pvr_vm_map(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 pvr_vm_map(9) — from the Kernel API Manual, bestie ✨

Okay so picture this: it's a kernel API manual page, it's called pvr_vm_map, and it's literally about mapping a chunk of physical memory into a chunk of device-virtual memory. That's the whole vibe. Let's get into it 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int pvr_vm_map (struct pvr_vm_context *vm_ctx , struct pvr_gem_object
*pvr_obj , u64 pvr_obj_offset , u64 device_addr , u64 size );

That's the signature, bestie — copy it exactly, no cap. Five args, returns an int, and it's giving "I do one thing and I do it well" 💅

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • vm_ctx — the target VM context. Like, the address space we're doing this whole thing in. Your main character ✨
  • pvr_obj — the target PowerVR memory object. The thing being mapped, the source material, the icon 👑
  • pvr_obj_offset — offset into pvr_obj to map from. Where in the object we start scooping from 🍓
  • device_addr — the virtual device address at the start of the requested mapping. This one matters more than it looks, wait for the DESCRIPTION 👀
  • size — size of the requested mapping. How much we're mapping. That's it, that's the whole description, and honestly? Respect 💜

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So here's the thing that makes this function kind of iconic: no handle is returned to represent the mapping. Like, none. Zero. The return value is just an int status, not a little token you can hold onto 😭

Instead, callers should remember device_addr and use that as a handle. So you map it, you note the address, and you keep it in your notes app forever. That's the deal 🎀

Fr fr: if you lose track of device_addr, you have no handle. It's giving "you had one job." Don't be that person 🙈

🔥 RETURN 🔥

  • 0 on success — slay, the mapping happened 💖
  • -EINVAL if device_addr is not a valid page-aligned device-virtual address; the region specified by pvr_obj_offset and size does not fall entirely within pvr_obj, or any part of the specified region of pvr_obj is not device-virtual page-aligned. Three separate ways to fail, all bundled into one very overworked error code 💀
  • Any error encountered while performing internal operations required to destroy the mapping (returned from pvr_vm_gpuva_map or pvr_vm_gpuva_remap). Yes, we're talking about destroying the mapping in the return value section. That's just how it is. Not me questioning it, I'm just the messenger 🫡

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

The whole friend group, in order, exactly as listed — no gatekeeping:

🌈 one last thing 🌈

This page lives in ./drivers/gpu/drm/imagination, and it was stamped October 2026 — so mark your calendar, mwah 💋 Go map some memory, remember your device_addr, and stay page-aligned. Periodt. 🧚⭐

📦 where this page comes from