ice_nvm_write_activate(9)

💅 ice_nvm_write_activate(9) — the Kernel API Manual page you didn't know you needed 🎀

okay so real talk, we're in the Kernel API Manual today and this little icon is ice_nvm_write_activate(9). yes it's a mouthful, no we're not skipping it, she's important. ✨

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✨ NAME ✨

ice_nvm_write_activate — and bestie… that's it. that's the whole line. the description after the dash is literally empty 😭 no cap, the page just says the name and then moves on. we love a mysterious main character moment.

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int ice_nvm_write_activate (struct ice_hw *hw , u16 cmd_flags , u8
*response_flags );

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🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

• hw — pointer to the HW struct 💖 that's your hardware, your whole situation, she's a struct ice_hw *
• cmd_flags — flags for write activate command ✨ aka the flags that tell the write activate command what's up
• response_flags — response indicators from firmware 👑 firmware talks back and these are the indicators, periodt

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🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

okay so the actual job: update the control word with the required banks' validity bits and dump the Shadow RAM to flash — 0x0707 baybeeee 💅 (yes that hex is important, don't come for me, it's in the source).

so what's actually in cmd_flags? three things, and she's an overachiever:

• which banks to activate 🏦
• the preservation level to use when activating the NVM bank 🧚
• whether an EMP reset is required for activation ⚡

ngl, keep this one in your notes: the 16bit cmd_flags value is split between two separate 1 byte flag values in the descriptor. like, she's one number on the outside and two little bytes on the inside. iykyk 🫶

and when the firmware command returns successfully, the response_flags variable gets updated with the flags reported by firmware — those indicate certain status, such as whether EMP reset is enabled. literally the firmware sliding into your DMs with a status update 😭💖

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🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

first up, the Kernel file, right here in the group chat:

./drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_nvm.c

and now the whole friend group — every single one of these, no skip, we do not leave anyone out 🫶:

• ice_aq_read_nvm(9)
• ice_read_flat_nvm(9)
• ice_aq_update_nvm(9)
• ice_aq_erase_nvm(9)
• ice_read_sr_word(9)
• ice_acquire_nvm(9)
• ice_release_nvm(9)
• ice_get_flash_bank_offset(9)
• ice_read_flash_module(9)
• ice_read_nvm_module(9)
• ice_read_nvm_sr_copy(9)
• ice_read_netlist_module(9)
• ice_get_pfa_module_tlv(9)
• ice_read_pba_string(9)
• ice_get_nvm_ver_info(9)
• ice_get_inactive_nvm_ver(9)
• ice_get_orom_civd_data(9)
• ice_get_orom_ver_info(9)
• ice_get_inactive_orom_ver(9)
• ice_get_netlist_info(9)
• ice_get_inactive_netlist_ver(9)
• ice_discover_flash_size(9)
• ice_read_sr_pointer(9)
• ice_read_sr_area_size(9)
• ice_determine_active_flash_banks(9)
• ice_get_nvm_css_hdr_len(9)
• ice_determine_css_hdr_len(9)
• ice_init_nvm(9)
• ice_nvm_validate_checksum(9)
• ice_aq_nvm_update_empr(9)

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and that's the page bestie!! 🌈 shoutout to the source path ./drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice, dated October 2026, living under ice_nvm_write_activate(9) forever 💜 you ate, honestly. 🍓✨