nbcon_seq_force(9)

💅 nbcon_seq_force — bestie edition

okay so this is a page from the Kernel API Manual, and honestly? it's a little shorty but she's important. Welcome to nbcon_seq_force(9), aka "bestie, please set the console sequence number, I'm begging you."

---

✨ NAME ✨

nbcon_seq_force — force the console sequence to a specific value. No negotiation, no vibes, just force. 💅

---

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

void nbcon_seq_force (struct console *con , u64 seq );

like literally that's the whole signature. she's a void, she returns nothing, she simply does the thing. ✨

---

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• con — the console you're working on. the main character of this operation 🫶
• seq — the sequence number value to set. the number. the value. the moment. 🦋

---

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so listen. 🫶 This one is only to be used during init — like, before registration, when nobody's watching yet — or in extreme situations (and by extreme I mean stuff like panic with CONSOLE_REPLAY_ALL). 😭

So: not an everyday flex. It's giving "emergency only, handle with care" energy. nbcon_seq_force forces the console sequence to a specific value, and that's the entire personality. periodt. 👑

bestie pls do not casually call this in normal code paths, the manpage said init-or-extreme and I felt that 💀

---

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

the kernel file for all this is ./kernel/printk/nbcon.c — go read her, she's iconic. and here's the whole friend group, all of them, no cap: 🌈

the state girlies 🎀

• nbcon_state_set(9)
• nbcon_state_read(9)
• nbcon_state_try_cmpxchg(9)
• nbcon_seq_read(9)
• nbcon_seq_try_update(9)

acquiring the vibe (or handing it over) 🔥

• nbcon_context_try_acquire_direct(9)
• nbcon_context_try_acquire_requested(9)
• nbcon_context_try_acquire_handover(9)
• nbcon_context_try_acquire_hostile(9)
• nbcon_context_try_acquire(9)
• nbcon_context_release(9)

can we proceed? asking for a friend 🙈

• nbcon_context_can_proceed(9)
• nbcon_can_proceed(9)

unsafe era (respectfully) ⚠️

• __nbcon_context_update_unsafe(9)
• nbcon_enter_unsafe(9)
• nbcon_exit_unsafe(9)
• nbcon_reacquire_nobuf(9)

emitting / kthread lore 💜

• nbcon_emit_next_record(9)
• nbcon_kthread_should_wakeup(9)
• nbcon_kthread_func(9)
• nbcon_irq_work(9)
• nbcon_kthreads_wake(9)
• nbcon_kthread_create(9)
• nbcon_get_cpu_emergency_nesting(9)
• nbcon_get_default_prio(9)
• nbcon_allow_unsafe_takeover(9)
• nbcon_legacy_emit_next_record(9)

flush squad 🚿

• __nbcon_atomic_flush_pending_con(9)
• nbcon_atomic_flush_pending_con(9)
• __nbcon_atomic_flush_pending(9)
• nbcon_atomic_flush_pending(9)
• nbcon_atomic_flush_unsafe(9)

emergency in and out 🚨

• nbcon_cpu_emergency_enter(9)
• nbcon_cpu_emergency_exit(9)

alloc / free aka the circle of life 🧚

• nbcon_alloc(9)
• nbcon_free(9)

device besties 🍓

• nbcon_device_try_acquire(9)
• nbcon_device_release(9)

kdb besties ⭐

• nbcon_kdb_try_acquire(9)
• nbcon_kdb_release(9)

braille besties (yes really, slay) 👑

• nbcon_write_context_is_braille(9)
• nbcon_braille_try_acquire(9)
• nbcon_braille_release(9)

---

k that's the whole page, mwah 💋 — this came out of the ./kernel/printk source tree, version vibes October 2026, and yeah that's the date, she's from the future apparently. iykyk 🌈✨🎀