drm_gem_dma_resv_wait(9)

💅 drm_gem_dma_resv_wait(9) — the Kernel API Manual page you didn't know you needed

okay so bestie, welcome to the drm_gem_dma_resv_wait(9) glow-up page, straight out of the Kernel API Manual. this one's a cute little kernel function and honestly? it's giving "wait at the club velvet rope but for GPU fences" 💖

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✨ NAME ✨

drm_gem_dma_resv_wait — literally just: wait on a GEM object's reservation's objects' shared and/or exclusive fences 🎀

yes that's a lot of possessives. it's a reservation, that reservation has objects, those objects have fences, and we're waiting on them. iconic nesting, no notes 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

long drm_gem_dma_resv_wait (struct drm_file *filep , u32 handle , bool
wait_all , unsigned long timeout );

she takes four args and returns a long. that's the whole vibe check 🔥

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• filep — the DRM file private date. (yes, the original says "date" — we do not fix the manpage, we respect the manpage 💀 it means the private data, bestie.)
• handle — the userspace handle. that's the lil ID number userspace uses to point at its GEM object 🎀
• wait_all — if it's true, you wait on all the fences. if it's false, you wait on just the exclusive fence. pick your fighter ✨
• timeout — timeout value in jiffies, or zero to return immediately. zero is the "i'm just checking, not committing" energy 🙈

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👑 RETURN 👑

here's the receipts on what she hands back:

• -ERESTARTSYS if interrupted 😭
• 0 if the wait timed out 💀
• greater than 0 on success 🎉 slay

fr fr, clock that 0 — a zero here means timed out, not "yay done". do not get played by the return value bestie 🫶

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the whole kernel file ./drivers/gpu/drm/drm_gem.c is the mothership, and here's the entire extended friend group of drm_gem_* besties — every single one, no cap:

drm_gem_huge_mnt_create(9), drm_gem_init(9), drm_gem_object_init(9), drm_gem_private_object_init(9), drm_gem_private_object_fini(9), drm_gem_object_handle_get_if_exists_unlocked(9), drm_gem_object_handle_free(9), drm_gem_object_handle_put_unlocked(9), drm_gem_handle_delete(9), drm_gem_dumb_map_offset(9), drm_gem_handle_create_tail(9), drm_gem_handle_create(9), drm_gem_free_mmap_offset(9), drm_gem_create_mmap_offset_size(9), drm_gem_create_mmap_offset(9), drm_gem_get_pages(9), drm_gem_put_pages(9), drm_gem_objects_lookup(9), drm_gem_object_lookup(9), drm_gem_open(9), drm_gem_release(9), drm_gem_object_release(9), drm_gem_object_free(9), drm_gem_vm_open(9), drm_gem_vm_close(9), drm_gem_mmap_obj(9), drm_gem_get_unmapped_area(9), drm_gem_mmap(9), drm_gem_lock_reservations(9), drm_gem_lru_init(9), drm_gem_lru_remove(9), drm_gem_lru_move_tail_locked(9), drm_gem_lru_move_tail(9), drm_gem_lru_scan(9), drm_gem_evict_locked(9)

like, that's a group chat with 35 members and every single one is on read 💀 but they're all valid, go say hi 🧚

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and that's the page!! tysm for reading, mwah 💜

— xoxo, your local kernel bestie, signing off from ./drivers/gpu/drm 🌸 dated October 2026, page drm_gem_dma_resv_wait(9), periodt 💅✨