drm_kms_hel..._poll_worker(9)

💅 drm_kms_helper_is_poll_worker(9) — from the Kernel API Manual, bestie

okay so picture this: it's a kernel API manual page, the title is literally drm_kms_hel..._poll_worker(9) (yes the truncation is real, that's just how she abbreviates when the name is too long to slay 💀), and it's living in the Kernel API Manual. cute. iconic. let's get into it ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

drm_kms_helper_is_poll_worker — is %current task an output poll worker?

like, literally just asking: is the thing running right now an output poll worker? that's the whole vibe check 🫶

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bool drm_kms_helper_is_poll_worker (void );

she returns a bool, she takes void, she's low maintenance, we love her 💖

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• void — no arguments. none. zero. nada. she doesn't want anything from you, she's independent like that 👑

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

So the whole point of this function is to determine if the current task is an output poll worker. That's it. That's the assignment and she ATE 🔥

Why do we care tho? Because you can use this to select distinct code paths for output polling vs. other contexts. Basically: "am I in poll-worker land rn, or am I somewhere else?" and then you branch accordingly. iykyk 🌈

🦋 the deadlock situation (this is the important part, bestie)

One use case — and ngl this is the main character reason she exists — is to avoid a deadlock between the output poll worker and the autosuspend worker. Let me break down this messy love triangle for you 😭

• the autosuspend worker waits for polling to finish when it calls drm_kms_helper_poll_disable
• meanwhile the output poll worker waits for runtime suspend to finish when it calls pm_runtime_get_sync inside a connector ->detect hook

so they're both waiting on each other, forever, like two besties both texting "no you hang up first" 💀 and that's the deadlock. this function lets you check which one you are so you can dodge the whole situation. no cap, that's the tea 🍓

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🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

okay bestie, buckle up, this list is LONG and she did not skip a single one 💜 go read these, they're all part of the same friend group:

• Kernel file ./drivers/gpu/drm/drm_probe_helper.c — the output probing helper overview(9) — like the group chat archive, start here if you're new 🧚
• drm_kms_helper_poll_enable(9)
• drm_kms_helper_poll_reschedule(9)
• drm_helper_probe_detect(9)
• drm_helper_probe_single_connector_modes(9)
• drm_kms_helper_hotplug_event(9)
• drm_kms_helper_connector_hotplug_event(9)
• drm_kms_helper_poll_disable(9)
• drm_kms_helper_poll_init(9)
• drm_kms_helper_poll_fini(9)
• drmm_kms_helper_poll_init(9)
• drm_connector_helper_hpd_irq_event(9)
• drm_helper_hpd_irq_event(9)
• drm_crtc_helper_mode_valid_fixed(9)
• drm_connector_helper_get_modes_fixed(9)
• drm_connector_helper_get_modes(9)
• drm_connector_helper_tv_get_modes(9)
• drm_connector_helper_detect_from_ddc(9)

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like, for real though — every name above is a real page in section 9 of the kernel docs, and they're all doing related output-probing/polling/hotplug stuff. go be nosy, it's good for you 💖

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🌈✨

this little legend lives at ./drivers/gpu/drm, she's stamped October 2026, and she's part of the Kernel API Manual — so if you're ever like "wait, where did I read this??" it was here, in section 9, the whole time 🫶 mwah 💋