STRUCT MEDIA_ENTITY(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

🎀 struct media_entity(9) 🎀

okay bestie, so this page is from the Kernel API Manual, and it's literally the whole rundown on struct media_entity — the main character of the media entity graph, no cap. Think of it as the group-chat profile for one node in the media graph: who it is, what it does, who it's connected to, and how many people are currently using it 💅. Let's get into it ✨

💖 NAME 💖

struct media_entity — a media entity graph object, periodt 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

struct media_entity {
    struct media_gobj graph_obj;
    const char *name;
    enum media_entity_type obj_type;
    u32 function;
    unsigned long flags;
    u16 num_pads;
    u16 num_links;
    u16 num_backlinks;
    int internal_idx;
    struct media_pad *pads;
    struct list_head links;
    const struct media_entity_operations *ops;
    int use_count;
    union {
      struct {
        u32 major;
        u32 minor;
      } dev;
    } info;
 };

🦋 MEMBERS 🦋

  • graph_obj — the embedded struct holding all the common media object data. it's giving "shared foundation" energy 💅
  • name — the entity's name. literally what it's called 🌸
  • obj_type — the type of the object that implements the media_entity.
  • function — the entity's main function, as defined in include/uapi/linux/media.h (go seek for MEDIA_ENT_F_*) 🔍
  • flags — the entity flags, as defined in include/uapi/linux/media.h (go seek for MEDIA_ENT_FL_*) 🔍
  • num_pads — how many sink and source pads there are.
  • num_links — the total number of links — forward and back, enabled and disabled. all of them, bestie 💀
  • num_backlinks — the number of backlinks.
  • internal_idx — a unique internal entity-specific number. and the numbers get re-used if entities are unregistered or registered again 👀
  • pads — the pads array, sized by num_pads.
  • links — the list of data links.
  • ops — the entity operations.
  • use_count — the use count for the entity.
  • info — a union with devnode information. it's kept just for backward compatibility, so it's lowkey a legacy icon 🙈
  • info.dev — contains the device major and minor info.
  • info.dev.major — device node major, if the device is a devnode.
  • info.dev.minor — device node minor, if the device is a devnode.

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

NOTE: 🔥 the use_count reference count must never be negative — but it's a signed integer on purpose, bestie. that way a simple WARN_ON(<0) check can catch reference count bugs that would make it go negative. iconic design choice, honestly 👑

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

kernel file ./include/media/media-entity.h plus all of these gems:

that's the whole thing, bestie, you ate it up 🍓 this lil masterpiece lives in ./include/media and was stamped October 2026 — go forth and slay your media graph 💜✨

📦 where this page comes from