Phoronix
Independent Linux hardware news, graphics/compute drivers, benchmarks, and kernel developments.
RADV Driver Enables Host Image Copy By Default For RDNA2 & Newer
The open‑source RADV driver now enables the Vulkan VK_EXT_host_image_copy extension by default on AMD RDNA 2 (GFX10.3) and newer GPUs. The change follows an update to AMD’s ADDRLIB library that adds AVX2‑based SIMD optimizations, boosting host‑to‑image upload speeds to roughly 20 GiB/s on Navi48. Previously, the feature was experimental and disabled due to inconsistent performance on older hardware. RDNA 1 GPUs can still use the extension manually via the RADV_DEBUG=hic flag.
Linux 7.1 Lands Workaround For Arm C1-Pro Erratum
Linux kernel version 7.1 now incorporates a mitigation for a hardware erratum in Arm’s C1‑Pro CPU affecting its Scalable Matrix Extension (SME). The bug, identified as erratum 4193714 and tracked as CVE‑2026‑0995, could allow TLB invalidation to complete before SME...
Initial Linux Driver Patches For Smart Data Accelerator Interface "SDXI"
Initial patches for the Smart Data Accelerator Interface (SDXI) have been posted to the Linux kernel mailing list, marking the first vendor‑neutral driver implementation for memory‑to‑memory data movement offload. The driver targets PCIe‑hosted SDXI 1.0 hardware and complies with the latest...
AMD's GAIA Makes It Easier To Import/Export Custom AI Agents Across PCs
AMD released GAIA 0.17.3, its cross‑platform AI‑agent framework built on the Lemonade SDK. The update introduces portable custom agents that can be imported, exported, and bundled into a single installer, especially streamlined for Windows. It also adds a C++ library that...
Linux 7.1 KVM Adds "Very Experimental" Support For pKVM Protected Guests
Linux 7.1 merges a set of KVM enhancements across major architectures. On ARM, a very experimental pKVM protected‑guest mode isolates guest memory by unmapping pages from the host and using hypercalls, requiring a new kernel config and a protected‑mode boot...
Git 2.54 Released With New Experimental "Git History" Command
Git 2.54 has been released, featuring an experimental “git history” command that simplifies repository history rewriting. The new command supports “reword” and “split” sub‑commands, enabling in‑place commit message edits and interactive commit splitting. Additional enhancements include configurable hooks outside the...
Linux 7.1 Adds Some New PCIe Drivers While Nuking Some PCI Drivers
The Linux 7.1 kernel merge introduces a suite of PCIe driver updates, adding support for new hardware while retiring several legacy drivers. Notable additions include the ESWIN PCIe Root Complex and Andes QiLai SoC host controller drivers, as well as TLP...
Valve Developer Further Improves Old AMD GPUs: HD 7870 XT Finally Working On Linux
Valve engineer Timur Kristóf has released a series of AMDGPU driver patches that finally enable the Radeon HD 7870 XT to work under Linux. The fix addresses the GPU's partially disabled TCC cache, a legacy issue that prevented the harvested Southern Islands chip...
Intel QAT Zstd, QAT Gen6 Improvements Merged For Linux 7.1
The Linux 7.1 kernel merge introduced a major cryptography subsystem overhaul, highlighted by Intel QuickAssist (QAT) enhancements. QAT now offloads Zstandard (Zstd) compression on Gen4 and Gen5 chips, while Gen6 adds native compression and decompression support. Additional Gen6 features include...
Linux 7.1 Adds New AMD SMCA Bank Types, Presumably For Upcoming EPYC Venice
Linux 7.1’s kernel update expands the AMD Machine Check Exception (mce_amd) driver with ten new Scalable Machine Check Architecture (SMCA) bank types. The additions cover data‑acceleration front‑end and back‑end units, eDDR5 interconnects, and several secure‑processor components. While the patches do...
AMD FP-DSS Security Bug For Zen 1 CPUs Made Public, Linux Kernel Patched
A floating‑point divider state sampling (FP‑DSS) vulnerability has been disclosed for AMD Zen 1 and Zen 1+ processors, including early Ryzen and EPYC chips. The flaw is a transient‑execution issue that could let a locally‑privileged attacker extract data through the floating‑point divisor...
Valve Developer Lands RADV/ACO Changes For AMD's GFX11.7 / RDNA 4m
Valve’s Linux graphics team, led by engineer Rhys Perry, merged ACO compiler and RADV Vulkan driver updates to support AMD’s upcoming GFX11.7 GPU, branded as RDNA 4m. The changes extend Mesa’s RadeonSI Gallium3D and RADV drivers to include new shader capabilities...
Glibc Lands A Big Optimization For LoongArch CPUs
The GNU C Library (glibc) has merged a LoongArch‑specific patch that enables transparent hugepages (THP) aligned load segments by default for LoongArch64. Aligning ELF load segments to THP boundaries reduces TLB pressure and improves instruction fetch efficiency. Early benchmarks on...
Proton 11.0 Beta Released With More Games Playable On Steam Play
Valve and CodeWeavers have launched Proton 11.0 Beta 1, the first beta milestone for Steam Play’s compatibility layer, now built on upstream Wine 11.0. The update unlocks native Linux support for dozens of titles that previously required the experimental branch, including classics like Resident...
New Media Drivers Merged For Linux 7.1
The Linux 7.1 merge window has incorporated a substantial media subsystem update, adding new hardware support and driver enhancements. The uvcvideo driver now supports Intel RealSense D436 and D555 3D depth cameras and introduces the P010 pixel format. Upstream drivers for...