dvb_frontend_detach(9)

💅 dvb_frontend_detach(9) — the "okay bye bestie, clean up after yourself" era

So this is a page from the Kernel API Manual, and honestly? It's the breakup text of the DVB frontend world. Let's get into it 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

dvb_frontend_detach — detaches and frees all the frontend-specific data. Like, it literally lets go and says "you're free now" 🦋

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void dvb_frontend_detach (struct dvb_frontend *fe );

That's it. One call. One pointer. No cap. ✨

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✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

• fe — pointer to struct dvb_frontend. Just the one pointer bestie, and it's the frontend you're detaching 🫶

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

Okay so, vibe check first: this function should be called after dvb_unregister_frontend. Like, order matters, don't come for me 🙈 It's the post-breakup cleanup, not the breakup itself.

What it does is it calls alllll the release functions — the SEC one, the tuner one, the demod one, and the general one. Specifically:

• dvb_frontend_ops.release_sec
• dvb_frontend_ops.tuner_ops.release
• dvb_frontend_ops.analog_ops.release
• dvb_frontend_ops.release

Four release calls, all in a row, all iconic. Slay 💅

And if the driver is compiled with CONFIG_MEDIA_ATTACH, it also decreases the module reference count. Why, you ask? So that userspace can remove the DVB frontend modules it was previously using. That's the whole point — it's giving "letting go so something else can take the stage" 👑

Fr fr though — call this after dvb_unregister_frontend, not before. The manpage is very clear on this and so am I 💀

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✨ SEE ALSO ✨

Kernel file ./include/media/dvb_frontend.h also covers:

• struct dvb_frontend_tune_settings(9)
• struct dvb_tuner_info(9)
• struct analog_parameters(9)
• enum dvbfe_algo(9)
• enum dvbfe_search(9)
• struct dvb_tuner_ops(9)
• struct analog_demod_info(9)
• struct analog_demod_ops(9)
• struct dvb_frontend_internal_info(9)
• struct dvb_frontend_ops(9)
• struct dtv_frontend_properties(9)
• struct dvb_frontend(9)
• dvb_register_frontend(9)
• dvb_unregister_frontend(9)
• dvb_frontend_suspend(9)
• dvb_frontend_resume(9)
• dvb_frontend_reinitialise(9)
• dvb_frontend_sleep_until(9)

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And that's the page, bestie 💜 — brought to you by ./include/media, dated October 2026. Go forth and detach responsibly ✨🎀🌸