_ctl_poll(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

🌸 _ctl_poll(9) — kernel API manual, but make it a group chat 🌸

okay so bestie, we're in the 9 section of the kernel API manual today, which is the "kernel internals, don't @ me unless you're writing drivers" section. this page is _ctl_poll and it lives in the mpt3sas family, iykyk. 💅

✨ NAME ✨

_ctl_poll — and honestly? that's it. that's the whole description. the dash is there and then nothing, no cap. not me reading a manpage with an empty NAME blurb 😭 the description field is literally blank, so we're all just out here vibing on the function name alone. lowkey iconic of it.

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

__poll_t _ctl_poll (struct file *filep , poll_table *wait );

that's the whole signature, transcribed exactly, spaces and all — yes the space before the comma stays, I don't make the rules, I just respect the source 🫶 it takes two pointers and returns a __poll_t, which is the poll-flavoured return type. slay.

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

okay so here's the thing, and I need you to be seated for this one:

  • filep — ? ...yeah. that's what the documentation says. a whole question mark. the manpage does not know, or is not telling, what filep is for. it's giving mysterious main character energy 🕵️‍♀️ bestie I cannot make up a meaning for it, that would be lying to you, and we don't lie about kernel signatures.
  • wait — ? same situation, same single question mark. the poll table pointer has entered the chat and refused to introduce itself 🙈
real talk: both argument descriptions are literally just ? in the original. I'm flagging that rather than guessing, because guessing at kernel API behaviour is how you end up crying at 3am. 😭

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

now THIS is the part where the page pops off. the cross-reference list is enormous and every single entry matters, so buckle up, we're going through all of them, no skips, no "etc.", periodt. 💖

first up, the source file itself and its enum bestie:

  • Kernel file ./drivers/scsi/mpt3sas/mpt3sas_ctl.c enum block_state(9)

then the _ctl_ core crew:

then the diagnostics era of the page, which is a whole saga honestly:

the compat + ioctl girlies 💅

then the _show wall — version info first, and yes there are six of them and yes I'm listing all six 🌈

board + performance-ish sysfs friends:

the host trace buffer trio 🧚

diag trigger everything — shows and stores, keeping the order exactly as given:

and the final stretch:

like, the way this page has 82 cross-references and a blank NAME description? highkey ate. the linked list is the content, and that's on periodt. 🔥

heads up bestie: this page ships you a synopsis and a giant pile of SEE ALSO and basically zero prose. if you actually need to know what _ctl_poll does at runtime, go read ./drivers/scsi/mpt3sas/mpt3sas_ctl.c — that's not me being shady, that's literally the top entry in the list. 💜

and that's the page! 💖✨🎀🦋🌸💅🫶

cute little sign-off: this gem comes to you from the source dir ./drivers/scsi/mpt3sas, dated October 2026, and it's _ctl_poll(9) from the Kernel API Manual — go drink some water and go read a real function body, mwah 🍓🧚‍♀️

📦 where this page comes from