Embodiments of the invention are generally directed to messaging to provide data link integrity. An embodiment of a method includes transmitting a data stream over a data link from a first device to a second device, the data stream including multiple frames, the data stream being transmitted in a first mode. The method further includes determining a data transmission mode change from the first mode to a second mode for the transmission of the data stream from the first device to the second device, generating mode packets, each mode packet including fields to define a plurality of mode elements, the fields of the mode packet being set to indicate the data transmission mode change, and transmitting the mode packets to the second device prior to implementing the data transmission mode change.