msc_buffer_win_alloc(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 msc_buffer_win_alloc — kernel API manual, but make it cute

okay so bestie, we're in the kernel API manual for msc_buffer_win_alloc(9) — yes that's the manual name, it's giving "I live in section 9" and honestly? iconic. this whole page is about one tiny function that does one very specific thing and does it slay. let's get into it 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

msc_buffer_win_alloc — alloc a window for a multiblock mode

like literally that's the whole vibe: we are ALLOCATING a WINDOW, and the window is for a multiblock mode. no notes. 🦋

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int msc_buffer_win_alloc (struct msc *msc , unsigned int nr_blocks );

so it takes a struct msc * and an unsigned int, and it hands you back an int. simple. clean. we love a signature that doesn't overstay its welcome 💖

🫶 ARGUMENTS 🫶

  • msc — the MSC device 💻 like, this is the device we're doing the window thing for. main character energy fr.
  • nr_blocks — number of pages in this window 📄 so if you're wondering "how many pages though?" — it's this many. that's the number. ngl this one's pretty self-explanatory.

⭐ DESCRIPTION ⭐

okay so here's the tea, and it's important tea 🍵:

this modifies msc::win_list and msc::base, and both of those require msc::buf_mutex to serialize. so the caller is expected to hold it. 🔒

like — the caller is expected to hold the mutex. that's not a suggestion bestie, that's the contract. hold the lock. periodt. 💅

⚠️ lowkey important: this function touches msc::win_list and msc::base, which need msc::buf_mutex to serialize, so the caller is expected to hold that mutex. don't be the reason things race, i'm begging 🙈

🔥 RETURN 🔥

  • 0 on success 🎉 slay, we ate
  • -errno otherwise 😭 yeah so if it's not a zero, it's a negative errno and you should probably go read up on your errno values, iykyk

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

okay this is the friend group, the whole squad, the group chat roster 🌈 and i'm listing every single one of them because each of them is a queen in her own right 👑:

Kernel file ./drivers/hwtracing/intel_th/msu.c, plus:

like genuinely go read them, they all fw each other 🧚

and that's the whole page bestie, no crumbs left 💀✨ this was brought to you by the ./drivers/hwtracing/intel_th source tree, dated October 2026, and yes — every good manpage deserves a little sign-off, so: mwah, go hold that mutex, and may your return value always be 0 🍓🫶💖

📦 where this page comes from