it821x_read_id(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 it821x_read_id — Kernel API Manual ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to it821x_read_id(9), straight out of the kernel's API manual 🎀 this one lives in the land of ATA drivers and it is, and I say this with love, a little bit of a hack 💀

🌸 NAME 🌸

it821x_read_id — hack identify data up 🫶

no fr that's literally what the manpage says. "hack identify data up." iconic honestly ✨

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

unsigned int it821x_read_id (struct ata_device *adev , struct ata_taskfile *tf , __le16 *id );

so it hands you back an unsigned int, and it wants three things: a device, a taskfile, and a buffer. slay 💅

💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

  • adev — the device to read, bestie. this is the one we're getting the tea from 🍓
  • tf — the proposed taskfile 👑 like, what we're proposing to do
  • id — the buffer where the returned ident data goes 🎀 it comes back to you filled in

🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

so what does it actually do? it queries the devices on this firmware driven port — and then it slightly mashes the identify data 😭 and yes, "mashes" is the technical term, I don't make the rules.

why though? because we gotta stop us and common tools from trying to use features that the firmware does not support 💀 no cap.

and here's the little detail that lives in my head rent free: the firmware does do some masking itself (eg SMART), but not enough 🙈 so this function comes in and tops it up. the firmware said "I got it" and the firmware did not, in fact, got it.

lowkey the whole vibe here is: we're protecting you from yourself and from your tools. you're welcome 🫶

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the kernel file, obvi: ./drivers/ata/pata_it821x.c

and the whole it821x friend group 🧚 — every single one of them, because nobody gets left behind:

💀 reminder: this page ships from ./drivers/ata and it's dated October 2026, so yeah — that's the version and the date, go off ⭐

k byeeee, go read some identify data (carefully, it's been mashed) 💜✨

📦 where this page comes from