overlay_pre...le_overwrite(9)

🌸 overlay_prevent_phandle_overwrite(9) 🌸

okay bestie, you're reading the section 9 page for overlay_prevent_phandle_overwrite — yes, it's a mouthful, yes it's worth it 💅 this is the Kernel API Manual, so buckle up 🎀

---

✨ NAME ✨

overlay_prevent_phandle_overwrite — the function that fixes your overlay phandles so they don't go stomping all over the base phandles 😤 like, respectfully, stay in your lane 💀

---

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int overlay_prevent_phandle_overwrite (void *fdt , void *fdto );

literally that's the whole call, no cap ✨

---

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• fdt — the base Device Tree blob 🫶
• fdto — the device tree overlay blob 🌈

---

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the vibe check 👑 it checks recursively whether applying fdto would overwrite phandle values in the base dtb. and when it finds one of those sneaky little phandles? it changes the fdto to use the fdt's phandle value instead — because otherwise you'd break references in the base, and we are not doing that today, periodt 🙈

---

🔥 RETURN 🔥

• 0 on success 🎉
• Negative error code on failure 😭

---

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

the kernel file:

./scripts/dtc/libfdt/fdt_overlay.c

and the whole friend group, all of these icons 👑✨:

• 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_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_apply_node(9)
• overlay_merge(9)
• overlay_symbol_update(9)

---

ngl, if you're deep in scripts/dtc/libfdt at this point you already know what's up. slay. 💅

---

okay that's the page!! this one lives in ./scripts/dtc/libfdt, dated October 2026, and honestly? iconic 💜 mwah, go fix those phandles bestie 🫶