ksz_alloc_soft_desc(9)

💖 ksz_alloc_soft_desc(9) — a Kernel API Manual moment 💖

okay bestie, so this one's a page from the Kernel API Manual (section 9, kernel land, we love her) and honestly? she's short and sweet. it's giving "small function, big responsibilities." let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

ksz_alloc_soft_desc — allocate software descriptors 💅

like, it makes the software-side descriptor vibes real in memory. that's the whole job. iconic behaviour tbh.

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int ksz_alloc_soft_desc (struct ksz_desc_info *desc_info , int transmit
);

yes, that's the entire signature. no cap, she's compact. ✨

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• desc_info — the descriptor information structure 🌈 like, the lil info struct that holds all the descriptor details. this is the one getting set up.
• transmit — an indication that the descriptors are for transmit 👑 so if you're passing this, you're saying "these are TX descriptors, bestie."

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so listen: this is a local function, and what it does is allocate software descriptors for manipulation in memory 🧚 the descriptors live in memory and then get played with. that's it, that's the vibe.

it returns 0 if it worked 💖 (0 = successful, as always, love that for us).

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

okay this section is a lot and I'm obsessed. it opens with the kernel file itself:

./drivers/net/ethernet/micrel/ksz884x.c

and then the whole extended family shows up, in this exact order, no skipping, we respect the roster 👑

struct ksz_hw_desc(9), struct ksz_sw_desc(9), struct ksz_dma_buf(9), struct ksz_desc(9), struct ksz_desc_info(9), struct ksz_mac_table(9), struct ksz_vlan_table(9), struct ksz_port_mib(9), struct ksz_port_cfg(9), struct ksz_switch(9), struct ksz_port_info(9), struct ksz_hw(9), struct ksz_port(9), struct ksz_timer_info(9), struct ksz_shared_mem(9), struct ksz_counter_info(9), struct dev_info(9), struct dev_priv(9)

hw_turn_on_intr(9), hw_block_intr(9), sw_r_table(9), sw_w_table_64(9), sw_w_sta_mac_table(9), sw_r_vlan_table(9), port_r_mib_cnt(9), port_r_mib_pkt(9), port_r_cnt(9), port_init_cnt(9), port_cfg(9), port_r8(9), port_r16(9), port_w16(9), sw_chk(9), sw_cfg(9), sw_cfg_broad_storm(9), sw_get_broad_storm(9), sw_dis_broad_storm(9), sw_ena_broad_storm(9), sw_init_broad_storm(9), hw_cfg_broad_storm(9), sw_dis_prio_rate(9), sw_init_prio_rate(9), sw_dis_diffserv(9), sw_dis_802_1p(9), sw_cfg_replace_null_vid(9), sw_cfg_replace_vid(9), sw_cfg_port_based(9), sw_dis_multi_queue(9), sw_init_prio(9), port_get_def_vid(9), sw_init_vlan(9), sw_cfg_port_base_vlan(9), sw_set_addr(9), sw_set_global_ctrl(9), port_set_stp_state(9), sw_clr_sta_mac_table(9), sw_init_stp(9), sw_block_addr(9)

hw_r_phy(9), hw_w_phy(9), eeprom_read(9), eeprom_write(9), port_get_link_speed(9), port_set_link_speed(9), port_force_link_speed(9), hw_chk_wol_pme_status(9), hw_clr_wol_pme_status(9), hw_cfg_wol_pme(9), hw_cfg_wol(9), hw_set_wol_frame(9), hw_add_wol_arp(9), hw_add_wol_bcast(9), hw_add_wol_mcast(9), hw_add_wol_ucast(9), hw_enable_wol(9), hw_init(9), hw_reset(9), hw_setup(9), hw_setup_intr(9), hw_set_desc_base(9), hw_start_rx(9), hw_stop_rx(9), hw_start_tx(9), hw_stop_tx(9), hw_disable(9), hw_enable(9), hw_alloc_pkt(9), hw_send_pkt(9), hw_set_addr(9), hw_read_addr(9), hw_clr_multicast(9), hw_set_grp_addr(9), hw_set_multicast(9), hw_set_promiscuous(9)

sw_enable(9), sw_setup(9), ksz_start_timer(9), ksz_stop_timer(9), ksz_alloc_desc(9), free_dma_buf(9), ksz_init_rx_buffers(9), ksz_alloc_mem(9), ksz_free_desc(9), ksz_free_buffers(9), ksz_free_mem(9), send_packet(9), transmit_cleanup(9), tx_done(9), netdev_tx(9), netdev_tx_timeout(9), netdev_intr(9), netdev_close(9), netdev_open(9), netdev_query_statistics(9), netdev_set_mac_address(9), netdev_set_rx_mode(9), netdev_ioctl(9), mdio_read(9), mdio_write(9)

netdev_get_link_ksettings(9), netdev_set_link_ksettings(9), netdev_nway_reset(9), netdev_get_link(9), netdev_get_drvinfo(9), netdev_get_regs_len(9), netdev_get_regs(9), netdev_get_wol(9), netdev_set_wol(9), netdev_get_msglevel(9), netdev_set_msglevel(9), netdev_get_eeprom_len(9), netdev_get_eeprom(9), netdev_set_eeprom(9), netdev_get_pauseparam(9), netdev_set_pauseparam(9), netdev_get_ringparam(9), netdev_get_strings(9), netdev_get_sset_count(9), netdev_get_ethtool_stats(9), netdev_set_features(9), dev_monitor(9), netdev_init(9)

💀 genuine note: that list is long and every single name in it matters — nothing merged, nothing dropped, and no I will not be abbreviating it. iykyk.

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 she came from ./drivers/net/ethernet/micrel and she's dated October 2026 — consider this your cute little sign-off, mwah 💋🫶