firmware_req..._builtin_buf(9)

💅 firmware_req..._builtin_buf(9) — Kernel API Manual

okay so bestie, welcome to the glow-up era of firmware loading ✨ this one's from the Kernel API Manual, and it's genuinely one of the more chill functions you'll meet. no cap.

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🌸 NAME

firmware_request_builtin_buf — load builtin firmware into optional buffer 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS

bool firmware_request_builtin_buf (struct firmware *fw , const char *name , void *buf , size_t size );

like, yes, it returns a bool. keep that in mind, it matters later 💅

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👑 ARGUMENTS

• fw — pointer to the firmware struct. your main character, the thing that gets filled in 🫶
• name — name of the firmware file. literally just the name, that's the whole vibe ✨
• buf — if you set this, it lets you use a pre-allocated buffer so that the built-in firmware gets copied into it. this field can be NULL, which is very much allowed, no stress 🌈. it's used by callers such as request_firmware_into_buf and request_partial_firmware_into_buf — iykyk 🧚
• size — if buf was provided, this is the max size of the allocated buffer available. and bestie, listen: if the built-in firmware does not fit into the pre-allocated buf, this call will fail 💀 no negotiating. it either fits or it doesn't.

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🔥 DESCRIPTION

So like, what does it even do 💖 — it looks for the firmware in the built-in kernel. Only if the kernel was built-in with the firmware you're looking for will this call possibly succeed. that "possibly" is doing a lot of heavy lifting, ngl 🙈

and if you passed a buf, the firmware will be copied into it iff the built-in firmware fits into the pre-allocated buffer size specified in size. yes, iff. that's not a typo, that's just how it is 💅

⚠️ heads up bestie: this caller is to be used internally by the firmware_loader only. so like, don't be out here calling it from random places, okay? that's not the vibe check you want to fail 🌸

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💜 SEE ALSO

• Kernel file ./drivers/base/firmware_loader/builtin/main.c
• firmware_request_builtin(9) — the sibling!! go say hi 🫶

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okay that's the whole page, periodt 💅🦋

sign-off besties: this one comes from ./drivers/base/firmware_loader... and it's dated October 2026 — iconic of it honestly, and it's still filed under firmware_req..._builtin_buf(9) if you need to find it again 🌟🎀