Re: [PATCH 3/5] hw/arm/imx8mp-evk: Fix reference count of SoC object

On Sun, 8 Mar 2026 at 20:35, Bernhard Beschow <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> object_new() leaves a reference count of one, and object_property_add_child()
> then leaves it at two. This would leak the SoC object if the machine object was
> destroyed since the machine is the SoC's sole owner. Fix this by converting to
> object_new_with_props() which gets the parenting and reference count right in
> one go.
>
> Fixes: a4eefc69b237 ("hw/arm: Add i.MX 8M Plus EVK board")
> cc: Gaurav Sharma <[email protected]>
> Signed-off-by: Bernhard Beschow <[email protected]>
> ---
>  hw/arm/imx8mp-evk.c | 4 ++--
>  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/hw/arm/imx8mp-evk.c b/hw/arm/imx8mp-evk.c
> index b84ac91a17..cfc3038c36 100644
> --- a/hw/arm/imx8mp-evk.c
> +++ b/hw/arm/imx8mp-evk.c
> @@ -74,8 +74,8 @@ static void imx8mp_evk_init(MachineState *machine)
>          .modify_dtb = imx8mp_evk_modify_dtb,
>      };
>
> -    s = FSL_IMX8MP(object_new(TYPE_FSL_IMX8MP));
> -    object_property_add_child(OBJECT(machine), "soc", OBJECT(s));
> +    s = FSL_IMX8MP(object_new_with_props(TYPE_FSL_IMX8MP, OBJECT(machine),
> +                                         "soc", &error_fatal, NULL));
>      object_property_set_uint(OBJECT(s), "fec1-phy-num", 1, &error_fatal);
>      sysbus_realize_and_unref(SYS_BUS_DEVICE(s), &error_fatal);

There are more boards doing this as object_new / add_child / unref
than with object_new_with_props(), but doing it in one call seems
better than three.

Reviewed-by: Peter Maydell <[email protected]>

thanks
-- PMM