raw_atomic_t...xchg_relaxed(9)

💅 raw_atomic_try_cmpxchg_relaxed — the Kernel API Manual, bestie edition 🎀

okay so real talk: this page lives in the Kernel API Manual, and the page you're on is raw_atomic_t...xchg_relaxed(9) (yes the title got truncated by the man page tooling, it's giving "my name didn't fit on the nametag" 😭). The actual star of the show is raw_atomic_try_cmpxchg_relaxed. Let's get into it.

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✨ NAME ✨

raw_atomic_try_cmpxchg_relaxed — atomic compare and exchange, but make it relaxed 💅 like, it does the compare-and-swap thing and it does not stress about ordering. lowkey iconic.

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

bool raw_atomic_try_cmpxchg_relaxed (atomic_t *v , int *old , int new );

that's the whole vibe. returns a bool, takes three args. periodt.

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• v — pointer to atomic_t. this is the thing we're being all atomic about 🫶
• old — pointer to an int value to compare with. note the pointer bestie, it's not just a plain value, it gets read AND written 👀
• new — the int value to assign. the glow-up we're trying to give v ✨

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the tea: if (v == old), it atomically updates v to new with relaxed ordering. slay. 🎉

otherwise? v is not modified, old gets updated to the current value of v, and relaxed ordering is provided. so even when it doesn't swap, it hands you back the real current value so you can try again — it's giving helpful ex energy ngl 🙈

it's safe to use in noinstr code — but prefer atomic_try_cmpxchg_relaxed everywhere else. no cap, the raw one is for the special noinstr situations, don't just use it because it sounds cool 😭

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🔥 RETURN 🔥

true if the exchange occurred, false otherwise. simple as that. main character binary 💀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

first up, the source, the origin story: Kernel file ./include/linux/atomic/atomic-arch-fallback.h ⭐

and then the entire found family, fr fr — literally the whole atomic roster:

raw_atomic_read(9), raw_atomic_read_acquire(9), raw_atomic_set(9), raw_atomic_set_release(9), raw_atomic_add(9), raw_atomic_add_return(9), raw_atomic_add_return_acquire(9), raw_atomic_add_return_release(9), raw_atomic_add_return_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_fetch_add(9), raw_atomic_fetch_add_acquire(9), raw_atomic_fetch_add_release(9), raw_atomic_fetch_add_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_sub(9), raw_atomic_sub_return(9), raw_atomic_sub_return_acquire(9), raw_atomic_sub_return_release(9), raw_atomic_sub_return_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_fetch_sub(9), raw_atomic_fetch_sub_acquire(9), raw_atomic_fetch_sub_release(9), raw_atomic_fetch_sub_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_inc(9), raw_atomic_inc_return(9), raw_atomic_inc_return_acquire(9), raw_atomic_inc_return_release(9), raw_atomic_inc_return_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_fetch_inc(9), raw_atomic_fetch_inc_acquire(9), raw_atomic_fetch_inc_release(9), raw_atomic_fetch_inc_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_dec(9), raw_atomic_dec_return(9), raw_atomic_dec_return_acquire(9), raw_atomic_dec_return_release(9), raw_atomic_dec_return_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_fetch_dec(9), raw_atomic_fetch_dec_acquire(9), raw_atomic_fetch_dec_release(9), raw_atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_and(9), raw_atomic_fetch_and(9), raw_atomic_fetch_and_acquire(9), raw_atomic_fetch_and_release(9), raw_atomic_fetch_and_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_andnot(9), raw_atomic_fetch_andnot(9), raw_atomic_fetch_andnot_acquire(9), raw_atomic_fetch_andnot_release(9), raw_atomic_fetch_andnot_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_or(9), raw_atomic_fetch_or(9), raw_atomic_fetch_or_acquire(9), raw_atomic_fetch_or_release(9), raw_atomic_fetch_or_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_xor(9), raw_atomic_fetch_xor(9), raw_atomic_fetch_xor_acquire(9), raw_atomic_fetch_xor_release(9), raw_atomic_fetch_xor_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_xchg(9), raw_atomic_xchg_acquire(9), raw_atomic_xchg_release(9), raw_atomic_xchg_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_cmpxchg(9), raw_atomic_cmpxchg_acquire(9), raw_atomic_cmpxchg_release(9), raw_atomic_cmpxchg_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_try_cmpxchg(9), raw_atomic_try_cmpxchg_acquire(9), raw_atomic_try_cmpxchg_release(9), raw_atomic_sub_and_test(9), raw_atomic_dec_and_test(9), raw_atomic_inc_and_test(9), raw_atomic_add_negative(9), raw_atomic_add_negative_acquire(9), raw_atomic_add_negative_release(9), raw_atomic_add_negative_relaxed(9), raw_atomic_fetch_add_unless(9), raw_atomic_add_unless(9), raw_atomic_inc_not_zero(9), raw_atomic_inc_unless_negative(9), raw_atomic_dec_unless_positive(9), raw_atomic_dec_if_positive(9), raw_atomic64_read(9), raw_atomic64_read_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_set(9), raw_atomic64_set_release(9), raw_atomic64_add(9), raw_atomic64_add_return(9), raw_atomic64_add_return_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_add_return_release(9), raw_atomic64_add_return_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_add(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_add_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_add_release(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_add_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_sub(9), raw_atomic64_sub_return(9), raw_atomic64_sub_return_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_sub_return_release(9), raw_atomic64_sub_return_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_sub(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_sub_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_sub_release(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_sub_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_inc(9), raw_atomic64_inc_return(9), raw_atomic64_inc_return_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_inc_return_release(9), raw_atomic64_inc_return_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_inc(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_inc_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_inc_release(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_inc_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_dec(9), raw_atomic64_dec_return(9), raw_atomic64_dec_return_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_dec_return_release(9), raw_atomic64_dec_return_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_dec(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_dec_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_dec_release(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_dec_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_and(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_and(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_and_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_and_release(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_and_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_andnot(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_andnot(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_andnot_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_andnot_release(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_andnot_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_or(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_or(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_or_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_or_release(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_or_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_xor(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_xor(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_xor_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_xor_release(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_xor_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_xchg(9), raw_atomic64_xchg_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_xchg_release(9), raw_atomic64_xchg_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_cmpxchg(9), raw_atomic64_cmpxchg_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_cmpxchg_release(9), raw_atomic64_cmpxchg_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_try_cmpxchg(9), raw_atomic64_try_cmpxchg_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_try_cmpxchg_release(9), raw_atomic64_try_cmpxchg_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_sub_and_test(9), raw_atomic64_dec_and_test(9), raw_atomic64_inc_and_test(9), raw_atomic64_add_negative(9), raw_atomic64_add_negative_acquire(9), raw_atomic64_add_negative_release(9), raw_atomic64_add_negative_relaxed(9), raw_atomic64_fetch_add_unless(9), raw_atomic64_add_unless(9), raw_atomic64_inc_not_zero(9), raw_atomic64_inc_unless_negative(9), raw_atomic64_dec_unless_positive(9), raw_atomic64_dec_if_positive(9)

like… that's a lot of friends and honestly every single one of them ate 💅🫶

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anyway bestie that's the whole page ✨ go forth and compare-and-exchange responsibly 💜

sign-off time 🎀 this gem comes to you from ./include/linux/atomic and it's dated October 2026 — and the page name on the tin is raw_atomic_t...xchg_relaxed(9) in case you forgot already 😭 love u bye 💖