video_device_pipeline_start(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

✨ video_device_pipeline_start(9) ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual 💅 today we're looking at a kernel function called video_device_pipeline_start and honestly? it's giving "queen of the pipeline". let's get into it 🎀

💖 NAME 💖

video_device_pipeline_start — marks a pipeline as streaming 🔥

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int video_device_pipeline_start (struct video_device *vdev , struct
media_pipeline *pipe );

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

  • vdev — the starting video device, aka where the whole thing kicks off 👑
  • pipe — the media pipeline that's gonna get assigned to literally every entity in the pipeline, no cap 🫶

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

So here's the vibe: this function marks all the entities connected to a given video device as streaming — and we mean all of them, whether they're connected directly or indirectly, through enabled links. every single one. obsessed 💫

The pipeline object you passed in gets assigned to every pad in the pipeline, and it's stored in the media_pad pipe field. slay.

Nested calls? absolutely allowed, bestie 🧚 but heads up: you'll need the same number of video_device_pipeline_stop calls to actually stop streaming. and the pipeline pointer has to be identical for all the nested video_device_pipeline_start calls — like, no switching up mid-nest, that's not the move 🙈

your video device must contain a single pad. one. uno. that's the rule 💀

Also lowkey important: this whole thing is just a convenience wrapper around media_pipeline_start. so cute, so helpful ✨

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

the kernel file ./include/media/v4l2-dev.h, plus this entire friend group right here 💜

and that's the page, bestie 🍓 this one came straight out of ./include/media and it's dated October 2026 — so go forth, start those pipelines, and remember: same pointer, same number of stops, main character energy only 👑💖✨

📦 where this page comes from