sas_port_alloc(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 sas_port_alloc(9) — the Kernel API Manual, bestie edition

okay so before we even start: yes this is the Kernel API Manual, section 9, and yes it's a whole page about one function. iconic of it honestly. let's get into it 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

sas_port_alloc — allocate and initialize a SAS port structure 💖

like, it makes one. from scratch. and then it wakes it up. that's the whole gig.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

struct sas_port * sas_port_alloc (struct device *parent , int port_id );

look at her. two args. very demure. very mindful. 🦋

✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

  • parent — the parent device 👑 — like, the device this little port is gonna call mom.
  • port_id — the port number 🔢 — that's literally it, it's the number of the port, no cap.

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So sas_port_alloc allocates a SAS port structure. simple as that. 💅

the tea though: it gets added to the device tree below the device you passed in as parent. so your parent isn't just vibes, it's actually load-bearing. 🫶

⚠️ okay important, don't skip this: parent must be either a Scsi_Host or a sas_expander_device. anything else and it's not giving what it needs to give. that's a hard requirement, fr fr.

✨ RETURN ✨

it returns NULL on error 😭

so like... if you get NULL back, something went wrong. that's the whole return contract. no extra lore, no secret codes. NULL = error. periodt. 💀

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

Kernel file ./drivers/scsi/scsi_transport_sas.c — that's where she lives, that's her home address 🏠✨

and now the whole extended friend group, because SAS kernel stuff travels in a pack 🌈:

that's the whole group chat, nobody got left on read 🫶💜

🎀 cute little sign-off 🎀

this page lives in ./drivers/scsi and it's stamped October 2026 — so bestie, go forth, allocate that port, and remember: NULL means error, and error means come back and read the SEE ALSO list again. slay 💅✨🌸

📦 where this page comes from