of_machine_read_compatible(9)

💻 of_machine_read_compatible — the "who even IS this machine" function ✨

okay so this one lives in the Kernel API Manual (section 9, the kernel-API girlies 🎀), and it's literally your go-to for grabbing the compatible string of this machine. that's it. that's the vibe. iykyk 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

of_machine_read_compatible — Get the compatible string of this machine

(no cap, that's the whole pitch 🫶)

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int of_machine_read_compatible (const char **compatible , unsigned int
index );

look at her. two params, one int coming back at you. so clean. so iconic. 👑

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🧚 ARGUMENTS 🧚

• compatible — this is the address at which the address of the compatible string will be stored. yes bestie, address of an address — it's pointer-to-a-pointer realness 💀 you hand it a spot, it drops the address of the compatible string in there.
• index — the index of the compatible entry in the list. like, which one do you want? there's a list, you pick a slot. literally that simple 🍓

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

• 0 on success 🎉
• negative error number on failure 😭

that's it. zero means slay, negative means the machine said no 🙈

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

okay this is the part where the page just. keeps. going. and honestly? respect. she knows everyone. here's the whole group chat, and inside it is the kernel file ./drivers/of/base.c — that's where the magic lives, no cap:

• of_find_all_nodes(9)
• __of_device_is_compatible(9)
• of_machine_compatible_match(9)
• of_machine_read_model(9)
• of_machine_get_match(9)
• of_machine_get_match_data(9)
• __of_device_is_available(9)
• __of_device_is_reserved(9)
• of_device_is_available(9)
• __of_device_is_fail(9)
• of_device_is_big_endian(9)
• of_get_parent(9)
• of_get_next_parent(9)
• of_get_next_child(9)
• of_get_next_child_with_prefix(9)
• of_get_next_available_child(9)
• of_get_next_reserved_child(9)
• of_get_next_cpu_node(9)
• of_get_compatible_child(9)
• of_get_child_by_name(9)
• of_get_available_child_by_name(9)
• of_find_node_opts_by_path(9)
• of_find_node_by_name(9)
• of_find_node_by_type(9)
• of_find_compatible_node(9)
• of_find_node_with_property(9)
• of_match_node(9)
• of_find_matching_node_and_match(9)
• of_alias_from_compatible(9)
• of_find_node_by_phandle(9)
• of_parse_phandle_with_args_map(9)
• of_count_phandle_with_args(9)
• __of_add_property(9)
• of_add_property(9)
• of_remove_property(9)
• of_alias_scan(9)
• of_alias_get_id(9)
• of_alias_get_highest_id(9)
• of_console_check(9)
• of_find_next_cache_node(9)
• of_find_last_cache_level(9)
• of_map_id(9)
• of_map_iommu_id(9)
• of_map_msi_id(9)

forty-four entries. that's not a see-also, that's a whole friend group 🫶✨

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💖 quick vibe check: compatible has to be a place you can write to, because the function is storing the address of the compatible string there — not the string itself.

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🎀 the cute little sign-off 🎀

this page comes to you from ./drivers/of (the source), and it's dated October 2026 — so yeah, she's fresh, she's current, she's giving main character energy 🌈👑 thanks for reading bestie, go read some device trees, mwah 💋