i2c_smbus_read_byte(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 i2c_smbus_read_byte(9) — the Kernel API Manual era 🎀

okay so bestie, we're in the Kernel API Manual today and this page is about i2c_smbus_read_byte — yes it's a mouthful, yes you'll get it, let's go ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

i2c_smbus_read_byte — the SMBus "receive byte" protocol, and no I will not be calling it anything else 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

s32 i2c_smbus_read_byte (const struct i2c_client *client );

like, that's the whole vibe. copy it exactly, spacing and all, do not come for me 🫶

👑 ARGUMENTS 👑

  • client — your handle to the slave device 💅 this is the little connection you're talking to, the main character of the operation, the one you're asking for a byte

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the tea, bestie: this call executes the SMBus "receive byte" protocol, fr fr 💯

What you get back is either:

  • the byte received from the device — slay, that's your data, that's the moment ✨
  • a negative errno — 😭 that's the universe telling you it didn't work out

that's literally it, that's the whole function, no cap. one call, one byte, one potential heartbreak. the way that a single s32 can carry so much emotional weight is honestly iconic 🔥

💀 quick vibe check: negative means error, not "here's your byte and also it's a little sad." don't be out here treating -5 as data, bestie, that's not the move 🙈

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

that's a whole friend group right there and every single one of them is in this list, read them all, iykyk 💜

and that's the page!! 🍓 brought to you by ./drivers/i2c, dated October 2026, living its best life as i2c_smbus_read_byte(9) — mwah, go read a byte, love u 🫶💖

📦 where this page comes from