ixgbe_dma_sync_frag(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 ixgbe_dma_sync_frag — from the Kernel API Manual, bestie

okay so real talk, this page lives in the Kernel API Manual, section 9, and it's about one very specific little function. It's not the whole driver, it's not even the whole receive path — it's one move in the choreography. And honestly? She's lowkey carrying the whole frag situation. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

ixgbe_dma_sync_frag — do the DMA sync for the first frag of an SKB. That's it, that's the whole job, and she does it flawlessly. 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

void ixgbe_dma_sync_frag (struct ixgbe_ring *rx_ring , struct sk_buff *skb );

Returns nothing — void girlie, no exit status, no return value, she just does the thing and leaves. Main character energy fr fr. ✨

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • rx_ring — the rx descriptor ring, aka the ring that the packet is being transacted on. This is the context, the venue, the where. 🦋
  • skb — pointer to the current skb that's being updated. The actual packet-in-progress, the one getting the sync treatment. 🌸

🧚 DESCRIPTION 🧚

So here's the vibe: this function provides a basic DMA sync up for the first fragment of an skb. Basic, but essential — like mascara. 😭

And why do we even need this? Because the first fragment cannot be unmapped until we've reached the end of packet descriptor for a buffer chain. That's the whole reason, no cap. You can't just yeet that first frag out of the mapping early — the buffer chain has to actually be done first. The way that ordering matters… iconic. 👑

No return value, no errors, no signals, no environment variables — it's a void function and it's at peace with that. 💜

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

First up, the kernel file where all this magic lives:

  • ./drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_main.c

And bestie, she runs deep with the friend group. Every single one of these is a (9) page, all linked up like a genuinely unhinged group chat:

and that's the page, bestie 💖 this lil' number ships from source ./drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i... and it's dated October 2026, so jot that down, go sync that first frag, and remember: no unmapping until the end of packet descriptor, periodt. 🦋✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from