atl1_close(9)

👑 atl1_close(9) — a Kernel API Manual moment

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual entry for atl1_close(9) — yes that's the whole manual name, we're fancy here 💅 this little function is literally the "bye babe" button for a network interface, and we're gonna walk through it together, no cap.

---

✨ NAME ✨

atl1_close — disables a network interface 🫶

like, that's the whole job. it turns the thing off. iconic behavior honestly.

---

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int atl1_close (struct net_device *netdev );

that's it. one function, one argument, returns an int. clean, minimal, main character energy ⭐

---

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• netdev — the network interface device structure 💖 like, the actual device object we're saying bye to. she's a struct net_device and she's the whole reason we're here.

---

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so this function returns 0 — and lowkey the important part is that this is not allowed to fail 🔥 like, it literally can't. the close entry point is called when an interface is de-activated by the OS, so it's gotta Just Work™.

here's the vibe check on what's happening under the hood: the hardware is still under the driver's control, but it needs to be disabled 🙈 so we're not like, abandoning it, we're just putting it to sleep.

the way that this shuts down is a global MAC reset gets issued to stop the hardware — full stop, periodt 💀 — and then all transmit and receive resources are freed. tx and rx said "we're out" and honestly? good for them. freeing resources is self-care 🌈

---

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• Kernel file ./drivers/net/ethernet/atheros/atlx/atl1.c — the actual source, go read her, iykyk 💜
• atl1_check_options(9)
• atl1_sw_init(9)
• atl1_setup_ring_resources(9)
• atl1_clean_rx_ring(9)
• atl1_clean_tx_ring(9)
• atl1_free_ring_resources(9)
• atl1_configure(9)
• atl1_alloc_rx_buffers(9)
• atl1_intr(9)
• atl1_phy_config(9)
• atl1_change_mtu(9)
• atl1_open(9)
• atl1_probe(9)
• atl1_remove(9)

like, the whole friend group is here 🧚 atl1_open(9) is the opposite vibe (she opens, this one closes), and everybody else is doing ring/resource/init stuff. go say hi. 🍓

---

aaaand that's the page bestie!! 💖 this gem came to you from ./drivers/net/ethernet/atheros... and it's dated October 2026 — so mark your calendars and stan responsibly 👑✨