usb_register_driver(9)

💅 usb_register_driver(9) — like, the Kernel API Manual page, bestie ✨

Okay so this is usb_register_driver(9) straight out of the Kernel API Manual, and if you're here it's because you're writing a USB interface driver and you need the kernel to actually, y'know, notice it. Sit down, hydrate, let's go 🫶

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🌸 NAME 🌸

usb_register_driver — register a USB interface driver. That's it. That's the whole job. Iconic behaviour, no notes 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int usb_register_driver (struct usb_driver *new_driver , struct module
*owner , const char *mod_name );

Three args, one int coming back at you. Copy it exactly, don't get creative 😭

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• new_driver — the USB operations for the interface driver. This is your whole personality as a driver, your ops struct, your main character moment 👑
• owner — the module owner of this driver. Yes, that owner. The THIS_MODULE vibes.
• mod_name — module name string. Just a string, it's giving lowkey but necessary 🦋

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So what it does: it registers a USB interface driver with the USB core. That's the whole sentence. But here's the cute part bestie — the list of unattached interfaces gets rescanned whenever a new driver is added, which means your shiny new driver gets a chance to attach to any interfaces it recognizes. It's literally a matchmaking service for drivers and interfaces, and ngl it's kind of beautiful 😭💖

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🔥 RETURN 🔥

• A negative error code on failure 😔
• 0 on success 🎉 slay

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💀 NOTE 💀

Real talk: if you want your driver to use the USB major number, you must call usb_register_dev to enable that functionality. This function no longer takes care of that. It used to! It doesn't anymore. Don't @ me, don't @ the kernel, just call usb_register_dev 🙈

Fr fr, this is the one thing people get wrong, so like… don't be that person 💜

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

Kernel file ./drivers/usb/core/driver.c, plus the whole friend group:

• usb_driver_claim_interface(9)
• usb_driver_release_interface(9)
• usb_match_id(9)
• usb_register_device_driver(9)
• usb_deregister_device_driver(9)
• usb_deregister(9)
• usb_suspend_both(9)
• usb_resume_both(9)
• usb_enable_autosuspend(9)
• usb_disable_autosuspend(9)
• usb_autosuspend_device(9)
• usb_autoresume_device(9)
• usb_autopm_put_interface(9)
• usb_autopm_put_interface_async(9)
• usb_autopm_put_interface_no_suspend(9)
• usb_autopm_get_interface(9)
• usb_autopm_get_interface_async(9)
• usb_autopm_get_interface_no_resume(9)

That's a long list and you should lowkey read all of them, iykyk 🌈

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And that's the page, bestie 🍓 — brought to you from ./drivers/usb/core, dated October 2026, and if you need me I'll be here being obsessed with how the kernel rescans interfaces every time a driver shows up. Periodt. 💖✨🎀