diff --git a/Documentation/kobject.txt b/Documentation/kobject.txt
index bdb13817e1e9ebc0ad667482deb4e2107361961b..3ab2472509cbbc86996b31d809543ca2dd93f2c9 100644
--- a/Documentation/kobject.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kobject.txt
@@ -59,37 +59,56 @@ nice to have in other objects.  The C language does not allow for the
 direct expression of inheritance, so other techniques - such as structure
 embedding - must be used.
 
-So, for example, the UIO code has a structure that defines the memory
-region associated with a uio device:
+(As an aside, for those familiar with the kernel linked list implementation,
+this is analogous as to how "list_head" structs are rarely useful on
+their own, but are invariably found embedded in the larger objects of
+interest.)
 
-struct uio_mem {
+So, for example, the UIO code in drivers/uio/uio.c has a structure that
+defines the memory region associated with a uio device:
+
+    struct uio_map {
 	struct kobject kobj;
-	unsigned long addr;
-	unsigned long size;
-	int memtype;
-	void __iomem *internal_addr;
-};
+	struct uio_mem *mem;
+    };
 
-If you have a struct uio_mem structure, finding its embedded kobject is
+If you have a struct uio_map structure, finding its embedded kobject is
 just a matter of using the kobj member.  Code that works with kobjects will
 often have the opposite problem, however: given a struct kobject pointer,
 what is the pointer to the containing structure?  You must avoid tricks
 (such as assuming that the kobject is at the beginning of the structure)
 and, instead, use the container_of() macro, found in <linux/kernel.h>:
 
-	container_of(pointer, type, member)
+    container_of(pointer, type, member)
+
+where:
+
+  * "pointer" is the pointer to the embedded kobject,
+  * "type" is the type of the containing structure, and
+  * "member" is the name of the structure field to which "pointer" points.
+
+The return value from container_of() is a pointer to the corresponding
+container type. So, for example, a pointer "kp" to a struct kobject
+embedded *within* a struct uio_map could be converted to a pointer to the
+*containing* uio_map structure with:
+
+    struct uio_map *u_map = container_of(kp, struct uio_map, kobj);
+
+For convenience, programmers often define a simple macro for "back-casting"
+kobject pointers to the containing type.  Exactly this happens in the
+earlier drivers/uio/uio.c, as you can see here:
+
+    struct uio_map {
+        struct kobject kobj;
+        struct uio_mem *mem;
+    };
 
-where pointer is the pointer to the embedded kobject, type is the type of
-the containing structure, and member is the name of the structure field to
-which pointer points.  The return value from container_of() is a pointer to
-the given type. So, for example, a pointer "kp" to a struct kobject
-embedded within a struct uio_mem could be converted to a pointer to the
-containing uio_mem structure with:
+    #define to_map(map) container_of(map, struct uio_map, kobj)
 
-    struct uio_mem *u_mem = container_of(kp, struct uio_mem, kobj);
+where the macro argument "map" is a pointer to the struct kobject in
+question.  That macro is subsequently invoked with:
 
-Programmers often define a simple macro for "back-casting" kobject pointers
-to the containing type.
+    struct uio_map *map = to_map(kobj);
 
 
 Initialization of kobjects
@@ -387,4 +406,5 @@ called, and the objects in the former circle release each other.
 Example code to copy from
 
 For a more complete example of using ksets and kobjects properly, see the
-sample/kobject/kset-example.c code.
+example programs samples/kobject/{kobject-example.c,kset-example.c},
+which will be built as loadable modules if you select CONFIG_SAMPLE_KOBJECT.
diff --git a/drivers/base/class.c b/drivers/base/class.c
index 0147f476b8a9d81be9792aa5572617d910ebaaaa..9c6a0d6408e7b7a609bdd2170c75def1277326ca 100644
--- a/drivers/base/class.c
+++ b/drivers/base/class.c
@@ -219,6 +219,8 @@ static void class_create_release(struct class *cls)
  * This is used to create a struct class pointer that can then be used
  * in calls to device_create().
  *
+ * Returns &struct class pointer on success, or ERR_PTR() on error.
+ *
  * Note, the pointer created here is to be destroyed when finished by
  * making a call to class_destroy().
  */
diff --git a/drivers/base/core.c b/drivers/base/core.c
index ef55df34ddd0274e66d7328bad4f230f83884e9a..b56a0ba31d4a0f7f2c677bb20a216bf1698cfe88 100644
--- a/drivers/base/core.c
+++ b/drivers/base/core.c
@@ -1345,6 +1345,8 @@ static void root_device_release(struct device *dev)
  * 'module' symlink which points to the @owner directory
  * in sysfs.
  *
+ * Returns &struct device pointer on success, or ERR_PTR() on error.
+ *
  * Note: You probably want to use root_device_register().
  */
 struct device *__root_device_register(const char *name, struct module *owner)
@@ -1432,6 +1434,8 @@ static void device_create_release(struct device *dev)
  * Any further sysfs files that might be required can be created using this
  * pointer.
  *
+ * Returns &struct device pointer on success, or ERR_PTR() on error.
+ *
  * Note: the struct class passed to this function must have previously
  * been created with a call to class_create().
  */
@@ -1492,6 +1496,8 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(device_create_vargs);
  * Any further sysfs files that might be required can be created using this
  * pointer.
  *
+ * Returns &struct device pointer on success, or ERR_PTR() on error.
+ *
  * Note: the struct class passed to this function must have previously
  * been created with a call to class_create().
  */
diff --git a/drivers/base/cpu.c b/drivers/base/cpu.c
index 7036e8e96ab89080231f3287f52cac1e801e6d0b..b5242e1e8bc451efd26b0d4c6a97bdab7dc60057 100644
--- a/drivers/base/cpu.c
+++ b/drivers/base/cpu.c
@@ -79,24 +79,24 @@ void unregister_cpu(struct cpu *cpu)
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_CPU_PROBE_RELEASE
-static ssize_t cpu_probe_store(struct sys_device *dev,
-				struct sysdev_attribute *attr,
-				const char *buf,
+static ssize_t cpu_probe_store(struct sysdev_class *class,
+			       struct sysdev_class_attribute *attr,
+			       const char *buf,
 			       size_t count)
 {
 	return arch_cpu_probe(buf, count);
 }
 
-static ssize_t cpu_release_store(struct sys_device *dev,
-				struct sysdev_attribute *attr,
-				const char *buf,
+static ssize_t cpu_release_store(struct sysdev_class *class,
+				 struct sysdev_class_attribute *attr,
+				 const char *buf,
 				 size_t count)
 {
 	return arch_cpu_release(buf, count);
 }
 
-static SYSDEV_ATTR(probe, S_IWUSR, NULL, cpu_probe_store);
-static SYSDEV_ATTR(release, S_IWUSR, NULL, cpu_release_store);
+static SYSDEV_CLASS_ATTR(probe, S_IWUSR, NULL, cpu_probe_store);
+static SYSDEV_CLASS_ATTR(release, S_IWUSR, NULL, cpu_release_store);
 #endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_CPU_PROBE_RELEASE */
 
 #else /* ... !CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU */
diff --git a/drivers/base/firmware_class.c b/drivers/base/firmware_class.c
index d0dc26ad53871df760302961376ed779c58a113c..18518ba13c81c6f30a7f136ff21cfb8d0381e343 100644
--- a/drivers/base/firmware_class.c
+++ b/drivers/base/firmware_class.c
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ firmware_timeout_show(struct class *class,
 /**
  * firmware_timeout_store - set number of seconds to wait for firmware
  * @class: device class pointer
+ * @attr: device attribute pointer
  * @buf: buffer to scan for timeout value
  * @count: number of bytes in @buf
  *
@@ -442,6 +443,7 @@ static int fw_setup_device(struct firmware *fw, struct device **dev_p,
 	fw_priv = dev_get_drvdata(f_dev);
 
 	fw_priv->fw = fw;
+	sysfs_bin_attr_init(&fw_priv->attr_data);
 	retval = sysfs_create_bin_file(&f_dev->kobj, &fw_priv->attr_data);
 	if (retval) {
 		dev_err(device, "%s: sysfs_create_bin_file failed\n", __func__);
diff --git a/drivers/base/node.c b/drivers/base/node.c
index ad43185ec15adebc4d48d80ffb58275b18827da3..93b3ac65c2d4f0014628cca66decec0df45c45cf 100644
--- a/drivers/base/node.c
+++ b/drivers/base/node.c
@@ -165,8 +165,11 @@ static ssize_t node_read_distance(struct sys_device * dev,
 	int len = 0;
 	int i;
 
-	/* buf currently PAGE_SIZE, need ~4 chars per node */
-	BUILD_BUG_ON(MAX_NUMNODES*4 > PAGE_SIZE/2);
+	/*
+	 * buf is currently PAGE_SIZE in length and each node needs 4 chars
+	 * at the most (distance + space or newline).
+	 */
+	BUILD_BUG_ON(MAX_NUMNODES * 4 > PAGE_SIZE);
 
 	for_each_online_node(i)
 		len += sprintf(buf + len, "%s%d", i ? " " : "", node_distance(nid, i));
diff --git a/drivers/base/platform.c b/drivers/base/platform.c
index 1ba9d617d241ba170842eba208b5dca64783960a..4b4b565c835f9c1c6da550fdb7d69ae27396fbf0 100644
--- a/drivers/base/platform.c
+++ b/drivers/base/platform.c
@@ -362,6 +362,8 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(platform_device_unregister);
  * enumeration tasks, they don't fully conform to the Linux driver model.
  * In particular, when such drivers are built as modules, they can't be
  * "hotplugged".
+ *
+ * Returns &struct platform_device pointer on success, or ERR_PTR() on error.
  */
 struct platform_device *platform_device_register_simple(const char *name,
 							int id,
@@ -408,6 +410,8 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(platform_device_register_simple);
  * allocated for the device allows drivers using such devices to be
  * unloaded without waiting for the last reference to the device to be
  * dropped.
+ *
+ * Returns &struct platform_device pointer on success, or ERR_PTR() on error.
  */
 struct platform_device *platform_device_register_data(
 		struct device *parent,
@@ -559,6 +563,8 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(platform_driver_probe);
  *
  * Use this in legacy-style modules that probe hardware directly and
  * register a single platform device and corresponding platform driver.
+ *
+ * Returns &struct platform_device pointer on success, or ERR_PTR() on error.
  */
 struct platform_device * __init_or_module platform_create_bundle(
 			struct platform_driver *driver,
@@ -1052,9 +1058,11 @@ static __initdata LIST_HEAD(early_platform_driver_list);
 static __initdata LIST_HEAD(early_platform_device_list);
 
 /**
- * early_platform_driver_register
+ * early_platform_driver_register - register early platform driver
  * @epdrv: early_platform driver structure
  * @buf: string passed from early_param()
+ *
+ * Helper function for early_platform_init() / early_platform_init_buffer()
  */
 int __init early_platform_driver_register(struct early_platform_driver *epdrv,
 					  char *buf)
@@ -1106,9 +1114,12 @@ int __init early_platform_driver_register(struct early_platform_driver *epdrv,
 }
 
 /**
- * early_platform_add_devices - add a numbers of early platform devices
+ * early_platform_add_devices - adds a number of early platform devices
  * @devs: array of early platform devices to add
  * @num: number of early platform devices in array
+ *
+ * Used by early architecture code to register early platform devices and
+ * their platform data.
  */
 void __init early_platform_add_devices(struct platform_device **devs, int num)
 {
@@ -1128,8 +1139,12 @@ void __init early_platform_add_devices(struct platform_device **devs, int num)
 }
 
 /**
- * early_platform_driver_register_all
+ * early_platform_driver_register_all - register early platform drivers
  * @class_str: string to identify early platform driver class
+ *
+ * Used by architecture code to register all early platform drivers
+ * for a certain class. If omitted then only early platform drivers
+ * with matching kernel command line class parameters will be registered.
  */
 void __init early_platform_driver_register_all(char *class_str)
 {
@@ -1151,7 +1166,7 @@ void __init early_platform_driver_register_all(char *class_str)
 }
 
 /**
- * early_platform_match
+ * early_platform_match - find early platform device matching driver
  * @epdrv: early platform driver structure
  * @id: id to match against
  */
@@ -1169,7 +1184,7 @@ early_platform_match(struct early_platform_driver *epdrv, int id)
 }
 
 /**
- * early_platform_left
+ * early_platform_left - check if early platform driver has matching devices
  * @epdrv: early platform driver structure
  * @id: return true if id or above exists
  */
@@ -1187,7 +1202,7 @@ static  __init int early_platform_left(struct early_platform_driver *epdrv,
 }
 
 /**
- * early_platform_driver_probe_id
+ * early_platform_driver_probe_id - probe drivers matching class_str and id
  * @class_str: string to identify early platform driver class
  * @id: id to match against
  * @nr_probe: number of platform devices to successfully probe before exiting
@@ -1257,10 +1272,14 @@ static int __init early_platform_driver_probe_id(char *class_str,
 }
 
 /**
- * early_platform_driver_probe
+ * early_platform_driver_probe - probe a class of registered drivers
  * @class_str: string to identify early platform driver class
  * @nr_probe: number of platform devices to successfully probe before exiting
  * @user_only: only probe user specified early platform devices
+ *
+ * Used by architecture code to probe registered early platform drivers
+ * within a certain class. For probe to happen a registered early platform
+ * device matching a registered early platform driver is needed.
  */
 int __init early_platform_driver_probe(char *class_str,
 				       int nr_probe,
diff --git a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
index ec5e3f8df648ba1e719836a9b8349246005ba685..c6ad4234378d7e5cd0818d839e81c3b641e1d426 100644
--- a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
+++ b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
@@ -2272,42 +2272,52 @@ static int create_files(struct bmc_device *bmc)
 	bmc->device_id_attr.attr.name = "device_id";
 	bmc->device_id_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->device_id_attr.show = device_id_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->device_id_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->provides_dev_sdrs_attr.attr.name = "provides_device_sdrs";
 	bmc->provides_dev_sdrs_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->provides_dev_sdrs_attr.show = provides_dev_sdrs_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->provides_dev_sdrs_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->revision_attr.attr.name = "revision";
 	bmc->revision_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->revision_attr.show = revision_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->revision_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->firmware_rev_attr.attr.name = "firmware_revision";
 	bmc->firmware_rev_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->firmware_rev_attr.show = firmware_rev_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->firmware_rev_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->version_attr.attr.name = "ipmi_version";
 	bmc->version_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->version_attr.show = ipmi_version_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->version_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->add_dev_support_attr.attr.name = "additional_device_support";
 	bmc->add_dev_support_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->add_dev_support_attr.show = add_dev_support_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->add_dev_support_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->manufacturer_id_attr.attr.name = "manufacturer_id";
 	bmc->manufacturer_id_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->manufacturer_id_attr.show = manufacturer_id_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->manufacturer_id_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->product_id_attr.attr.name = "product_id";
 	bmc->product_id_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->product_id_attr.show = product_id_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->product_id_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->guid_attr.attr.name = "guid";
 	bmc->guid_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->guid_attr.show = guid_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->guid_attr.attr);
 
 	bmc->aux_firmware_rev_attr.attr.name = "aux_firmware_revision";
 	bmc->aux_firmware_rev_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO;
 	bmc->aux_firmware_rev_attr.show = aux_firmware_rev_show;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&bmc->aux_firmware_rev_attr.attr);
 
 	err = device_create_file(&bmc->dev->dev,
 			   &bmc->device_id_attr);
diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/core/sysfs.c b/drivers/infiniband/core/sysfs.c
index 1558bb7fc74dd6c2ce19da6d9c277292c0ba0e7b..f901957abc8b54ce68815eb19a26129a0e6b8867 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/core/sysfs.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/core/sysfs.c
@@ -461,6 +461,7 @@ alloc_group_attrs(ssize_t (*show)(struct ib_port *,
 		element->attr.attr.mode  = S_IRUGO;
 		element->attr.show       = show;
 		element->index		 = i;
+		sysfs_attr_init(&element->attr.attr);
 
 		tab_attr[i] = &element->attr.attr;
 	}
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx4/main.c b/drivers/net/mlx4/main.c
index 8f6e816a7395f78dadfa12c7a64269ce820d0b7d..b402a95c87c72d44bd6b2c3dca4f38d4c464f353 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx4/main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx4/main.c
@@ -1023,6 +1023,7 @@ static int mlx4_init_port_info(struct mlx4_dev *dev, int port)
 	info->port_attr.attr.mode = S_IRUGO | S_IWUSR;
 	info->port_attr.show      = show_port_type;
 	info->port_attr.store     = set_port_type;
+	sysfs_attr_init(&info->port_attr.attr);
 
 	err = device_create_file(&dev->pdev->dev, &info->port_attr);
 	if (err) {
diff --git a/drivers/pci/pci-sysfs.c b/drivers/pci/pci-sysfs.c
index de296452c957b7fb7ecb352ed03b7926913c98a9..997668558e79840eee9493ee9c6400a2cbd2da8c 100644
--- a/drivers/pci/pci-sysfs.c
+++ b/drivers/pci/pci-sysfs.c
@@ -655,8 +655,8 @@ void pci_create_legacy_files(struct pci_bus *b)
 		goto legacy_io_err;
 
 	/* Allocated above after the legacy_io struct */
-	sysfs_bin_attr_init(b->legacy_mem);
 	b->legacy_mem = b->legacy_io + 1;
+	sysfs_bin_attr_init(b->legacy_mem);
 	b->legacy_mem->attr.name = "legacy_mem";
 	b->legacy_mem->size = 1024*1024;
 	b->legacy_mem->attr.mode = S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR;