amdgpu_ring_alloc(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 NAME 💖

amdgpu_ring_alloc — allocate space on the ring buffer ✨

Ok so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual, and lemme tell you about this little cutie that reserves room on your ring buffer. 🎀

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

int amdgpu_ring_alloc (struct amdgpu_ring *ring , unsigned int ndw );

Like, that's the whole vibe. One struct, one number, one int coming back atcha. 💅

🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

  • ring — the amdgpu_ring structure holding ring information, aka the main character that knows everything about your ring 🫶
  • ndw — number of dwords to allocate in the ring buffer. yes, dwords. we're counting in double words over here, no cap 💀

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So what it does: it allocates ndw dwords in the ring buffer. That's it, that's the job. 🌈

And here's the tea ☕ — the number of dwords you pass should be the sum of all commands written to the ring. Like, the whole total, not just one little command. Add 'em all up, bestie. Math is giving main character energy today. ✨

⭐ RETURN ⭐

  • 0 on success — slay, we ate, the allocation worked 👑
  • otherwise -ENOMEM 😭 — which happens if it tries to allocate more than the maximum dword allowed for one submission. so like, don't be greedy with the dwords, okay? the ring has limits. periodt.
Fr fr, if you see -ENOMEM it's not a vibe check failure on your end necessarily — it literally means you asked for more than the max dword allowed for one submission. 🙈

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

Kernel file: ./drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdgpu/amdgpu_ring.c — go read the source, iykyk 💜

And the whole friend group of ring functions, all iconic in their own right:

And that's the page, bestie! 🧚 This lil masterpiece lives in ./drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdgpu and it's dated October 2026 — so like, future vibes but the docs are timeless. Stay allocated, stay iconic, and remember: sum your dwords. 💖✨

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