netif_wake_queue(9)

✨ netif_wake_queue 💅 — the "okay bestie, you can send again" function

so like, we're in the Kernel API Manual, section 9 (that's the kernel-API section, iykyk), and today's main character is netif_wake_queue. she's small. she's one line. she's iconic. 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

netif_wake_queue — restart transmit 🚦

like literally. you stopped it, and now you're un-stopping it. the queue is awake. she's up. she's caffeinated. ✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

void netif_wake_queue (struct net_device *dev );

yeah that's it. that's the whole function. no return value, no drama, no cap. 💅

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• dev — the network device 🖥️ — the actual NIC-adjacent struct you're trying to wake back up. she's a struct net_device *. that's the whole argument list. one (1) argument. we love a low-maintenance signature.

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so here's the vibe: this lets the upper layers call the device's hard_start_xmit routine again. 🔥

that's it. that's the function.

it's for flow control — specifically, you use it when transmit resources are available. so your driver does the thing where it runs out of TX descriptors (or whatever resource situation, no judgment), calls the stop-queue sibling, and then when the resources free up it hits netif_wake_queue and the stack goes "oh word? we're back?" and starts feeding you packets again. 🍓

ngl the funniest part is how much chaos one void function can prevent. flow control is literally the whole plot and she's out here with zero return values. queen behavior. 👑

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

okay this is the part where the manpage goes absolutely feral and lists basically the entire networking header. buckle up bestie, we're going through all of them. 🫶

• the Kernel file ./include/linux/netdevice.h 🔍
• struct gro_node(9)
• napi_is_scheduled(9)
• napi_schedule(9)
• napi_schedule_irqoff(9)
• napi_complete_done(9)
• napi_synchronize(9)
• napi_if_scheduled_mark_missed(9)
• enum netdev_priv_flags(9)
• struct net_device(9)
• netdev_priv(9)
• netdev_from_priv(9)
• netif_napi_add(9)
• netif_napi_add_config(9)
• netif_napi_add_tx(9)
• __netif_napi_del(9)
• netif_napi_del(9)
• netif_start_queue(9)
• netif_stop_queue(9)
• netif_queue_stopped(9)
• netdev_queue_set_dql_min_limit(9)
• netdev_txq_bql_enqueue_prefetchw(9)
• netdev_txq_bql_complete_prefetchw(9)
• netdev_tx_sent_queue(9)
• netdev_sent_queue(9)
• netdev_tx_completed_queue(9)
• netdev_completed_queue(9)
• netdev_tx_reset_subqueue(9)
• netdev_reset_queue(9)
• netdev_cap_txqueue(9)
• netif_running(9)
• netif_start_subqueue(9)
• netif_stop_subqueue(9)
• __netif_subqueue_stopped(9)
• netif_subqueue_stopped(9)
• netif_wake_subqueue(9)
• netif_attr_test_mask(9)
• netif_attr_test_online(9)
• netif_attrmask_next(9)
• netif_attrmask_next_and(9)
• netif_is_multiqueue(9)
• dev_hold(9)
• dev_put(9)
• linkwatch_sync_dev(9)
• netif_carrier_ok(9)
• netif_dormant_on(9)
• netif_dormant_off(9)
• netif_dormant(9)
• netif_testing_on(9)
• netif_testing_off(9)
• netif_testing(9)
• netif_oper_up(9)
• netif_device_present(9)
• netif_tx_lock(9)
• __dev_uc_sync(9)
• __dev_uc_unsync(9)
• __dev_mc_sync(9)
• __dev_mc_unsync(9)

like I said. the whole friend group showed up to the party. 🧚✨

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and that's the page!! ty for coming to my ted talk 🌟 this little icon was brought to you by the fine people at ./include/linux, and the version tag says October 2026 — so yeah, she's got a date stamp and everything, very official, very demure. mwah 💋🦋