Phoronix
Independent Linux hardware news, graphics/compute drivers, benchmarks, and kernel developments.
MSI PRO B850-P WiFi: A Special AMD Ryzen AM5 Motherboard For Linux / Open-Source Enthusiasts
The MSI PRO B850-P WIFI motherboard, priced at $179, is the focus of a new open‑source firmware effort by 3mdeb. The firm is porting Coreboot together with AMD’s experimental openSIL code to create a fully open firmware stack for an AMD Ryzen AM5 platform. This marks the first desktop AMD Ryzen board to receive such upstream support, mirroring 3mdeb’s earlier Intel Alder Lake Coreboot project. Funding from the NLnet Foundation underpins the development, with plans for paid Dasharo builds and pre‑flashed units.
OpenSSL 4.0 Alpha 1 Released With Encrypted Client Hello "ECH" & Other Features
OpenSSL has published the first alpha of its upcoming 4.0 release, inviting developers to test the new codebase. The update removes long‑standing legacy components, including SSLv3 support and the OpenSSL engine framework introduced in earlier versions. A headline feature is...
There's Hope That At Least Colorado's Age Attestation Bill Could Exclude Open-Source
System76 CEO Carl Richell met Colorado Senator Matt Ball to discuss SB26-051, the state’s age‑attestation bill that could require operating systems to verify user age. Ball indicated a possible amendment to exclude open‑source software, offering a potential safeguard for Linux...
NVIDIA Adds Official Support For RHEL-Compatible Distributions Like AlmaLinux With CUDA 13.2
NVIDIA announced official CUDA support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux‑compatible distributions, including AlmaLinux, with the release of CUDA 13.2. The partnership enables NVIDIA drivers and CUDA toolkits to be delivered directly from the operating‑system repositories, synchronizing updates and removing version‑mismatch gaps....
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Officially Supporting Cloud-Based Authentication With Authd
Canonical’s Authd authentication daemon is now part of the official Ubuntu 26.04 LTS archive, ending the need for PPAs or manual builds. Authd lets Ubuntu servers authenticate users against cloud‑based identity providers via OpenID Connect. The initial release supports Microsoft...
Intel Publishes XeSS 3 SDK To GitHub - Still As Windows-Only Binaries
Intel has released the Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) 3.0 SDK on GitHub, providing the latest AI‑enhanced upscaling tools for gamers. The SDK includes multi‑frame generation and upgraded frame‑generation models, but it ships only as proprietary Windows DLLs. Despite earlier suggestions...
NVIDIA 595 Linux Driver Running Well In Early Benchmarks
NVIDIA released the 595.45.04 beta Linux driver, the first public build of the R595 branch. The driver introduces Vulkan enhancements, HDR support, DRI3 v1.2, and a suite of other improvements. Early benchmarks on a GeForce RTX 5090 using a 6K Dell UltraSharp...
New Rust Driver Aims To Improve Upstream Linux On Synology NAS Devices
A new Rust‑based driver called Synology Microp has been submitted to the Linux kernel to improve upstream support for Synology NAS devices. The driver adds control of LEDs, fan speeds, a beeper, and shutdown/restart handling via the NAS micro‑controller’s serial...
Experimental Intel Nova Lake P Device Bits Merged For Mesa 26.1
Mesa 26.1 now includes initial Nova Lake P device support for Intel’s ANV Vulkan and Iris Gallium3D drivers. The new bits add nine PCI IDs but remain hidden behind the FORCE_PROBE option, as the implementation is still experimental. This merge follows...
Linux 7.0 Fixes Battery Reporting For The Apple Magic Trackpad 2
Linux 7.0 kernel includes a fix for Apple Magic Trackpad 2 battery reporting when connected via USB. The change modifies the hid‑magicmouse driver to correct an HID descriptor length check, restoring accurate battery level display. The fix is part of the...
Resources For GNOME Adds Intel Xe GPU Power Usage & Intel NPU Frequency Reporting
Resources 1.10.2, the GNOME‑based system monitor, now supports power usage monitoring for Intel Xe GPUs and core‑frequency reporting for Intel NPUs. The update also corrects previously inaccurate NPU utilization metrics. Packages are available via GitHub and Flatpak, making the upgrade...
ZimaBoard 2: An Interesting Intel-Powered Linux Home Mini Server
ZimaBoard 2 is a compact, passively‑cooled mini server built around Intel’s low‑power N150 quad‑core processor. It ships with either 8 GB or 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, 32 GB or 64 GB eMMC storage, and offers dual 2.5 GbE ports, USB 3.1, a mini‑DisplayPort, two SATA 3.0 bays...
Linux 7.0 Slab Fix On The Way For A "Severe Performance Regression"
Today’s batch of Linux 7.0 slab allocator patches includes a fix for a severe performance regression that caused roughly a 64 % drop in IOPS on the ublk null target benchmark. The regression stemmed from unnecessary sheaf refill restrictions introduced by the...
AMD CPPC Performance Priority Being Prepared For Linux - New Zen 6 Feature
The Linux kernel now includes patches for AMD CPPC Performance Priority, a new hardware feature expected on upcoming Zen 6 processors. The AMD P‑State driver exposes sysfs attributes floor_freq and floor_count, letting userspace set per‑core performance floor levels. This capability allows administrators...
Intel Xeon Features To Be Supported By Ubuntu 26.04 LTS - Some Lacking User-Space Packages
Canonical engineer Serkan Uygungelen detailed the Intel Xeon capabilities that Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will support, highlighting both kernel-level readiness and gaps in user‑space packaging. Existing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS already covers many features such as AVX2, QAT Gen 4/5, and CXL 2.0 via...
Vulkan 1.4.345 Released With New ARM Shader Instrumentation Extension
Vulkan 1.4.345 was released as a routine update to the graphics and compute API, introducing a single new vendor extension while polishing numerous spec clarifications. The added VK_ARM_shader_instrumentation extension enables developers to instrument shaders and capture per‑shader‑type performance metrics on...
FEX 2603 Released With A Partial Fix For The Steam GUI Crashing On AArch64
FEX 2603, Valve’s open‑source emulator for running x86/x86_64 Linux binaries on AArch64, has been released with a partial fix for the Steam GUI crash. The update addresses the steamwebhelper process instability caused by a Chromium CEF change, reducing crash frequency when...
Linux Preps IBPB-On-Entry Feature For AMD SEV-SNP Guest VMs
Linux is integrating the IBPB‑on‑Entry feature for AMD SEV‑SNP guest VMs, slated for the upcoming 7.0 kernel and back‑porting to stable releases. The feature, native to AMD EPYC Zen 5 processors, inserts an Indirect Branch Predictor Barrier on VM entry to...
AMD Engineer Leverages AI To Help Make A Pure-Python AMD GPU User-Space Driver
AMD’s VP of AI Software, Anush Elangovan, leveraged Claude Code to create a pure‑Python user‑space driver that talks directly to /dev/kfd and /dev/dri/renderD* via ctypes ioctls, bypassing the ROCm/HIP stack. The initial commit adds KFD ioctl bindings, SDMA copy engine...
Old ATI R300 Open-Source Driver Sees Another New Fix In 2026
The open‑source ATI R300 Gallium3D driver, originally reverse‑engineered for legacy Radeon hardware, received a critical occlusion‑query fix this week. Independent developer Pavel Ondračkar submitted a patch that avoids the HyperZ breakage of a 2012 attempt and uses a dummy Z‑buffer...
AMD DPTCi Driver Posted For Linux To Better Enhance Ryzen Gaming Handhelds
A request‑for‑comments patch series introduced the AMD Dynamic Power and Thermal Configuration Interface (DPTCi) driver to the Linux kernel, aiming to improve power, performance, and thermal tuning for Ryzen‑based gaming handhelds. The driver exposes seven tuning parameters via a standard...
GNOME Mutter 50.rc Released With Better NVIDIA Performance, SDR-Native & Better HDR
The GNOME project released the Mutter 50 release candidate two weeks ahead of the GNOME 50 stable launch, delivering a suite of performance and visual enhancements. Key changes include dramatic latency reductions for the NVIDIA R590 driver, support for SDR‑Native color mode, and...
Intel Adapting Linux's LAM In Preparing For ChkTag
Intel engineers are revising the Linux Linear Address Masking (LAM) interface to align with the upcoming ChkTag memory‑tagging extension announced by the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group. The new patches standardize LAM’s tag width to 4 bits—matching Arm’s MTE and the expected...
Intel Preps A Lot Of Xe3 Code For Linux 7.1 Kernel
Intel has submitted its first “drm‑xe‑next” pull request to the DRM‑Next tree, targeting the upcoming Linux 7.1 kernel. The patch set introduces a suite of Xe driver enhancements, including hardware workarounds, SR‑IOV updates, and extensive Xe3(P) support for Crescent Island and...
AMD Makes Rocprof-Trace-Decoder Open-Source
AMD has released the rocprof‑trace‑decoder tool as open‑source under an MIT license. The decoder translates .att wave‑trace binary files into formats usable by profiling utilities, exposing GPU occupancy, instruction timing, and other metrics. This move removes one of the few...
AMD EPYC Turin 128 Core Comparison: EPYC 9745 "Zen 5C" Vs. EPYC 9755 "Zen 5"
AMD’s EPYC 9755 and EPYC 9745 are both 128‑core Turin processors, but the 9755 uses full‑fat Zen 5 cores at 500 W TDP while the 9745 packs dense Zen 5C cores into a 400 W (or 320 W cTDP) package. The 9755 clocks higher (2.1 GHz base, 4.1 GHz...
Linux 7.1 Will Power Off The System By Default If A Fatal ACPI Error Occurs
Linux kernel 7.1 will automatically attempt to power off the system when a fatal ACPI error occurs. Earlier releases only logged the “_Fatal opcode executed_” message and kept running. The change aligns the OS behavior with the ACPI specification, which...
Framework 16 Gen1 Seeing Coreboot + AMD openSIL Port, Framework 13 AMD Gen1 To Follow
9elements is actively porting Coreboot combined with AMD's openSIL library to the first‑generation Ryzen 7000 Framework 16 laptop, with plans to extend the effort to the Framework 13 Gen1 model. The initiative focuses on integrating AMD openSIL Phoenix code into Coreboot, tackling early‑stage...
More ASUS Desktop Motherboards Will Support Sensor Monitoring With Linux 7.1
ASUS desktop motherboards for Intel and AMD platforms are gaining expanded sensor monitoring support ahead of the Linux 7.1 release. New contributions to the ASUS‑EC‑Sensors driver and the hwmon‑next branch add VRM, temperature, current, and voltage readings for models such...
Armbian 26.02 Released: New Boards, Powered By Linux 6.18 LTS & RISC-V Xfce Desktop
Armbian 26.02, the latest Debian‑based Linux distribution for ARM and RISC‑V devices, upgrades to the Linux 6.18 LTS kernel and introduces a RISC‑V Xfce desktop option. The release adds new board support, including the SpacemiT MusePi Pro, Radxa Rock 4D,...
Intel Releases Llm-Scaler-Vllm 0.14.0-b8, Talks Up 1.49x Performance With BMG-G31
Intel released LLM‑Scaler vLLM 0.14.0‑b8, a Docker‑based runtime for running vLLM on Intel Battlemage GPUs. The update is rebased on vLLM 0.14, upgrades PyTorch to 2.10, and adds the latest oneAPI and oneDNN optimizations, delivering up to 25% higher INT4 throughput. It expands...
Linux 7.1 Expected To See Nice Improvements For Reducing HRTICK Timer Overhead
A set of 48 patches targeting the Linux kernel’s HRTIMER subsystem aims to dramatically lower the overhead of the high‑resolution tick (HRTICK) timer. By streamlining deadline updates on context switches and wake‑ups, the reprogramming frequency drops from roughly 2,500 to...
ASUS Linux HID Driver Preparing To See Support For Newer Devices
Developer Denis Benato announced he is now maintaining the open‑source ASUS HID driver for Linux, after the previous maintainer stepped back. He submitted a seven‑patch series to the kernel mailing list that adds fixes and introduces support for the ASUS ROG Ally...
Verisilicon DC8200 & Coreboot Framebuffer Drivers Sent To DRM-Next For Linux 7.1
The DRM‑Next tree received its first pull request this week, introducing two new graphics drivers slated for the upcoming Linux 7.1 kernel. A Verisilicon DC8200 display driver lands to enable HDMI output on the T‑Head TH1520 RISC‑V SoC, with StarFive JH7110 support pending. SUSE’s...
Intel Releases Updated CPU Microcode For Xeon 6 SoCs "Granite Rapids D"
Intel released microcode version 20260227 to address functional issues in its Xeon Granite Rapids D (Xeon 6700P‑B/6500P‑B) SoCs. The update, posted outside the usual Patch Tuesday cadence, corrects several errata related to ESRTPS support and PASID table handling. No other Intel processor...
Intel Media Driver Update Brings Nova Lake S Support, AV1 Improvements
Intel released the 2025Q4 version of its open‑source Media Driver and VPL GPU Runtime, adding upstream support for the upcoming Nova Lake S platform. The update extends the driver’s compatibility from Broadwell up through Nova Lake, while also dropping accelerated MPEG‑2...
Numerous AMDXDNA Ryzen AI Driver Fixes For Linux 7.0-rc2
The Linux 7.0‑rc2 release includes a substantial batch of DRM driver updates, with the AMDXDNA accelerator driver for AMD Ryzen AI NPUs receiving the most attention this week. Fixes address a suspend failure, buffer overflow, input sanitization, deadlock, null pointer...
LXD 6.7 Released With AMD GPU Passthrough Support
Canonical released LXD 6.7, the latest update to its container and virtual‑machine manager for Ubuntu. The release introduces AMD GPU passthrough support using the new AMD CDI interface and a gpu_cdi_amd extension. It also upgrades VM GPU passthrough with newer QEMU...
Microsoft Updates DirectX Shader Compiler With Improved Vulkan Driver Interoperability
Microsoft released DirectX Shader Compiler version 1.9, adding production support for Shader Model 6.9. The update focuses on substantial SPIR‑V backend enhancements, including improved layout, ABI correctness, expanded type‑system support, and more reliable code generation. These changes tighten interoperability with Vulkan...
LLVM Clang 22 Compiler Performance Largely Unchanged Over Clang 21 On AMD Zen 5
The LLVM Clang 22 compiler was benchmarked on an AMD EPYC 9655P Zen 5 server and showed performance largely identical to Clang 21 across a suite of open‑source C/C++ workloads. Tests also confirmed that Clang 22 remains neck‑and‑neck with GCC on the same hardware, with only modest,...
AMD Announces The EPYC 8005 "Sorano" Series
AMD announced the EPYC 8005 “Sorano” series, a Zen 5‑based, single‑socket processor line succeeding the 8004 “Siena” family. Designed for 1P servers, the chips target telco and radio‑access‑network workloads with a focus on performance‑per‑dollar and performance‑per‑watt. The series promises high core counts,...
Arm & Linaro Launch New "CoreCollective" Consortium - With Backing From AMD & Others
Arm and Linaro have unveiled the CoreCollective consortium, an open‑source‑focused alliance aimed at accelerating the Arm software ecosystem. The group is financially backed by Arm and invites any vendor to join for free. Founding members include AMD, Ampere, Canonical, Google,...
D7VK 1.4 Released With More Improvements For Old Direct3D On Vulkan Under Linux
D7VK 1.4 has been released, extending the open‑source layer that translates Direct3D 5‑7 calls to Vulkan on Linux. The update introduces depth write‑back support, color‑key transparency, and a consolidated legacy DDraw interoperability path. Compatibility for older Direct3D 5 and 6 titles has been...
Google Cloud N4 Series Benchmarks: Google Axion Vs. Intel Xeon Vs. AMD EPYC Performance
Google Cloud’s new N4A series, powered by the in‑house Axion ARM64 processor, was benchmarked against the existing N4 Intel Xeon and N4D AMD EPYC instances. All three tests used 16 vCPU configurations, 400 GB storage and Ubuntu 25.10. The Axion chips lack simultaneous...
AMD's HIP Moves To Using LLVM's New Offload Driver By Default
AMD’s HIP runtime will now use LLVM’s new offload driver by default starting with LLVM 23, aligning it with CUDA and OpenMP offloading paths. The modern driver offers a unified interface, device‑side LTO, static library support, and cross‑platform compatibility. Previously, HIP...
Mesa PanVK Driver Seeing Up To 25.7x Speedup For MSAA
The open‑source PanVK driver for Arm Mali GPUs received a major update in Mesa 26.1 that reworks its framebuffer abstraction and moves MSAA resolves into a final frame shader. This change yields dramatic performance improvements in the Sascha Willems Vulkan multisampling...
Modern AMD Graphics Driver Surpasses Six Million Lines Of Code In Linux 7.0
The AMDGPU/AMDKFD open‑source driver stack has crossed the six‑million line threshold in the Linux 7.0 kernel, up from four million lines just four years ago. It now accounts for roughly 15% of the entire kernel codebase, making it the single largest...
Intel ANV Driver Sees Several Vulkan Video H.265 Encode Fixes
Intel’s open‑source ANV Vulkan driver received a batch of H.265 encode fixes merged into the Mesa 26.1‑devel branch. The changes, contributed by Igalia engineer Hyunjun Ko, add dynamic transform‑skip handling, respect application‑provided QP values, correctly process GPB frames, and clean up unsupported...
Red Hat Releases Tuned 2.27 For Adaptively Tuning Linux To Different Workloads
Red Hat has released Tuned 2.27, the latest version of its open‑source tuning framework for Linux. The update adds CPU partitioning autodetection, a systemd workaround, and enables CPU boost in performance profiles. It also introduces OpenShift‑specific TCP optimizations, forces SAP HANA latency...
AMD Zen 6 Performance Events & Metrics Merged For Linux 7.0
Linux 7.0’s merge window added full support for AMD Zen 6 performance events, covering core, uncore and metric counters. The patch set also fixes Zen 5 MAC allocation events and introduces a new perf sched stats tool for scheduler profiling. These updates enable developers...