snd_ctl_remove(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 snd_ctl_remove — the kernel-API manual, bestie edition ✨

okay so real talk, this page is snd_ctl_remove(9) from the Kernel API Manual, and it's about yeeting a control off a card and letting it go. sounds dramatic, it's actually very chill. let's get into it 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

snd_ctl_remove — remove the control from the card and release it. literally that's the whole vibe: control goes bye, memory gets freed, everyone's fine 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int snd_ctl_remove (struct snd_card *card , struct snd_kcontrol
*kcontrol );

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

  • card — the card instance. your card. the whole main character here 👑
  • kcontrol — the control instance to remove. this is the one getting uninvited from the group chat 🙈

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

So what it does: it removes the control from the card, and then it releases the instance. two steps, one function, no cap ✨

And the best part — you don't need to call snd_ctl_free_one. it's already handled, don't double up, that's not the move 🫶

Also passing NULL to the kcontrol argument is allowed — the function just treats it as a noop. nothing happens, no drama, we move on 💀

Heads up bestie, real one: this function takes the card->controls_rwsem lock internally. it does that itself, so you don't have to. lowkey important, don't forget it 🔥

🌈 RETURN 🌈

  • 0 if successful 🎉
  • or a negative error code on failure 😭

that's it. zero means slay, negative means something went sideways.

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

Kernel file ./sound/core/control.c plus the whole friend group of control functions, all of them, no skipping:

okay that's the whole page, ily, go free your controls responsibly 💅🦋

signed off from ./sound/core, October 2026, page snd_ctl_remove(9) — mwah 💋

📦 where this page comes from