_alloc, but without the corresponding resource management through the parent device. so you don't get the cute auto-cleanup, you get the raw version 🫠

and it is not the same as drm_dev_alloc — because that one is the deprecated version, and it does not support subclassing. deprecated era, we don't stan 💀

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🌈 RETURN 🌈

a pointer to the new DRM device 💖 ... or an ERR_PTR on failure 😭 (check it, bestie, always check it)

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

the whole friend group, one big group chat:

• the Kernel file ./drivers/gpu/drm/drm_drv.c
• driver instance overview(9)
• drm_put_dev(9)
• drm_dev_enter(9)
• drm_dev_exit(9)
• drm_dev_unplug(9)
• drm_dev_set_dma_dev(9)
• drm_dev_wedged_event(9)
• component helper usage recommendations(9)
• drm_dev_alloc(9)
• drm_dev_get(9)
• drm_dev_put(9)
• drmm_cgroup_register_region(9)
• drm_dev_register(9)
• drm_dev_unregister(9)

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ngl, lowkey the vibe check here is: not for drivers, made for the Rust abstraction, no devm resource management, and definitely not the deprecated drm_dev_alloc. iykyk 🧚‍♀️

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and that's the page, bestie!! this little gem lives in ./drivers/gpu/drm and the version stamp is from October 2026 — slay, see you in the next manpage 💜🎀🔥