rtas_ibm_get_vpd(9)

💅 rtas_ibm_get_vpd(9) — the Kernel API Manual bestie

okay so this is the rtas_ibm_get_vpd(9) page from the Kernel API Manual, and it's lowkey about making a call to ibm,get-vpd to fill up your work area buffer 🎀 like it's literally the function that does the fetching, and honestly? she's iconic for it.

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✨ NAME ✨

rtas_ibm_get_vpd — call ibm,get-vpd to fill a work area buffer 💫

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int rtas_ibm_get_vpd (struct rtas_ibm_get_vpd_params *params );

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• params — bestie, just look at struct rtas_ibm_get_vpd_params. that's the whole vibe. iykyk 🫶

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So what she does is call ibm,get-vpd over and over until it errors out or successfully deposits data into the work area you supplied. like, she keeps going, that's her thing ✨

She also handles the RTAS retry statuses for you (no cap, you don't gotta do it yourself), and she maps RTAS error statuses to reasonable errno values. so when things go wrong you get something that actually makes sense instead of a mystery number 💀

⚠️ Heads up: the caller is expected to invoke rtas_ibm_get_vpd multiple times to retrieve all the VPD for the provided location code. one call is not the whole story, bestie.

And here's the part you can't skip: only one sequence should be in progress at any time. starting a new sequence will straight-up disrupt any sequence already in progress — like walking into the group chat and changing the subject mid-drama 😭. Serialization of VPD retrieval sequences is the responsibility of the caller. that's on you, not on her. periodt.

You should also inspect params.status to figure out whether more calls are needed to complete the sequence. peek at the status, queen 👑

🧚 CONTEXT 🧚

May sleep. 😴 (yes she's allowed, she's not in atomic context, she can just nap, iconic behaviour honestly)

🌈 RETURN 🌈

-ve on error, 0 otherwise 💜

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• Kernel file ./arch/powerpc/platforms/pseries/papr-vpd.c
• struct rtas_ibm_get_vpd_params(9)
• vpd_sequence_begin(9)
• vpd_sequence_end(9)
• papr_vpd_create_handle(9)

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

this gem lives in ./arch/powerpc/platforms/pseries, dated October 2026, and it's part of the Kernel API Manual 🎀 go read the source, slay, drink water, and don't start two VPD sequences at once 🫶✨