ata_sff_altstatus(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 NAME

okay so bestie, welcome to ata_sff_altstatus — she's a kernel function (from the ata_sff_altstatus(9) manual page, hi 👋) and her whole entire job is: read the device alternate status reg. that's it. that's the post. ✨

✨ SYNOPSIS

bool ata_sff_altstatus (struct ata_port *ap , u8 *status );

(no cap, the spacing in there is exactly how the original lays it out — we do not touch 💅)

🎀 ARGUMENTS

  • ap — the port where the device is chillin'. like, that's her home address 🏠
  • status — a pointer to a status value. she's gonna get written into, bestie 🫶

🦋 DESCRIPTION

So what she actually does: she reads the ATA alternate status register for the currently-selected device, and returns its value. literally that. reads it, hands it back to you, done ✨

LOCKING: inherited from caller 👑 — meaning she does not do her own locking, she gets it from whoever called her. so like, the vibes are inherited, the responsibility is yours, iykyk 💀

🌸 RETURN

  • true — if the register exists 🎉
  • false — if not 🙈

that's the whole vibe check, no in-between.

🔥 SEE ALSO

also go read the kernel file ./drivers/ata/libata-sff.c and honestly the entire extended friend group of (9) pages, because they're all iconic in their own way:

okay that's the whole page bestie, go forth and read those alternate status registers responsibly ✨

this little masterpiece lives in the Kernel API Manual 🌈, ships from ./drivers/ata 🦋, and is dated October 2026 🎀 — mwah, take care, drink water, and remember: she returns true if the register exists 💖

📦 where this page comes from