fwnode_mdio_find_device(9)

💅 NAME 💅

okay so this is fwnode_mdio_find_device — it's in the Kernel API Manual, and what it does is: you hand it a fwnode, and it finds you the mdio_device. that's literally it, that's the whole vibe 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

struct mdio_device * fwnode_mdio_find_device (struct fwnode_handle
*fwnode );

like, yes, it wraps across two lines. that's just how the manpage formatting ate it. she's still iconic 🫶

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• fwnode — pointer to the mdio_device's fwnode. that's the thing you're searching by, bestie ✨

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the tea, and you need to actually listen to this part:

if it goes well, it returns a pointer to the mdio_device — and listen 👏 the embedded struct device refcount gets incremented by one. so you are now holding a reference, and it is yours to deal with. it can also return NULL on failure, which is the sad path, no cap 😭

🚨 and because the refcount got bumped, the caller should call put_device on the mdio_device after its use. this is not optional garnish, this is the whole deal. you found it, you increment it, you release it. periodt 💅

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💖 SEE ALSO 💖

the kernel file is ./drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c and honestly it has SO many friends, look at this lineup 🔥

• phy_uses_state_machine(9), phy_register_fixup(9), genphy_match_phy_device(9), get_phy_c45_ids(9), get_phy_c22_id(9)
• get_phy_device(9), phy_device_register(9), phy_device_remove(9), phy_get_c45_ids(9), phy_find_next(9)
• phy_prepare_link(9), phy_connect_direct(9), phy_connect(9), phy_disconnect(9), phy_poll_reset(9)
• phy_sfp_connect_phy(9), phy_sfp_disconnect_phy(9), phy_sfp_attach(9), phy_sfp_detach(9), phy_sfp_probe(9)
• phy_attach_direct(9), phy_detach(9), phy_reset_after_clk_enable(9), genphy_config_advert(9), genphy_c37_config_advert(9)
• genphy_setup_forced(9), genphy_restart_aneg(9), genphy_check_and_restart_aneg(9), __genphy_config_aneg(9), genphy_c37_config_aneg(9)
• genphy_aneg_done(9), genphy_update_link(9), genphy_read_status_fixed(9), genphy_read_status(9), genphy_c37_read_status(9)
• genphy_soft_reset(9), genphy_read_abilities(9), phy_remove_link_mode(9), phy_advertise_supported(9), phy_advertise_eee_all(9)
• phy_support_eee(9), phy_disable_eee(9), phy_support_sym_pause(9), phy_support_asym_pause(9), phy_set_sym_pause(9)
• phy_set_asym_pause(9), phy_validate_pause(9), phy_get_pause(9), phy_get_internal_delay(9), phy_get_tx_amplitude_gain(9)
• phy_get_mac_termination(9), phy_get_sfp_port(9), fwnode_phy_find_device(9), fwnode_get_phy_node(9), phy_probe(9)
• phy_driver_register(9)

like… the friend group is huge and every single one of them is a (9). iykyk 🌸

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and that's the page, bestie 💜 this one lives in ./drivers/net/phy, it's the October 2026 version, and it's filed under fwnode_mdio_find_device(9). go forth, find your device, and please remember the put_device. mwah 😘🎀