cdev_del(9)

💅 cdev_del(9)

okay so we're in the Kernel API Manual, bestie, and today's main character is cdev_del(9). This is the page about removing a cdev from the system — not deleting your group chat, just one char device. Let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

cdev_del — remove a cdev from the system

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

void cdev_del (struct cdev *p );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• p — the cdev structure to be removed. That's the one getting sent to the group-chat exit, no hard feelings.

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

cdev_del removes p from the system, possibly freeing the structure itself. Yep, possibly — the structure itself might get freed, so don't go assuming anything extra, bestie. 💅

⚠️ NOTE ⚠️

This guarantees that the cdev device will no longer be able to be opened. Iconic, honestly. 🔥

But highkey important: any cdevs already open will remain, and their fops will still be callable even after cdev_del returns. So like… no cap, this is not a "close every existing file descriptor for you" situation. Already-open stuff stays open, and its fops stay callable. 🫶

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

Kernel file ./fs/char_dev.c, plus these absolute legends:

• register_chrdev_region(9)
• alloc_chrdev_region(9)
• __register_chrdev(9)
• unregister_chrdev_region(9)
• __unregister_chrdev(9)
• cdev_add(9)
• cdev_set_parent(9)
• cdev_device_add(9)
• cdev_device_del(9)
• cdev_alloc(9)
• cdev_init(9)

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that's the whole vibe 🦋 this one comes from the ./fs source tree, October 2026 edition — mwah, go touch some char devices (responsibly) 💜