drm_atomic_h...r_reset_crtc(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

✨ drm_atomic_helper_reset_crtc ✨

Okay bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual, section 9 — this one's about drm_atomic_helper_reset_crtc, the little function that hits the reset button on a CRTC's active outputs. It's giving "have you tried turning it off and on again" but for display hardware 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

drm_atomic_helper_reset_crtc — reset the active outputs of a CRTC

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

int drm_atomic_helper_reset_crtc (struct drm_crtc *crtc , struct
       drm_modeset_acquire_ctx *ctx );

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

  • crtc — the DRM CRTC, i.e. the thing you're resetting. Main character energy, obviously.
  • ctx — the lock acquisition context. It's the vibe check for your locks, no cap.

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So what does it actually do? It resets the active outputs by indicating that connectors have changed. And because of that, it implies a reset of every active component chilling between the CRTC and the connectors — like, the whole little ecosystem gets refreshed together, periodt.

Also, a lil' sibling exists: drm_bridge_helper_reset_crtc, which is the same idea but dedicated to bridges. Different function, same slay 🫶

⚠️ NOTE ⚠️

This whole thing relies on resetting drm_crtc_state.connectors_changed. So for drivers that optimize out unnecessary modesets — yeah, this will result in a no-op commit. It achieves nothing. Literally nothing. Not a single thing. 😭💀

Not a bug, just how it is — so don't come for the function when your driver's optimizer eats it for breakfast.

👑 RETURN 👑

0 on success, or a negative error code on failure. That's it, that's the whole vibe check 🌈

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

Grab a snack, bestie, because this list is long — but every single one of these is here for a reason, iykyk:

That's the whole page, bestie — you ate that 🍓

💜 Cute lil' sign-off: this one lives in ./drivers/gpu/drm, dated October 2026, and it goes by drm_atomic_h...r_reset_crtc(9) because apparently even manpage headers gotta be mysterious. ✨

📦 where this page comes from