devm_of_phy_optional_get(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 devm_of_phy_optional_get(9) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual entry for devm_of_phy_optional_get(9) — yes the title is the function name, yes it's a mouthful, we're gonna get through it together 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

devm_of_phy_optional_get — look up and grab a reference to an optional phy 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

struct phy * devm_of_phy_optional_get (struct device *dev , struct device_node *np , const char *con_id );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • dev — the device that's requesting this phy, like it's putting in an order 🛍️
  • np — the node that's holding the phy
  • con_id — the name of the phy from the device's point of view (yes, perspective matters, it's giving main character energy)

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the vibe: this gets the phy using of_phy_get, and associates a device with it using devres. Then on driver detach, the release function is invoked on the devres data, and after that the devres data is freed. Cleanup? Handled. Obsessed. ✨

Now the part that makes this one special — this differs to devm_of_phy_get in that if the phy does not exist, it is not considered an error, and -ENODEV will not be returned. Instead the NULL phy is returned, which can be passed to all other phy consumer calls. no cap, that's the whole point 🫶

lowkey important: NULL here is a legit, valid answer. don't panic when you see it 💀

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Kernel file ./drivers/phy/phy-core.c — and honestly the whole friend group showed up:

🎀 and that's the page!! brought to you straight from ./drivers/phy, October 2026, Kernel API Manual edition — go forth and get your optional phys, bestie, ily 💜🧚‍♀️

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