drm_dev_register(9)

✨ drm_dev_register(9) ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the drm_dev_register(9) page — it's a kernel API manual situation, and this lil function is like the main character moment for a DRM device 🎀

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💖 NAME 💖

drm_dev_register — register a DRM device, aka give your device its ✨debut✨

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int drm_dev_register (struct drm_device *dev , unsigned long flags );

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• dev — the device you're registering, bestie. the one getting its glow-up.
• flags — flags that get passed straight into the driver's .load function. iykyk, they go where they go 💅

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🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

so here's the tea: you call this and it registers the DRM device dev with the system, advertises the device to userspace, and then starts normal device operation. it's giving "device, you're live" 👑

dev must be initialized via drm_dev_init beforehand — like, do that first, fr fr.

ok this part is NOT a drill: never call this twice on any device! not once more, not ever. periodt. 💀

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🎀 NOTE 🎀

ngl, this is the messy part. to keep backward compatibility with existing drivers' method, this function calls the drm_driver.load method after registering the device nodes — which literally creates race conditions 😭 not cute at all.

so because of that, usage of the drm_driver.load methods is deprecated. drivers must perform all their initialization before calling drm_dev_register. all of it. before. no skipping ahead 🙈

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

• 0 on success 🫶
• a negative error code on failure 😔

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• Kernel file ./drivers/gpu/drm/drm_drv.c driver instance overview(9)
• drm_put_dev(9)
• drm_dev_enter(9)
• drm_dev_exit(9)
• drm_dev_unplug(9)
• drm_dev_set_dma_dev(9)
• drm_dev_wedged_event(9)
• component helper usage recommendations(9)
• __drm_dev_alloc(9)
• drm_dev_alloc(9)
• drm_dev_get(9)
• drm_dev_put(9)
• drmm_cgroup_register_region(9)
• drm_dev_unregister(9)

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and that's the whole vibe check 💜 this icon of a page lives in ./drivers/gpu/drm, dated October 2026 — catch you there, bestie! 🌸✨🍓