blk_mark_disk_dead(9)

💖 blk_mark_disk_dead(9) 💖

okay so welcome to the Kernel API Manual bestie, today we're learning how to tell a disk it's ✨done✨ — no cap, this is the "it's over for you" function 🪦

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🌸 NAME 🌸

blk_mark_disk_dead — mark a disk as dead 💀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void blk_mark_disk_dead (struct gendisk *disk );

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• disk — the disk you're marking as dead, like, the actual victim here 🫶

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So what it does is mark the disk as dead (think: surprise removal, the disk just ghosted us 😭) and then it does not accept any new I/O to this disk. That's it. That's the whole vibe check. New I/O? Not on her watch. periodt. 💅

ngl this is the "no new friends" of block devices — existing state aside, no fresh I/O is getting through after this call.

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

kernel file ./block/genhd.c and honestly the whole friend group:

• bdev_count_inflight(9)
• __register_blkdev(9)
• add_disk_fwnode(9)
• device_add_disk(9)
• del_gendisk(9)
• invalidate_disk(9)
• disk_release(9)
• put_disk(9)
• set_disk_ro(9)

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🧚💜 this iconic little writeup lives in ./block and it's dated October 2026 — go forth and mark those disks dead, iykyk 🍓⭐👑