sba_alloc(9)

🌸 NAME 🌸

Okay so welcome to sba_alloc(9), straight out of the Kernel API Manual, bestie 💅 — manual name folded in right here because we're cute like that. This page is all about sba_alloc — allocate/map shared mem for DMA. That's the whole name line, periodt ✨.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void * sba_alloc (struct device *hwdev , size_t size , dma_addr_t
*dma_handle , gfp_t gfp , unsigned long attrs );

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

Group-chat roll call, no skips:

• hwdev — the struct device * that's the PCI instance owned by the driver that's asking. Like, the driver is the one asking, and this is its PCI device moment 🫶.
• size — number of bytes mapped in the driver buffer. That's the byte count, bestie, no cap.
• dma_handle — IOVA of the new buffer. Iconic little handle ✨.
• gfp — allocation flags. Just flags doing their flag thing.
• attrs — attributes. Yep, the attributes 💜.

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

This is lowkey the shortest description ever: see Documentation/core-api/dma-api-howto.rst 👑. That's the whole vibe — go read that doc, bestie. No extra lore here.

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

Kernel file ./drivers/parisc/sba_iommu.c is the main-character file for this one 💖. Also pls go peek at these related pages:

• sba_dump_ranges(9)
• sba_dump_tlb(9)
• sba_dump_pdir_entry(9)
• sba_check_pdir(9)
• sba_dump_sg(9)
• sba_search_bitmap(9)
• sba_alloc_range(9)
• sba_free_range(9)
• sba_io_pdir_entry(9)
• sba_mark_invalid(9)
• sba_dma_supported(9)
• sba_map_single(9)
• sba_unmap_phys(9)
• sba_free(9)
• sba_map_sg(9)
• sba_unmap_sg(9)
• sba_get_iommu(9)
• sba_directed_lmmio(9)
• sba_distributed_lmmio(9)

Sign-off szn 🫶: this page is from ./drivers/parisc, dated October 2026, and it's still sba_alloc(9) — mwah 💋✨