intel_idle(9)

hey bestie 💖 welcome to the intel_idle(9) page from the Kernel API Manual — this is the kernel’s little “go to sleep” ask for a CPU, and yes, it’s giving main character energy. ✨

💖 NAME 💖

intel_idle — Ask the processor to enter the given idle state. 💤

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

       __cpuidle int intel_idle (struct cpuidle_device *dev , struct
       cpuidle_driver *drv , int index );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• dev — cpuidle device of the target CPU. 🖥️
• drv — cpuidle driver (assumed to point to intel_idle_driver). 👀
• index — Target idle state index. 🔢

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so here’s the whole vibe: use the MWAIT instruction to notify the processor that the CPU represented by dev is idle and it can try to enter the idle state corresponding to index. 💤✨

if the local APIC timer is not known to be reliable in the target idle state, enable one-shot tick broadcasting for the target CPU before executing MWAIT. no cap, that’s the setup. 🫶

Must be called under local_irq_disable. periodt. this is a hard requirement, bestie — don’t skip it. 💅

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• Kernel file ./drivers/idle/intel_idle.c
• intel_idle_s2idle(9)
• intel_idle_cst_usable(9)
• ivt_idle_state_table_update(9)
• irtl_2_usec(9)
• bxt_idle_state_table_update(9)
• sklh_idle_state_table_update(9)
• skx_is_pc6_disabled(9)
• skx_idle_state_table_update(9)
• spr_idle_state_table_update(9)
• drop_pc6_redundant_cstates(9)
• byt_cht_auto_demotion_disable(9)
• intel_idle_cpuidle_driver_init(9)
• intel_idle_cpu_init(9)
• intel_idle_cpuidle_devices_uninit(9)
• validate_cmdline_cstate(9)
• cmdline_table_adjust(9)

that’s the footer glow-up: source/version ./drivers/idle, date October 2026, page intel_idle(9) — mwah 💋🦋