STRUCT VMW_VALIDATION_RES_NODE(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

🌸 NAME 🌸

struct vmw_validation_res_node — the resource validation metadata struct, bestie. it's the little record-keeper that holds all the tea about a resource during validation 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

okay so here's literally the whole struct, character for character, no cap:

struct vmw_validation_res_node {
    struct list_head head;
    struct vmwgfx_hash_item hash;
    struct vmw_resource *res;
    struct vmw_bo *new_guest_memory_bo;
    unsigned long new_guest_memory_offset;
    u32 no_buffer_needed : 1;
    u32 switching_guest_memory_bo : 1;
    u32 first_usage : 1;
    u32 reserved : 1;
    u32 dirty : 1;
    u32 dirty_set : 1;
    unsigned long private[];
};

🎀 MEMBERS 🎀

let me walk you through every single field because we do NOT skip details in this house 🫶

  • head — the list head for the resource validation list. it's the little handle that keeps this node chained up with all its friends 🔗
  • hash — a hash entry, and it's specifically for the duplicate detection hash table. iykyk, dupes get caught here 💅
  • res — reference counted resource pointer. it's a pointer to the resource, and yes it's ref-counted, so mind your refs bestie 💜
  • new_guest_memory_bo — a non ref-counted pointer to the new guest memory buffer that's gonna be assigned to a resource. read that again: non ref-counted. don't come for me when you forget 🙈
  • new_guest_memory_offset — offset into the new backup MOB, for the resources that can share MOBs. sharing is caring 🧚
  • no_buffer_needed — when this is set, the kernel does not need to allocate a MOB during validation, because the command stream provides a mob bind operation. the kernel's like "i'm good actually" ✨
  • switching_guest_memory_bo — tells you the validation process is switching backup MOB. it's giving main character energy, the MOB is changing 🦋
  • first_usage — True iff the resource has been seen only once in the current validation batch. like, first time seeing you in this batch, hi 😭
  • reserved — whether the resource is currently reserved by this process. claim your spot 👑
  • dirty — dirty information, VMW_RES_DIRTY_XX. that's the literal token, keep it 🍓
  • dirty_set — change dirty status of the resource. yes it's a bit confusing that these two live next to each other, they're different things, ok? 💀
  • private — optionally additional memory for caller-private data. a flexible array member, so it can hold whatever extra lil secrets the caller wants 🌈

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so why are half these fields bit fields? because these structures get allocated and freed in large numbers, and space conservation is desired. that's the whole reason — bit fields, tiny, efficient, iconic. the kernel is on a budget and she's slaying it 💅

lowkey important: they're bit fields, so don't expect to take nice neat addresses of them or anything. it's a space thing, fr fr.

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

kernel file ./drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx/vmwgfx_validation.c, plus all of these besties:

okay and for the cute sign-off: this one lives under ./drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx, it's from October 2026, and the page itself is struct vmw_validation_res_node(9) from the Kernel API Manual. go read the source, ily, bye 💖✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from