topa_alloc(9)

💖 topa_alloc — Kernel API Manual, section 9 🎀

okay so bestie, we are deep in the kernel today and this one is a <pink>9</pink>-section page, meaning it's a kernel-internal function, not something you type in your shell. no --help here, she's for the C girlies. let's get into it ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

topa_alloc — literally just: allocate a page-sized ToPA table. that's the whole gig. iconic and focused 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

struct topa * topa_alloc (int cpu , gfp_t gfp );

yes the spacing is funky, that's just how the manpage generator types it, leave her alone 😭

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🌈 ARGUMENTS 🌈

• cpu — the CPU you want to allocate on. like, which CPU. pick one 🫶
• gfp — the allocation flags. yep, the gfp_t kind. the whole vibe of the allocation lives in here.

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

on success, you get back a pointer to the ToPA table page. that's the prize ✨ no cap, that's the only return behaviour listed here, so don't come at me asking about failure paths, this page simply does not say 🙈

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

bestie this list is long, she has a lot of friends. the kernel file ./arch/x86/events/intel/pt.c is where this all lives, and then we got:

• struct topa(9)
• struct topa_page(9)
• topa_free(9)
• topa_insert_table(9)
• topa_table_full(9)
• topa_insert_pages(9)
• pt_topa_dump(9)
• pt_buffer_advance(9)
• pt_update_head(9)
• pt_buffer_region(9)
• pt_buffer_region_size(9)
• pt_handle_status(9)
• pt_read_offset(9)
• pt_buffer_reset_markers(9)
• pt_buffer_reset_offsets(9)
• pt_buffer_fini_topa(9)
• pt_buffer_init_topa(9)
• pt_buffer_setup_aux(9)
• pt_buffer_free_aux(9)
• intel_pt_interrupt(9)

that's the whole squad, go read them too, iykyk 💜🔥

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🧚 quick vibe check bestie: everything above is real, and if you need to know more, the Intel PT corner of arch/x86/events is where you go. no invented behaviour, we stay honest on this blog 💖

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and that's the page! brought to you by the source path ./arch/x86/events/intel, dated October 2026, and yes, she's still signed topa_alloc(9) at the bottom because some things never change ✨🎀