dvb_module_release(9)

💖 dvb_module_release — bestie's guide to letting go 💖

okay so real talk: this is a page from the Kernel API Manual, and it's about the teeny-tiny cleanup function that frees an I2C device you grabbed earlier with dvb_module_probe(). it's giving "the responsible one in the group chat" energy ngl ✨

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

dvb_module_release — releases an I2C device allocated with dvb_module_probe().

like, it's the goodbye function. the "okay bestie, we're done here" function. 💅

---

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

void dvb_module_release(struct i2c_client *client);

that's it. that's the whole signature. no return value, no drama, just vibes and a pointer. 🦋

---

🫶 ARGUMENTS 🫶

• client — pointer to struct i2c_client with the I2C client to be released. no cap, this thing can be NULL. so if you've got nothing to release, you can absolutely just hand it a NULL and it'll be fine. iconic behaviour honestly 😌

---

🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

this function should be used to free all the resources that dvb_module_probe reserved, and it also handles unbinding the I2C hardware. like, it does the full cleanup, not just the surface-level "tidy up the visible mess" cleanup. it's the friend who stays after the party and helps you wash the dishes. 🧚

so the situation is: you called dvb_module_probe earlier, it reserved stuff for you (resource-allocating king 👑), and now you're done with it — you call dvb_module_release and everything it reserved gets freed, plus the I2C hardware gets unbound.

⚠️ lowkey important: this is the function for undoing what dvb_module_probe did. it's literally the counterpart, so don't go inventing your own cleanup arc, iykyk 🙈

---

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

there's a whole friend group here, fr fr. and first up, the kernel file itself:

• Kernel file ./include/media/dvbdev.h
• enum dvb_device_type(9)
• struct dvb_adapter(9)
• struct dvb_device(9)
• struct dvbdevfops_node(9)
• dvb_device_get(9)
• dvb_device_put(9)
• dvb_register_adapter(9)
• dvb_unregister_adapter(9)
• dvb_register_device(9)
• dvb_remove_device(9)
• dvb_unregister_device(9)
• dvb_create_media_graph(9)
• dvb_register_media_controller(9)
• dvb_get_media_controller(9)
• dvb_generic_open(9)
• dvb_generic_release(9)
• dvb_generic_ioctl(9)
• dvb_usercopy(9)
• dvb_module_probe(9)
• dvb_attach(9)
• dvb_detach(9)

and yeah — dvb_module_probe(9) is right there in the list, because they're a matched set. probe and release. the duo. the pair. the "you two, figure it out" of the DVB API 💜

---

✨ that's the whole page! ✨

this little cutie lives over in ./include/media, and this particular edition is dated October 2026 — so go forth, release your I2C clients responsibly, and remember: NULL is a valid argument and you are a valid person. mwah 💋🎀