timecounter_read(9)

💖 timecounter_read(9) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual ✨ this one is short and sweet and honestly kinda iconic — it's timecounter_read(9) and it's giving clock go brrr 🕰️

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✨ NAME ✨

timecounter_read — returns nanoseconds elapsed since timecounter_init() (plus the initial time stamp, obviously 💅)

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

u64 timecounter_read (struct timecounter *tc );

like, that's literally it. one arg. no cap. 🎀

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🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

• tc — pointer to the time counter 🫶 that's your whole input, bestie, and she's a struct timecounter *

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so in other words (and this is the part that actually matters, fr fr): this function keeps track of time since the same epoch as the function that generated the initial time stamp ✨

so it's not out here inventing its own timeline — it's synced to the epoch from whoever made that initial stamp 👑 main character energy but make it consistent 🌈

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

nanoseconds since the initial time stamp 💫 that's the whole return value, periodt.

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🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

• kernel file ./include/linux/timecounter.h
• struct cyclecounter(9)
• struct timecounter(9)
• cyclecounter_cyc2ns(9)
• timecounter_adjtime(9)
• timecounter_init(9)
• timecounter_cyc2time(9)

go read the whole friend group bestie, they all hang out together 🧚‍♀️💖

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lowkey mandatory reading before you touch time counters: timecounter_init(9) sets the epoch this one is measuring from, so like… know her before you call her 🙈

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🍓 that's the page!! 🍓 this little gem lives in ./include/linux and the version is dated October 2026 — mwah, slay, bye bestie 💅💖🦋