Documentation/driver-api/media/v4l2-device.rst
Source file repositories/reference/linux-study-clean/Documentation/driver-api/media/v4l2-device.rst
File Facts
- System
- Linux kernel
- Corpus path
Documentation/driver-api/media/v4l2-device.rst- Extension
.rst- Size
- 5588 bytes
- Lines
- 147
- Domain
- Support Tooling And Documentation
- Bucket
- Documentation
- Inferred role
- Support Tooling And Documentation: operation-table or driver-model contract
- Status
- pattern implementation candidate
Why This File Exists
Repository support layer: documentation, build tooling, samples, user-space helper tools, generated initramfs support, licenses, and validation utilities.
- Repository support layer: documentation, build tooling, samples, user-space helper tools, generated initramfs support, licenses, and validation utilities.
- Defines an operation table; this is where Linux turns generic core objects into subsystem-specific behavior.
- Uses kernel synchronization; read lock ordering, sleepability, and interrupt context assumptions before translating.
- Defines or uses C structs; map object ownership, embedded links, reference counts, and lock ownership.
Dependency Surface
- No C-style include directives detected by the generator.
Detected Declarations
function devfunction iteratefunction drv_probe
Annotated Snippet
struct device_driver *drv;
int err;
/* Find driver 'ivtv' on the PCI bus.
pci_bus_type is a global. For USB buses use usb_bus_type. */
drv = driver_find("ivtv", &pci_bus_type);
/* iterate over all ivtv device instances */
err = driver_for_each_device(drv, NULL, p, callback);
put_driver(drv);
return err;
}
Sometimes you need to keep a running counter of the device instance. This is
commonly used to map a device instance to an index of a module option array.
The recommended approach is as follows:
.. code-block:: c
static atomic_t drv_instance = ATOMIC_INIT(0);
static int drv_probe(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *pci_id)
{
...
state->instance = atomic_inc_return(&drv_instance) - 1;
}
If you have multiple device nodes then it can be difficult to know when it is
safe to unregister :c:type:`v4l2_device` for hotpluggable devices. For this
purpose :c:type:`v4l2_device` has refcounting support. The refcount is
increased whenever :c:func:`video_register_device` is called and it is
decreased whenever that device node is released. When the refcount reaches
zero, then the :c:type:`v4l2_device` release() callback is called. You can
do your final cleanup there.
If other device nodes (e.g. ALSA) are created, then you can increase and
decrease the refcount manually as well by calling:
:c:func:`v4l2_device_get`
(:c:type:`v4l2_dev <v4l2_device>`).
or:
:c:func:`v4l2_device_put`
(:c:type:`v4l2_dev <v4l2_device>`).
Since the initial refcount is 1 you also need to call
:c:func:`v4l2_device_put` in the ``disconnect()`` callback (for USB devices)
or in the ``remove()`` callback (for e.g. PCI devices), otherwise the refcount
will never reach 0.
v4l2_device functions and data structures
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. kernel-doc:: include/media/v4l2-device.h
Annotation
- Detected declarations: `function dev`, `function iterate`, `function drv_probe`.
- Atlas domain: Support Tooling And Documentation / Documentation.
- Implementation status: pattern implementation candidate.
- Synchronization appears in or near this file; preserve lock ordering, sleepability, and interrupt-context constraints.
Implementation Notes
- This generated page is the file-by-file coverage layer; curated subsystem chapters should link here when they synthesize a multi-file control flow.
- Core OS pages should be promoted from atlas-only to deep-reviewed when they explain data structures, invariants, locking, lifecycle, and C implementation snippets.
- Driver-family pages are intentionally pattern-oriented unless they are part of the selected PCIe/NVMe representative device path.