ttm_ref_object_base_unref(9)

💖 ttm_ref_object_base_unref — the kernel API manual, bestie edition 💖

okay so real talk, we're deep in the ttm lore rn — this is a Kernel API Manual page, the kind of thing you find living rent-free in ./drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx, and tbh she's a little mysterious (the NAME line literally gives us zero tea 😭) but we're gonna read her together, mkay? 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

ttm_ref_object_base_unref — yeah. that's it. that's the whole name section. the manpage said "no description for you" and honestly? iconic of her. moving on 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int ttm_ref_object_base_unref (struct ttm_object_file *tfile , unsigned
long key );

so she takes a tfile and a key and she returns an int at the end — that's the whole signature, no cap ✨

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• tfile — bestie. i'm so serious. the manpage literally says -- undescribed --. like, it just doesn't describe it. that's the note. we don't know, nobody wrote it down, and we're not gonna make stuff up 🙈 (do NOT come for me, i'm just the messenger)
• key — okay this one's actually helpful: it's the Key representing the base object. so like, key → this specific base object. get you a lookup that can do both 🦋

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🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

okay here's the vibe: you call this to unreference a ref object that has type ref_type, on the base object that's identified by key.

and then the important part, listen up 👑 — if there are no duplicate references, two things go down:

1. the ref object gets destroyed 🎀
2. the base object gets unreferenced 💀

lowkey that "if there are no duplicate references" clause is doing a LOT of work in that sentence — it's a conditional, bestie, so don't go expecting the destroy-and-unref combo when duplicates are still around. read it with me again. periodt. 💅

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the whole friend group, literally the vmwgfx group chat 🫶 — from the Kernel file ./drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx/ttm_object.h:

• enum ttm_object_type(9)
• struct ttm_base_object(9)
• struct ttm_prime_object(9)
• ttm_base_object_init(9)
• ttm_base_object_lookup(9)
• ttm_base_object_lookup_for_ref(9)
• ttm_base_object_unref(9)
• ttm_object_file_init(9)
• ttm_object_file_release(9)
• ttm_object_device_release(9)

no cap, go read ttm_base_object_unref(9) right after this one, they're giving sibling energy 🧚

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💜 little sign-off moment: this gem comes to you courtesy of the source path ./drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx, and she's dated October 2026. stan a kernel doc that's future-dated. slay. ✨🎀💖