phy_start_machine(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

🦋 phy_start_machine(9) 🦋

okay bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual — this one's phy_start_machine, and it's literally the "go, girl, go" button for your PHY's whole internal state machine ✨

💖 NAME 💖

phy_start_machine — start PHY state machine tracking 🌸

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

void phy_start_machine (struct phy_device *phydev );

🌈 ARGUMENTS 🌈

  • phydev — the phy_device struct, i.e. your PHY's whole identity, no cap 🫶

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so here's the tea: the PHY infrastructure can run a state machine that literally keeps tabs on whether the PHY is starting up, negotiating, etc. 💅

This function starts the delayed workqueue that tracks the state of the PHY. that's it, that's the job — it boots up the little watcher that watches your PHY for you 🧚

⚠️ real talk though: if you want to maintain your own state machine, do not call this function. like. at all. pick a lane, bestie 😭

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

Kernel file ./drivers/net/phy/phy.c — and honestly the whole friend group showed up, so let's give them their moment 💜

and that's the whole page, bestie 🍓 mwah 💋

source: ./drivers/net/phy · dated: October 2026 · page: phy_start_machine(9) — ok bye, go start that machine, periodt 💅✨

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