overlay_fixup_phandle(9)

✨ overlay_fixup_phandle(9) ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual 💅 and today's main character is overlay_fixup_phandle — no cap, this one's lowkey iconic.

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🎀 NAME 🎀

overlay_fixup_phandle — set an overlay phandle to the base one 🦋

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int overlay_fixup_phandle (void *fdt , void *fdto , int symbols_off ,
       int property );

literally that's the whole signature, keep it exactly like that, iykyk ✨

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💜 ARGUMENTS 💜

• fdt — the Base Device Tree blob 🫶 like, the original tree, the source of truth
• fdto — the Device tree overlay blob 🧚 the lil extra thing you're layering on top
• symbols_off — the node offset of the symbols node in the base device tree 📍
• property — the property offset in the overlay that's holding the list of fixups 👑

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🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

overlay_fixup_phandle resolves all the overlay phandles that are pointed to in a __fixups__ property, and then it updates them so they match the phandles actually in use in the base device tree. periodt 💅✨

This is part of the device tree overlay application process — you know, the moment when you want every single phandle in the overlay to point to the actual base dt nodes. it's giving "matchmaker but for nodes" 🌈

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🌟 RETURN 🌟

• 0 on success — slay 🎉
• Negative error code on failure — 💀 not slay, go check your inputs

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

Kernel file ./scripts/dtc/libfdt/fdt_overlay.c — go read the source bestie, it's right there 📖

and the whole friend group of related calls, all of them, in order, no skips:

• overlay_get_target_phandle(9)
• overlay_phandle_add_offset(9)
• overlay_adjust_node_phandles(9)
• overlay_adjust_local_phandles(9)
• overlay_update_local_node_references(9)
• overlay_update_local_references(9)
• overlay_fixup_one_phandle(9)
• overlay_fixup_phandles(9)
• overlay_adjust_local_conflicting_phandle(9)
• overlay_update_node_conflicting_references(9)
• overlay_update_local_conflicting_references(9)
• overlay_prevent_phandle_overwrite_node(9)
• overlay_prevent_phandle_overwrite(9)
• overlay_apply_node(9)
• overlay_merge(9)
• overlay_symbol_update(9)

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okay that's the page!! 🍓 this lil gem lives in ./scripts/dtc/libfdt and the version vibes say October 2026 — so like, future-era manpage energy, manifesting it for you 🦋💖 mwah, go fix those phandles bestie 🫶✨