v4l2_create...links_to_pad(9)

💅 v4l2_create_fwnode_links_to_pad 💅

okay bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual entry for v4l2_create...links_to_pad(9) — yes the name is a whole mouthful, yes it's iconic, no we're not skipping a single letter of it ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

v4l2_create_fwnode_links_to_pad — Create fwnode-based links from a source subdev to a sink pad. That's the whole vibe: source subdev on one side, sink pad on the other, links getting made in between 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int v4l2_create_fwnode_links_to_pad (struct v4l2_subdev *src_sd , struct
media_pad *sink , u32 flags );

literally the entire signature, copy-pasted energy but make it cute 💅 returns an int, takes three things, we go through them right now 🫶

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• src_sd — pointer to a source subdev. yes, the source, the one doing the sourcing, main character of the connection 🌟
• sink — pointer to a sink pad. the destination, the receiver, the one catching all the links 💖
• flags — the link flags. we'll get into why these have RULES in a sec, keep reading 👀

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🧚 DESCRIPTION 🧚

so the way this function works is: it searches for fwnode endpoint connections from a source subdevice to a single sink pad, and if suitable connections turn up, it translates them into media links to that pad. no cap, that's the whole job 🌈

and here's the cute part — the function can be called by the sink, in its v4l2-async notifier bound callback, to create links from a bound source subdevice. so the sink is out here making its own connections, highkey independent energy 👑

now, the flags argument specifies the link flags. and listen, bestie, this next bit matters: The caller shall ensure that the flags are valid regardless of the number of links that may be created. For instance — setting the MEDIA_LNK_FL_ENABLED flag will cause all created links to be enabled, which isn't valid if more than one link is created. 😭 so like, one flag, many links = chaos. do your vibe check first fr fr

⚠️ NOTE: Any sink subdevice that calls this function must implement the .get_fwnode_pad media operation in order to verify endpoints passed to the sink are owned by the sink. no .get_fwnode_pad, no deal — that's the security guard at the door 🙈

Return 0 on success or a negative error code on failure. zero means slay, negative means try again 💀

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🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

• Kernel file ./include/media/v4l2-mc.h v4l2_mc_create_media_graph(9)
• v4l_enable_media_source(9)
• v4l_disable_media_source(9)
• v4l2_create_fwnode_links(9)
• v4l2_pipeline_pm_get(9)
• v4l2_pipeline_pm_put(9)
• v4l2_pipeline_link_notify(9)

all the friends in the group chat, go say hi 🫶🦋

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and that's the page, bestie! sign-off time: this one lives in ./include/media, dated October 2026, from the Kernel API Manual — go forth and create those fwnode links responsibly, ily, bye 💖🎀✨