STRUCT DVB_ADAPTER(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 struct dvb_adapter(9)

okay so bestie, buckle up — this is from the Kernel API Manual, and we're about to get deep into struct dvb_adapter, which is literally the main-character struct for a Digital TV adapter using the Linux DVB API. iykyk 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

struct dvb_adapter — the struct that represents a Digital TV adapter using the Linux DVB API 💅

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

struct dvb_adapter {
    int num;
    struct list_head list_head;
    struct list_head device_list;
    const char *name;
    u8 proposed_mac [6];
    void* priv;
    struct device *device;
    struct module *module;
    int mfe_shared;
    struct dvb_device *mfe_dvbdev;
    struct mutex mfe_lock;
  #if defined(CONFIG_MEDIA_CONTROLLER_DVB);
    struct mutex mdev_lock;
    struct media_device *mdev;
    struct media_entity *conn;
    struct media_pad *conn_pads;
  #endif;
 };

no cap, that's the whole layout — now let's meet everybody in the group chat 🌸

💫 Members

  • num — the adapter's number. that's it, that's the whole vibe 🔢
  • list_head — a list holding the DVB adapters ✨
  • device_list — a list holding the DVB devices 🎀
  • name — the adapter's name, so it can be addressed properly 👑
  • proposed_mac — the proposed MAC address for the adapter. six bytes of u8 doing their little thing 🦋
  • priv — private data. mind your business, it's private 🙈
  • device — a pointer to struct device 🔥
  • module — a pointer to struct module ⭐
  • mfe_shared — indicates mutually exclusive frontends, and the value matters, so pay attention:
    • 1 = legacy exclusion behavior: blocking any open call
    • 2 = enhanced exclusion behavior, emulating the standard behavior of busy frontends: allowing read-only sharing and otherwise returning immediately with -EBUSY when any of the frontends is already opened with write access

literally pick the right one, bestie 💅

  • mfe_dvbdev — the frontend device in use, in the case of MFE 🫶
  • mfe_lock — the lock that prevents using the other frontends when MFE is used. keep them separated, periodt 🔒
  • mdev_lock — protects access to the mdev pointer. yes queen, guard it 🌈
  • mdev — a pointer to struct media_device, used when the media controller is used ✨
  • conn — RF connector. used only if the device has no separate tuner 🧚
  • conn_pads — a pointer to struct media_pad associated with conn (note the semicolon on the end of that one in the docs, we don't question it) 💀
okay the mdev_lock, mdev, conn, and conn_pads crew only show up when CONFIG_MEDIA_CONTROLLER_DVB is defined — it's giving conditional guest list 🎟️

🔍 SEE ALSO 🔍

the whole extended fam, in Kernel file ./include/media/dvbdev.h:

like, the whole friend group, obsessed 😭💖

and that's the page, bestie — straight outta ./include/media, dated October 2026, slaying in the Kernel API Manual forever 🎀✨💅

📦 where this page comes from