wait_event_timeout(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💤 wait_event_timeout — the Kernel API Manual (section 9) bestie edition ✨

okay so you're in wait_event_timeout(9) territory, the Kernel API Manual, section 9 — buckle up 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

wait_event_timeout — she sleeps until a condition gets true or a timeout elapses 😴⏰

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

wait_event_timeout (wq_head , condition , timeout );

🫶 ARGUMENTS 🫶

  • wq_head — the waitqueue you're waiting on, like your group chat but for kernel threads 💬
  • condition — a C expression for the event to wait for, aka the thing you're manifesting ✨
  • timeout — the timeout, in jiffies (yes, jiffies, not seconds, don't come for me) ⏳

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

the process is put to sleep — and ngl, TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE specifically — until the condition evaluates to true 😴🦋 the condition gets checked each and every time the waitqueue wq_head is woken up. every single time. she's thorough like that 👑

⚠️ bestie listen — wake_up has to be called after changing any variable that could change the result of the wait condition. it's not optional, it's not a suggestion, it's giving mandatory 💀🔥

🌈 RETURN 🌈

  • 0 — the condition evaluated to false after the timeout elapsed 😭 (the "womp womp" outcome)
  • 1 — the condition evaluated to true after the timeout elapsed 💖 (late but she made it)
  • the remaining jiffies (at least 1) — the condition evaluated to true before the timeout elapsed 🔥👑 (iconic, early, ate)

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

the kernel file ./include/linux/wait.h is where all this lives, and here's the whole friend group 💜:

and that's the whole vibe check bestie 💅 this one's from ./include/linux, dated October 2026, and it's literally called wait_event_timeout(9) — slay, go take a nap until your condition's true 🧚‍♀️⭐🎀

📦 where this page comes from