hw_read_addr(9)

💖 hw_read_addr(9) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the kernel API manual — this is hw_read_addr(9) and it is, like, the entire personality of one very specific function. it's giving "small but mighty" ngl 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

hw_read_addr — read the MAC address 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

void hw_read_addr (struct ksz_hw *hw );

that's the whole vibe. void, so it doesn't hand anything back to you — no return value, no little gift, nothing. it just does the thing ✨

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• hw — bestie this is the hardware instance. the actual hardware. the main character of this whole situation. you hand it over and the function knows what to do with it 👑

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so here's the tea: this routine retrieves the MAC address of the hardware. that's it. that's the whole function. it goes and gets the MAC address off hw and, like, that's what it does — periodt 🫶

no return value (it's void, remember), no error code, no drama. it's a little retrieval goblin and it's literally obsessed with getting that MAC address for you 🌈

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

okay this is the part where the manpage just absolutely goes OFF, because the SEE ALSO list is, and I cannot stress this enough, enormous. buckle up 🎢

first up, the actual kernel file this lives in: ./drivers/net/ethernet/micrel/ksz884x.c — that's the home base, the address, the zip code 🏡

and then the structs, all of them, in this order: struct ksz_hw_desc(9), struct ksz_sw_desc(9), struct ksz_dma_buf(9), struct ksz_desc(9), struct ksz_desc_info(9), struct ksz_mac_table(9), struct ksz_vlan_table(9), struct ksz_port_mib(9), struct ksz_port_cfg(9), struct ksz_switch(9), struct ksz_port_info(9), struct ksz_hw(9), struct ksz_port(9), struct ksz_timer_info(9), struct ksz_shared_mem(9), struct ksz_counter_info(9), struct dev_info(9), struct dev_priv(9). that's eighteen structs. iconic behaviour honestly 💀

next, the hardware/sw helper girlies: hw_turn_on_intr(9), hw_block_intr(9), sw_r_table(9), sw_w_table_64(9), sw_w_sta_mac_table(9), sw_r_vlan_table(9), port_r_mib_cnt(9), port_r_mib_pkt(9), port_r_cnt(9), port_init_cnt(9), port_cfg(9), port_r8(9), port_r16(9), port_w16(9).

then the switch config squad: sw_chk(9), sw_cfg(9), sw_cfg_broad_storm(9), sw_get_broad_storm(9), sw_dis_broad_storm(9), sw_ena_broad_storm(9), sw_init_broad_storm(9), hw_cfg_broad_storm(9), sw_dis_prio_rate(9), sw_init_prio_rate(9), sw_dis_diffserv(9), sw_dis_802_1p(9), sw_cfg_replace_null_vid(9), sw_cfg_replace_vid(9), sw_cfg_port_based(9), sw_dis_multi_queue(9), sw_init_prio(9), port_get_def_vid(9), sw_init_vlan(9), sw_cfg_port_base_vlan(9), sw_set_addr(9), sw_set_global_ctrl(9), port_set_stp_state(9), sw_clr_sta_mac_table(9), sw_init_stp(9), sw_block_addr(9).

PHY and EEPROM moment: hw_r_phy(9), hw_w_phy(9), eeprom_read(9), eeprom_write(9), port_get_link_speed(9), port_set_link_speed(9), port_force_link_speed(9).

wake-on-LAN crew, they ate: hw_chk_wol_pme_status(9), hw_clr_wol_pme_status(9), hw_cfg_wol_pme(9), hw_cfg_wol(9), hw_set_wol_frame(9), hw_add_wol_arp(9), hw_add_wol_bcast(9), hw_add_wol_mcast(9), hw_add_wol_ucast(9), hw_enable_wol(9).

main hw lifecycle besties: hw_init(9), hw_reset(9), hw_setup(9), hw_setup_intr(9), hw_set_desc_base(9), hw_start_rx(9), hw_stop_rx(9), hw_start_tx(9), hw_stop_tx(9), hw_disable(9), hw_enable(9), hw_alloc_pkt(9), hw_send_pkt(9), hw_set_addr(9), hw_clr_multicast(9), hw_set_grp_addr(9), hw_set_multicast(9), hw_set_promiscuous(9), sw_enable(9), sw_setup(9).

timers and descriptors and memory, oh my: ksz_start_timer(9), ksz_stop_timer(9), ksz_alloc_soft_desc(9), ksz_alloc_desc(9), free_dma_buf(9), ksz_init_rx_buffers(9), ksz_alloc_mem(9), ksz_free_desc(9), ksz_free_buffers(9), ksz_free_mem(9).

packet path girlies: send_packet(9), transmit_cleanup(9), tx_done(9), netdev_tx(9), netdev_tx_timeout(9), netdev_intr(9), netdev_close(9), netdev_open(9), netdev_query_statistics(9), netdev_set_mac_address(9), netdev_set_rx_mode(9), netdev_ioctl(9), mdio_read(9), mdio_write(9).

ethtool + netdev ops, the whole ensemble cast: netdev_get_link_ksettings(9), netdev_set_link_ksettings(9), netdev_nway_reset(9), netdev_get_link(9), netdev_get_drvinfo(9), netdev_get_regs_len(9), netdev_get_regs(9), netdev_get_wol(9), netdev_set_wol(9), netdev_get_msglevel(9), netdev_set_msglevel(9), netdev_get_eeprom_len(9), netdev_get_eeprom(9), netdev_set_eeprom(9), netdev_get_pauseparam(9), netdev_set_pauseparam(9), netdev_get_ringparam(9), netdev_get_strings(9), netdev_get_sset_count(9), netdev_get_ethtool_stats(9), netdev_set_features(9), dev_monitor(9), netdev_init(9).

like, that's the entire friend group and they ALL showed up to the party 💀🎉

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ok real talk bestie — this page has like zero warnings and zero caveats in it, which honestly? a serve. no gotchas, no "undefined behaviour", no "do not call this or your kernel will simply pass away." it's just a read. enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts 🙈🌸

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and that's the whole page!! 🌟 this cutie came out of ./drivers/net/ethernet/micrel, October 2026, and it's the hw_read_addr(9) manual page — go read a MAC address, you absolute icon 👑💖 mwah 💋