fdt_node_of...y_compatible(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 fdt_node_offset_by_compatible 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual ✨ — this one's short, sweet, and honestly iconic. The page header calls it fdt_node_of...y_compatible(9) (yeah they truncated it, the real star is fdt_node_offset_by_compatible), and we're about to find nodes by their vibes. 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

fdt_node_offset_by_compatible — find nodes with a given 'compatible' value 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int fdt_node_offset_by_compatible (const void *fdt , int startoffset ,
       const char *compatible );

🫶 ARGUMENTS 🫶

  • fdt — pointer to the device tree blob 🌈 (yes, the whole tree, no cap)
  • startoffset — only find nodes after this offset 👀 like, don't look backward bestie
  • compatible — the compatible string we're shopping for 💅

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

So fdt_node_offset_by_compatible returns the offset of the first node after startoffset that has a 'compatible' property listing the given compatible string. ✨ And if startoffset is -1, it gives you the very first such node in the whole tree. Like a fresh start, main character energy.

To iterate through all nodes matching the criterion, the following idiom can be used — literally just screenshot this:

offset = fdt_node_offset_by_compatible(fdt, -1,
compatible); while (offset != -FDT_ERR_NOTFOUND) { // other code here
offset = fdt_node_offset_by_compatible(fdt, offset, compatible); }
⚠️ bestie listen — note the -1 in the first call to the function. If 0 is used here instead, the function will never locate the root node, even if it matches the criterion. 😭 Not a vibe. Use -1. periodt.

🔥 RETURN 🔥

  • structure block offset of the located node (>= 0, >startoffset), on success 🎉 slay
  • -FDT_ERR_NOTFOUND — no node matching the criterion exists in the tree after startoffset 💀 (it's not you, it's the tree)
  • -FDT_ERR_BADOFFSET — nodeoffset does not refer to a BEGIN_NODE tag 🙈
  • -FDT_ERR_BADMAGIC, -FDT_ERR_BADVERSION, -FDT_ERR_BADSTATE, -FDT_ERR_BADSTRUCTURE — standard meanings 🧚 (iykyk)

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

Kernel file ./scripts/dtc/libfdt/libfdt.h — and honestly, the whole fdt squad showed up. Obsessed. 💖

that's the whole page, bestie — go find ur nodes 💅✨

🦋 cute sign-off time: this lil masterpiece lives in ./scripts/dtc/libfdt, dated October 2026, and it's filed under fdt_node_of...y_compatible(9) in the Kernel API Manual. mwah 💋 🎀

📦 where this page comes from