Phoronix
Independent Linux hardware news, graphics/compute drivers, benchmarks, and kernel developments.
Linux 7.1-rc6 To Support The ASUS ROG RAIKIRI II & Nova 2 Lite Controllers
The upcoming Linux 7.1‑rc6 kernel will include new input‑device support, notably native drivers for the high‑end ASUS ROG RAIKIRI II and the budget‑friendly GameSir Nova 2 Lite controllers. Both devices are added to the XPad driver, requiring only new device IDs, allowing integration before the next merge window. Additional fixes update the Synaptics touchpad driver for Lenovo ThinkPad E490 and address other minor input issues. The changes are slated for merge hours before the rc6 release.
Linux 7.2 To Bring Graphics Driver Fix For Old Integrated Graphics On Intel Sandy Bridge
Linux is set to release kernel version 7.2, which includes a targeted fix for an engine‑reset hang affecting Intel’s 15‑year‑old Sandy Bridge integrated graphics. The problem, first reported in February 2025, stemmed from fence‑error handling in the i915 DRM driver...
Intel Arc Pro B70 BMG-G31 Linux Gaming Performance
Phoronix benchmarked Intel's Arc Pro B70 GPU on Linux, comparing it against a wide range of Intel, AMD and NVIDIA cards using Ubuntu 26.04, Mesa 26.0.3 and the NVIDIA R595 driver. The tests covered Vulkan and OpenCL titles, revealing that the B70 holds its...
O3DE 26.05 Released With New Open Particle System, Other Engine Improvements
The Open 3D Engine (O3DE) released version 26.05, delivering a suite of stability upgrades and new capabilities. The highlight is an experimental Open Particle System gem that supports sprite, ribbon, and mesh particles with integrated Atom rendering. A graphical editor...
Linux Driver To Expose Voltage Inputs For Raspberry Pi SBCs
The Raspberry Pi hardware‑monitoring driver RASPBERRYPI‑HWMON is being extended to expose core and SDRAM voltage readings via the standard Linux hwmon sysfs interface. The patch, currently in the hwmon‑next branch, adds four voltage inputs (in0‑in3) reported in millivolts. These changes are...
Pavona Aims To Provide A Certification-Ready, Open-Source Silicon Ecosystem
GlobalPlatform unveiled Pavona, an open‑source silicon ecosystem backed by industry heavyweights including Meta, Qualcomm, Tenstorrent, Winbond, and the University of Oxford. Pavona positions itself as a modular library of tapeout‑proven, certification‑ready building blocks and reference designs for secure‑by‑default chips. The...
FreeBSD Foundation Executive Director Tries Daily Driving FreeBSD On Laptop
FreeBSD Foundation Executive Director Deb Goodkin began daily‑driving FreeBSD on a Framework laptop, marking a shift after years of treating the OS as a hobbyist platform. The modern hardware supported a functional KDE desktop, touchscreen, and basic peripherals, though video‑call...
Linux 7.1 Merges AMD Dynamic EPP Fixes, Intel Bartlett Lake Scaling Fix
The Linux 7.1 kernel merged a set of power‑management fixes targeting AMD and Intel CPUs. AMD’s Dynamic EPP feature is no longer a configurable Kconfig option; it must be enabled via the amd_pstate=dynamic_epp=1 boot parameter, and several bugs were patched. Intel’s P‑State...
CHUWI's $449 USD Wildcat Lake Laptop Should Work Fine With Linux
CHUWI unveiled the UniBook, a $449 USD laptop built around Intel’s new Core 3‑304 Wildcat Lake processor. The 14‑inch device ships with Windows 11 but is positioned as Linux‑friendly, featuring 8 GB LPDDR5X RAM, Wi‑Fi 6, Gigabit Ethernet and a claimed 15‑20 hour battery life. By...
Intel Llm-Scaler-Vllm PV 1.4 Released With Updated Components, Arc Pro B70 Support
Intel announced the llm‑scaler‑vllm PV v1.4 Docker container, delivering a pre‑configured AI inference stack for Arc (Pro) GPUs. The update integrates vLLM 0.14, PyTorch 2.10, a Linux 6.17‑based kernel, and refreshed oneAPI components. It also introduces an offline installer for Ubuntu 24.04 and adds official...
Linux 7.2 Will Fix The Intel P-State Driver For The New Bartlett Lake CPUs
The upcoming Linux 7.2 kernel will incorporate a patch that corrects the Intel P‑State driver’s handling of the new Bartlett Lake processors, eliminating bogus 7 GHz maximum frequency reports. The fix originated from a QNAP engineer after the Intel Core 9 273PE was mistakenly...
Gkh_clanker_t1000 & Gkh_clanker_2000 Continue Uncovering Linux Kernel Bugs
Linux maintainer Greg Kroah‑Hartman’s AI‑driven tools gkh_clanker_t1000 and gkh_clanker_2000 added roughly two dozen patches to the driver‑core t1000 branch over the weekend. The changes target USB‑Type‑C, input, media and Industrial I/O drivers, fixing stack leaks, missing bounds checks and other validation gaps....
Ubuntu Concept ISOs Published For CIX P1 AI CPU
Canonical has released Ubuntu Concept ISOs for the CIX P1 AI platform, built on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS with a Linux 7.0 kernel and out‑of‑tree patches from CIX Technology. The preview targets developers, offering early hardware support before upstream integration. The P1 SoC, based on...
Panther Lake Powered Framework Laptop 13 Pro Sees Linux Microphone Fix
A microphone boost fix for the upcoming Framework Laptop 13 Pro, powered by Intel Panther Lake, was merged into the mainline Linux kernel this weekend. The patch eliminates clipping when the internal mic exceeds 50 % input volume and is slated for inclusion in...
Steam Controller Mapping Merged To SDL Library
The Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) library has merged full mapping support for the 2026 Steam Controller, eliminating the need for the Steam client. The update adds native button mappings that reflect the controller's revised layout. Developers can now pull the...
Linux Patch Introduces Panther Lake R: Ruggedized Version Of Panther Lake
Intel has added a Linux kernel patch that reveals a ruggedized variant of its Panther Lake processor, dubbed Panther Lake R. The new SoC carries a distinct model ID 223, indicating hardware changes beyond a simple thermal‑range tweak. It combines performance‑focused P‑cores...
SDL Library Adds Support For The New Steam Controller Without Depending On Steam
Valve’s newly released Steam Controller, priced at $99, now works with the SDL 3 library without requiring the Steam client. A pull request merged this week adds support for the controller’s touchpads, capacitive stick sensors, and grip‑sense features. Testers confirmed full...
Fragnesia Made Public As Latest Linux Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
The open‑source security community has disclosed Fragnesia, a new Linux local privilege escalation (LPE) vulnerability that mirrors last week’s Dirty Frag bug. Fragnesia resides in the ESP/XFRM subsystem and enables arbitrary byte writes to the kernel page cache of read‑only files....
Arm Preparing The Linux Kernel For 128-Bit Page Table Entries "FEAT_D128"
Arm announced an optional feature, FEAT_D128, for Armv9.3 and later that enables 128‑bit page table entries in the Linux kernel. The new translation system, VMSAv9‑128, expands both physical and virtual address spaces and frees bits for future MMU controls. Linux...
HDMI 2.1 Display Stream Compression "DSC" Also Ready For AMDGPU Linux Driver
AMD has released new AMDGPU kernel driver patches that add HDMI 2.1 Fixed Rate Link (FRL) and Display Stream Compression (DSC) support to Linux. The updates enable lossless, low‑latency compression, allowing resolutions such as 4K @ 240 Hz and 8K @ 120 Hz. The patches are slated...
GNOME's Help Viewer Updated Due To Flatpak Sandbox Escape Vulnerability
GNOME’s built‑in help viewer Yelp received a critical update (version 49.1) to close a Flatpak sandbox escape discovered during a security audit. The flaw let a malicious help file launch Yelp, using an SVG‑based CSS stylesheet to read arbitrary host files...
Intel IGC 2.34.4 Compiler Brings Many Improvements
Intel released the Graphics Compiler (IGC) version 2.34.4, the core component powering the Intel Compute Runtime for Level Zero, OpenCL, and Windows graphics shaders. The update brings WideMulMad instruction support, code‑scheduling refinements, and default activation of a 2D load‑splitting pass. It...
Linux 7.2 To Add Support For Switchtec PCIe Gen6 Switches
The Linux 7.2 kernel will ship native support for Microchip’s Switchtec PCIe Gen 6 switches. The Switchtec family, fabricated on a 3 nm process, offers up to 20 ports and 160 PCIe lanes, targeting AI/ML training clusters, hyperscale cloud platforms, and NVMe 6.0 storage....
Axboe Hacking On New Linux Patches For 60% Increase To Per-Core I/O Performance
Linux kernel maintainer Jens Axboe released a proof‑of‑concept patch series that lifts per‑core storage I/O performance by roughly 60%. The changes extend io_uring’s registered buffers with pre‑allocated bios and DMA mapping, eliminating bio allocation and map/unmap overhead. The patches target...
Debian Release Team: Debian Must Now Ship Reproducible Packages
The Debian release team announced that Debian 14 “Forky” will be the first major release to mandate reproducible packages, enforcing bit‑for‑bit identical builds from source to binary. A new migration check now blocks any package that fails reproducibility or regresses...
OpenAI's Coding Agent Helped Create A New AMD Temperature Driver For Linux
An open‑source driver named prom21‑xhci has been submitted to the Linux kernel mailing list, exposing temperature sensors on AMD’s Promontory 21 xHCI controllers used in 600 and 800 series AM5 chipsets. The driver can be enabled via the SENSORS_PROM21_XHCI_ Kconfig flag...
Microsoft Releases Azure Linux 3.0.20260506 With Many Security Fixes
Microsoft rolled out Azure Linux 3.0.20260506 on Saturday, bundling the latest security patches for a broad set of open‑source components. The update addresses vulnerabilities in Avahi, GNU Binutils, libssh, Node.js, Ruby, the Linux kernel, Rust and dozens of other packages. It...
FEX 2605 Brings Performance Improvements, Initial Snapdragon X2 Elite Fixes
FEX 2605, the latest monthly feature release of Valve‑sponsored FEX‑Emu, arrives with a suite of JIT code fixes and new x87 instruction optimizations that tighten flag handling and boost execution speed for Linux x86_64 binaries on ARM64. The update also resolves...
Ubuntu Touch 24.04-1.3 Improves Handling Of Desktop Apps, Other Fixes
Ubuntu Touch 24.04‑1.3, the latest maintenance release from UBports, arrives this week. It adds the ability to launch X11 desktop applications outside the Lomiri environment, expanding the mobile app ecosystem. The update also fixes GTK4 app handling, dock input issues,...
Linux Enables Auto Counter Reload "ACR" For Intel Xeon Diamond Rapids
The Linux kernel’s perf subsystem received a one‑liner patch that enables Auto Counter Reload (ACR) on the upcoming Intel Xeon Diamond Rapids processors. The change lands in the Linux 7.1‑rc3 release and is slated for back‑porting to current stable kernels. ACR...
AMD's Local, Open-Source AI Can Now Easily Interact With Your Gmail
AMD released GAIA 0.17.6, its open‑source AI platform for Radeon and Ryzen devices, adding OAuth PKCE‑based Gmail integration. The new email‑triage agent offers 25 tools for reading, organizing, replying, deleting messages and syncing calendars, while all processing stays on the local Lemonade...
Linux Erroneously Thinks Intel Bartlett Lake CPUs Run At 7GHz
Linux’s Intel P‑State driver is erroneously reporting Bartlett Lake P‑core‑only CPUs at over 7 GHz, despite the Core 9 273PE’s documented turbo ceiling of 5.7 GHz. The discrepancy stems from an incorrect scaling factor in the driver, which a QNAP engineer, Henry Tseng, has addressed with...
Dirty Frag Vulnerability Made Public Early: Root Privilege On All Distributions
A new Linux local privilege escalation flaw dubbed "Dirty Frag" was disclosed a week after the Copy Fail bug, before any patches or CVE identifiers were issued. The vulnerability resides in the decryption fast paths of the esp4, esp6 and rxrpc...
AMD K5 CPUs The Latest To Be Retired With Linux's Aging & Stagnate Hardware Support
Linux 7.2 will drop support for TSC‑less i586 and i686 CPUs, extending the cleanup begun with i486 removal in 7.1. The change targets vintage processors lacking the Time Stamp Counter, including AMD’s 1996 K5 and several Cyrix models. Kernel developers...
Linux 7.2 To Support Realtek RTL8159 10GbE USB Ethernet
The Realtek RTL8159 10 Gbps USB Ethernet chipset, currently supported only by Realtek’s out‑of‑tree driver, will be merged into the mainline Linux kernel with the upcoming 7.2 release. Open‑source contributor Birger Koblitz ported the code to the r8152 driver and added...
AMD RadeonSI Code Reorganized To Support Multimedia-Only Driver Builds
Mesa 26.2‑devel now includes a reorganization of AMD’s RadeonSI Gallium3D driver, separating graphics code into a new "gfx" subfolder and multimedia code into an "mm" folder. This structural change enables builds that provide video acceleration via VA‑API without requiring OpenGL...
Linux Drivers For The AMD Elan SoCs From The 1990s On Track For Retirement
The Linux 7.1 kernel cycle stripped Kconfig options for i486 platforms, effectively ending compilation for those targets. With that groundwork, a new patch series targets the removal of AMD Elan drivers—32‑bit SoCs from the 1990s built on the Am486 core. If...
D7VK 1.9 Brings Some Hefty Performance Improvements
D7VK 1.9, the open‑source Vulkan implementation of Direct3D 7, has been released with major performance upgrades aimed at 2D‑heavy legacy games. The update introduces delayed image uploads and a dirty‑tracking system, delivering dramatically higher frame rates—Anno 1503 jumps from 36 FPS to 75 FPS...
PCIe 8.0 Spec Draft 0.5 Released For 1TB/S Bi-Directional X16 Bandwidth
The PCI‑SIG released draft version 0.5 of the PCIe 8.0 specification, which doubles the x16 bi‑directional bandwidth to 1 TB/s (256 GT/s). PCIe 8.0 retains PAM4 signaling and aims for backward compatibility while exploring new connector designs. The draft also introduces power‑reduction techniques. This...
Linux 7.2 To Integrate The AMDGPU "Power Module" To Better Align With Windows
The Linux 7.2 kernel will incorporate a new AMDGPU Display Core (DC) power module that mirrors the power‑management behavior of Windows. The module focuses on backlight control and Panel Self Refresh, aiming for a unified experience across operating systems. Alongside...
Nouveau Vs. NVIDIA R595 Linux Driver For Workstation Graphics Performance
Phoronix benchmarked the open‑source Nouveau driver stack against NVIDIA’s proprietary R595 driver on an HP Z6 G5 A workstation equipped with an RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max‑Q GPU. Using Linux 7.0, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Mesa 26.2‑devel and the NVIDIA 595.58.03 driver, the tests focused on workstation compute and...
Dell & Lenovo Now Sponsoring The Linux Vendor Firmware Service
Dell and Lenovo have become the first premier sponsors of the Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS), each contributing $100,000 annually. The LVFS, which powers firmware updates on Linux via the fwupd client, recently celebrated more than 145 million updates shipped. Their...
VKD3D-Proton 3.0.1 Brings More Improvements For Direct3D 12 On Vulkan
Valve's Linux graphics driver team released VKD3D‑Proton 3.0.1, the latest bridge that translates Direct3D 12 calls to the Vulkan API. The update adds experimental view‑instancing, Vulkan present‑timing for smoother frame pacing, and new interfaces for NVIDIA NVAPI and AMD AGS. It also...
Intel Drivers With Mesa 26.2 Ready With Xe In Linux 7.1 To Better Handle vRAM Pressure
Intel’s Xe kernel driver now supports purgeable buffer objects in Linux 7.1, aiming to ease video‑RAM pressure on GPUs with dedicated memory. A new user‑space API lets applications hint which buffers can be discarded when memory is scarce. Mesa 26.2’s Iris Gallium3D...
AMD Preps Linux For CPPC HighestFreq Feature Coming With Future ACPI Spec
AMD’s Linux P‑State driver is being updated to support a new “HighestFreq” ACPI register that is expected to land in the upcoming ACPI 6.7 specification. The register addresses cases where boost ratios cannot be derived through linear interpolation because core performance‑to‑frequency...
OpenCL 3.1 Released To Bolster AI & HPC Workloads
The Khronos Group announced OpenCL 3.1, the first major update since the provisional 3.0 release six years ago. The new version pulls several previously optional extensions—such as SPIR‑V kernel ingestion, sub‑group execution, integer dot‑product operations, and a device UUID query—into the...
Qt's Latest AI Push Is Letting AI Agents Deal With Performance Profiling
Qt Group unveiled the QML Profiler Skill, enabling AI agents to automatically profile performance of 2D Qt Quick applications. The skill can detect rendering, logic, and memory bottlenecks and generate concise diagnostic reports. It has been tested with GitHub Copilot,...
AlmaLinux 10.2 Beta Released With Legacy 32-Bit Software Support
AlmaLinux announced the 10.2 Beta, built from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.2 sources. The most notable addition is i686 user‑space package support, filling a gap left by RHEL’s lack of 32‑bit binaries. The beta also upgrades core stacks, including Python 3.14, PostgreSQL’s latest release, Ruby 4.0 and...
ROCm 7.2.3 Brings Minor Updates, ROCm XIO Documentation
AMD released ROCm 7.2.3 less than a month after 7.2.2, delivering minor but useful updates to its open‑source GPU compute and AI stack. The release does not add new GPU or operating‑system support, and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS remains unsupported until the upcoming 7.3...
Valve's Steam Controller Now Shipping
Valve announced that its long‑awaited Steam Controller began shipping on May 4, priced at $99. The device sports magnetic thumbsticks, four haptic motors, an 8.39 Wh battery and supports both wired and wireless modes. It is the first of Valve's new hardware...