pwm_init_state(9)

💅 pwm_init_state(9) — the kernel API manual, bestie edition 🎀

okay so this is a page from the Kernel API Manual, and it's literally about getting a PWM state all dressed and ready for its big moment. no cap, it's short but it's iconic ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

pwm_init_state — prepare a brand-new state so you can later apply it with pwm_apply_might_sleep() 🫶

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void pwm_init_state (const struct pwm_device *pwm , struct pwm_state
*state );

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• pwm — the PWM device in question, your main character 💅
• state — the state you're gonna fill up with the freshly prepared PWM state, like a little tote bag you're packing 🎀

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so this function prepares a state that you can totally tweak later and then apply to the PWM device with pwm_apply_might_sleep. it's the convenient-girlie function of the family: first it retrieves the current PWM state, then it replaces the period and polarity fields with the reference values defined in pwm->args. lowkey genius 🧚

once the function returns, you're free to adjust the ->enabled and ->duty_cycle fields however you need before you call pwm_apply_might_sleep. do your thing 👑

and listen — ->duty_cycle starts out set to zero, and that's on purpose. it's there to dodge the situation where the current ->duty_cycle value exceeds the pwm_args->period one, which would trigger an error if you called pwm_apply_might_sleep without adjusting ->duty_cycle first. so yeah, zero is not a vibe, it's a safety net 😭

ngl bestie, that last bit is the important one — if you skip it and call pwm_apply_might_sleep straight away without touching ->duty_cycle, you can get an error. adjust first, slay after 💀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Kernel file ./include/linux/pwm.h plus all these lil friends:

• enum pwm_polarity(9)
• struct pwm_args(9)
• struct pwm_waveform(9)
• struct pwm_device(9)
• pwm_get_state(9)
• pwm_get_relative_duty_cycle(9)
• pwm_set_relative_duty_cycle(9)
• struct pwm_capture(9)
• struct pwm_ops(9)
• struct pwm_chip(9)
• pwmchip_supports_waveform(9)
• pwm_config(9)
• pwm_enable(9)
• pwm_disable(9)
• pwm_might_sleep(9)

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🫶 this lil gem lives under ./include/linux and the version dated October 2026 — go off, October, you ate 💅✨