ata_port_alloc(9)

💅 ata_port_alloc(9) — like, the whole manual page, bestie

okay so first things first: this is ata_port_alloc(9) from the Kernel API Manual, and it's genuinely one of those little glue functions that makes the whole ATA world go round. we're talking basic port resources. allocation. initialization. the works. let's get into it 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

ata_port_alloc — allocate and initialize basic ATA port resources

like, that's it. that's the whole job. but bestie, the job matters 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

struct ata_port * ata_port_alloc (struct ata_host *host );

(i have not touched a single character of that, icon behaviour only ✨)

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• host — the ATA host that this freshly allocated port belongs to. like, the port is not gonna live on the streets, it has a host and it knows it 🫶

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

Allocate and initialize basic ATA port resources.

that's the official story and honestly? it ate. "basic" here is doing so much heavy lifting, but we don't editorialize, we just report 🔥

🔒 LOCKING 🔒

Inherited from calling layer (may sleep).

read that again, bestie: may sleep. so no, you cannot just casually call this from your interrupt handler at 3am and hope for the best. the locking is inherited from whatever layer calls you, and sleeping is on the table. plan accordingly. iykyk 😭

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🌈 RETURN 🌈

• Allocate ATA port → success, you get your port, slay ✨
• NULL → failure, and you have to deal with it like a grown-up 💀

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

soooo the squad. the whole squad. nobody gets left behind, no cap. and before you ask — yes, all of it, in order, exactly as printed, because we do not skip parts on this page 🙈

also flagged up front: Kernel file ./drivers/ata/libata-core.c

ata_link_next(9),
ata_dev_next(9), ata_dev_phys_link(9), ata_force_cbl(9),
ata_force_pflags(9), ata_force_link_limits(9), ata_force_xfermask(9),
ata_force_quirks(9), atapi_cmd_type(9), ata_set_rwcmd_protocol(9),
ata_tf_read_block(9), ata_build_rw_tf(9), ata_pack_xfermask(9),
ata_unpack_xfermask(9), ata_xfer_mask2mode(9), ata_xfer_mode2mask(9),
ata_xfer_mode2shift(9), ata_mode_string(9), ata_dev_classify(9),
ata_id_string(9), ata_id_c_string(9), ata_read_native_max_address(9),
ata_set_max_sectors(9), ata_hpa_resize(9), ata_dump_id(9),
ata_id_xfermask(9), ata_exec_internal(9), ata_pio_need_iordy(9),
ata_pio_mask_no_iordy(9), ata_do_dev_read_id(9), ata_dev_read_id(9),
ata_dev_power_set_standby(9), ata_dev_power_set_active(9),
ata_read_log_page(9), ata_dev_configure(9), ata_cable_40wire(9),
ata_cable_80wire(9), ata_cable_unknown(9), ata_cable_ignore(9),
ata_cable_sata(9), sata_print_link_status(9), ata_dev_pair(9),
ata_timing_cycle2mode(9), ata_down_xfermask_limit(9), ata_set_mode(9),
ata_wait_ready(9), ata_wait_after_reset(9), ata_std_prereset(9),
ata_std_postreset(9), ata_dev_same_device(9), ata_dev_reread_id(9),
ata_dev_revalidate(9), ata_is_40wire(9), cable_is_40wire(9),
ata_dev_xfermask(9), ata_dev_set_xfermode(9), ata_dev_set_feature(9),
ata_dev_init_params(9), atapi_check_dma(9), ata_std_qc_defer(9),
ata_sg_init(9), ata_sg_clean(9), ata_sg_setup(9), swap_buf_le16(9),
ata_qc_free(9), ata_qc_complete(9), ata_qc_get_active(9),
ata_qc_issue(9), ata_phys_link_online(9), ata_phys_link_offline(9),
ata_link_online(9), ata_link_offline(9), ata_host_suspend(9),
ata_host_resume(9), ata_dev_init(9), ata_link_init(9),
sata_link_init_spd(9), ata_host_alloc(9), ata_host_alloc_pinfo(9),
ata_finalize_port_ops(9), ata_host_start(9), ata_host_init(9),
ata_host_register(9), ata_host_activate(9), ata_dev_free_resources(9),
ata_port_detach(9), ata_host_detach(9), ata_pci_remove_one(9),
ata_platform_remove_one(9), ata_msleep(9), ata_wait_register(9)

that's like a hundred crushes, bestie. every single one of them. go read them all, i'll wait 🍓

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👑 the sign-off 👑

this whole situation lives in ./drivers/ata, and the page is dated October 2026 — so like, yes, we're being that specific, so we're being that specific 💜

periodt. that's the page. go allocate a port, bestie, and remember to sleep responsibly 😴✨