ata_sff_dev_select(9)

💅 ata_sff_dev_select — like, the whole NAME thing

okay so bestie, this is ata_sff_dev_select(9) from the Kernel API Manual, and it's literally the function that picks which device gets to be the main character on your ATA bus. device 0 or device 1, no in-between. ✨

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void ata_sff_dev_select (struct ata_port *ap , unsigned int device );

that's it. that's the whole vibe. two args, zero drama. 🎀

---

🫶 ARGUMENTS 🫶

• ap — the ATA channel you're messing with. your canvas, your stage, your little port. 💖
• device — the ATA device you wanna select, and yes it's numbered starting from zero (so 0 and 1, not 1 and 2 — classic programmer behavior 😭).

---

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so the whole point: this uses the method defined in the ATA specification to make either device 0 or device 1 active on the ATA channel. that's it, that's the job. and the way it does it works with both PIO and MMIO — no cap, it's flexible like that. 🌈

it may also be used as the dev_select entry in ata_port_operations. iykyk. 👑

LOCKING: caller. that's the whole note. you handle the locking, bestie — this function is not gonna do it for you. 💀

---

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

Kernel file ./drivers/ata/libata-sff.c and honestly the entire extended friend group:

• ata_sff_check_status(9)
• ata_sff_altstatus(9)
• ata_sff_irq_status(9)
• ata_sff_sync(9)
• ata_sff_pause(9)
• ata_sff_dma_pause(9)
• ata_sff_wait_ready(9)
• ata_sff_set_devctl(9)
• ata_dev_select(9)
• ata_sff_irq_on(9)
• ata_sff_tf_load(9)
• ata_sff_tf_read(9)
• ata_sff_exec_command(9)
• ata_tf_to_host(9)
• ata_sff_data_xfer(9)
• ata_sff_data_xfer32(9)
• ata_pio_sector(9)
• ata_pio_sectors(9)
• atapi_send_cdb(9)
• __atapi_pio_bytes(9)
• atapi_pio_bytes(9)
• ata_hsm_ok_in_wq(9)
• ata_hsm_qc_complete(9)
• ata_sff_hsm_move(9)
• ata_sff_qc_issue(9)
• ata_sff_qc_fill_rtf(9)
• ata_sff_port_intr(9)
• ata_sff_interrupt(9)
• ata_sff_lost_interrupt(9)
• ata_sff_freeze(9)
• ata_sff_thaw(9)
• ata_sff_prereset(9)
• ata_devchk(9)
• ata_sff_dev_classify(9)
• ata_sff_wait_after_reset(9)
• ata_sff_softreset(9)
• sata_sff_hardreset(9)
• ata_sff_postreset(9)
• ata_sff_drain_fifo(9)
• ata_sff_error_handler(9)
• ata_sff_std_ports(9)
• ata_pci_sff_init_host(9)
• ata_pci_sff_prepare_host(9)
• ata_pci_sff_activate_host(9)
• ata_pci_sff_init_one(9)
• ata_bmdma_fill_sg(9)
• ata_bmdma_fill_sg_dumb(9)
• ata_bmdma_qc_prep(9)
• ata_bmdma_dumb_qc_prep(9)
• ata_bmdma_qc_issue(9)
• ata_bmdma_port_intr(9)
• ata_bmdma_interrupt(9)
• ata_bmdma_error_handler(9)
• ata_bmdma_post_internal_cmd(9)
• ata_bmdma_irq_clear(9)
• ata_bmdma_setup(9)
• ata_bmdma_start(9)
• ata_bmdma_stop(9)
• ata_bmdma_status(9)
• ata_bmdma_port_start(9)
• ata_bmdma_port_start32(9)
• ata_pci_bmdma_clear_simplex(9)
• ata_pci_bmdma_init(9)
• ata_pci_bmdma_prepare_host(9)
• ata_pci_bmdma_init_one(9)
• ata_sff_port_init(9)

---

and that's the whole page, bestie 💅 this lil icon lives over in ./drivers/ata, dated October 2026, and it's filed under the ata_sff_dev_select(9) girlies. go select a device. slay. 🌸🦋💖