wait_event_killable_timeout(9)

💖 NAME 💖

Okay bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual page for wait_event_killable_timeout(9) — folded in right at the top so we can get straight to the function. The whole entire job is: wait_event_killable_timeout — sleep until a condition gets true or a timeout elapses. Slay.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

wait_event_killable_timeout (wq_head , condition , timeout );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• wq_head — the waitqueue to wait on. That's your wait spot, bestie.
• condition — a C expression for the event to wait for. This is the thing you're literally waiting on to get true.
• timeout — timeout, in jiffies. Yep, jiffies, not seconds — don't come for me.

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Okay so here's the vibe check: the process is put to sleep (TASK_KILLABLE) until the condition evaluates to true or a kill signal is received. The condition is checked each time the waitqueue wq_head is woken up.

wake_up has to be called after changing any variable that could change the result of the wait condition. That's a hard requirement, bestie — wake_up has to be called, periodt.

Only kill signals interrupt this process. Only kill signals — that's the whole guest list.

🔥 RETURN 🔥

• 0 if the condition evaluated to false after the timeout elapsed.
• 1 if the condition evaluated to true after the timeout elapsed.
• the remaining jiffies (at least 1) if the condition evaluated to true before the timeout elapsed.
• -ERESTARTSYS if it was interrupted by a kill signal.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Kernel file ./include/linux/wait.h is in the SEE ALSO squad, and the rest of the references are:

• waitqueue_active(9)
• wq_has_single_sleeper(9)
• wq_has_sleeper(9)
• wake_up_pollfree(9)
• wait_event(9)
• wait_event_freezable(9)
• wait_event_timeout(9)
• wait_event_cmd(9)
• wait_event_interruptible(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_timeout(9)
• wait_event_hrtimeout(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_hrtimeout(9)
• wait_event_idle(9)
• wait_event_idle_exclusive(9)
• wait_event_idle_timeout(9)
• wait_event_idle_exclusive_timeout(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_locked(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_locked_irq(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_exclusive_locked(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_exclusive_locked_irq(9)
• wait_event_killable(9)
• wait_event_state(9)
• wait_event_lock_irq_cmd(9)
• wait_event_lock_irq(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_lock_irq_cmd(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_lock_irq(9)
• wait_event_interruptible_lock_irq_timeout(9)

Mwah 💋 — source/version: ./include/linux; date: October 2026; page: wait_event_killable_timeout(9) 💖