[PATCH v1] driver core/ACPI: Introduce companion_bus_register()

From: Rafael J. Wysocki

Date: Sun Sep 06 2026 - 12:09:38 EST


From: Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@xxxxxxxxx>

The ACPI bus type does not allow drivers to be registered, so the sysfs
attributes related to drivers created for it and its devices are
useless, and its drivers/ directory is always empty. All of that is
confusing and wasteful.

To allow skipping the creation of those sysfs attributes, introduce
the concept of a "companion" bus (as a bus without drivers whose
devices can be bound to other devices and used by their drivers) and
add a special registration function for registering "companion" bus
types, companion_bus_register().

Use that function for registering the ACPI bus type.

Signed-off-by: Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@xxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/acpi/bus.c | 8 -----
drivers/base/bus.c | 66 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
include/linux/device/bus.h | 1
3 files changed, 49 insertions(+), 26 deletions(-)

--- a/drivers/acpi/bus.c
+++ b/drivers/acpi/bus.c
@@ -1120,11 +1120,6 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(acpi_driver_match_devi
ACPI Bus operations
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- */

-static int acpi_bus_match(struct device *dev, const struct device_driver *drv)
-{
- return 0;
-}
-
static int acpi_device_uevent(const struct device *dev, struct kobj_uevent_env *env)
{
return __acpi_device_uevent_modalias(to_acpi_device(dev), env);
@@ -1132,7 +1127,6 @@ static int acpi_device_uevent(const stru

const struct bus_type acpi_bus_type = {
.name = "acpi",
- .match = acpi_bus_match,
.uevent = acpi_device_uevent,
};

@@ -1451,7 +1445,7 @@ static int __init acpi_bus_init(void)
*/
acpi_root_dir = proc_mkdir(ACPI_BUS_FILE_ROOT, NULL);

- result = bus_register(&acpi_bus_type);
+ result = companion_bus_register(&acpi_bus_type);
if (!result)
return 0;

--- a/drivers/base/bus.c
+++ b/drivers/base/bus.c
@@ -735,7 +735,7 @@ int bus_add_driver(struct device_driver
struct driver_private *priv;
int error = 0;

- if (!sp)
+ if (!sp || !sp->drivers_kset)
return -EINVAL;

/*
@@ -930,15 +930,7 @@ static ssize_t bus_uevent_store(const st
static struct bus_attribute bus_attr_uevent = __ATTR(uevent, 0200, NULL,
bus_uevent_store);

-/**
- * bus_register - register a driver-core subsystem
- * @bus: bus to register
- *
- * Once we have that, we register the bus with the kobject
- * infrastructure, then register the children subsystems it has:
- * the devices and drivers that belong to the subsystem.
- */
-int bus_register(const struct bus_type *bus)
+static int bus_register_internal(const struct bus_type *bus, bool use_drivers)
{
int retval;
struct subsys_private *priv;
@@ -960,7 +952,7 @@ int bus_register(const struct bus_type *

bus_kobj->kset = bus_kset;
bus_kobj->ktype = &bus_ktype;
- priv->drivers_autoprobe = 1;
+ priv->drivers_autoprobe = use_drivers;

retval = kset_register(&priv->subsys);
if (retval)
@@ -976,10 +968,12 @@ int bus_register(const struct bus_type *
goto bus_devices_fail;
}

- priv->drivers_kset = kset_create_and_add("drivers", NULL, bus_kobj);
- if (!priv->drivers_kset) {
- retval = -ENOMEM;
- goto bus_drivers_fail;
+ if (use_drivers) {
+ priv->drivers_kset = kset_create_and_add("drivers", NULL, bus_kobj);
+ if (!priv->drivers_kset) {
+ retval = -ENOMEM;
+ goto bus_drivers_fail;
+ }
}

INIT_LIST_HEAD(&priv->interfaces);
@@ -989,9 +983,11 @@ int bus_register(const struct bus_type *
klist_init(&priv->klist_devices, klist_devices_get, klist_devices_put);
klist_init(&priv->klist_drivers, NULL, NULL);

- retval = add_probe_files(bus);
- if (retval)
- goto bus_probe_files_fail;
+ if (use_drivers) {
+ retval = add_probe_files(bus);
+ if (retval)
+ goto bus_probe_files_fail;
+ }

retval = sysfs_create_groups(bus_kobj, bus->bus_groups);
if (retval)
@@ -1016,9 +1012,41 @@ out:
kfree(priv);
return retval;
}
+
+/**
+ * bus_register - register a driver-core subsystem
+ * @bus: bus to register
+ *
+ * Once we have that, we register the bus with the kobject
+ * infrastructure, then register the children subsystems it has:
+ * the devices and drivers that belong to the subsystem.
+ */
+int bus_register(const struct bus_type *bus)
+{
+ return bus_register_internal(bus, true);
+}
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(bus_register);

/**
+ * companion_bus_register - register a companion bus type
+ * @bus: companion bus to register
+ *
+ * A companion bus is a bus without drivers. Devices that belong to it can be
+ * bound to other devices as their "companions" and represent interfaces that
+ * can be used by the drivers of those other devices. They may also be used for
+ * the enumeration of those other devices.
+ *
+ * The ACPI bus is a specific example of a companion bus.
+ *
+ * Registering a companion bus is like registering a regular bus except that it
+ * skips the creation of sysfs interfaces related to drivers for @bus.
+ */
+int companion_bus_register(const struct bus_type *bus)
+{
+ return bus_register_internal(bus, false);
+}
+
+/**
* bus_unregister - remove a bus from the system
* @bus: bus.
*
@@ -1412,7 +1440,7 @@ struct device_driver *driver_find(const
struct kobject *k;
struct driver_private *priv;

- if (!sp)
+ if (!sp || !sp->drivers_kset)
return NULL;

k = kset_find_obj(sp->drivers_kset, name);
--- a/include/linux/device/bus.h
+++ b/include/linux/device/bus.h
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ struct bus_type {
bool need_parent_lock;
};

+int __must_check companion_bus_register(const struct bus_type *bus);
int __must_check bus_register(const struct bus_type *bus);

void bus_unregister(const struct bus_type *bus);