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Intel Continues Finalizing UEFI Unaccepted Memory Support For Linux
Intel Continues Finalizing UEFI Unaccepted Memory Support For Linux
9 Hours Ago - Hardware - Unaccepted Memory - Add A Comment

With Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP for better securing virtual machines on the mainline Linux kernel, memory is accepted/initialized immediately at boot time by the VMs although the capability exists to have "unaccepted memory" where that memory is only dealt with by the VMs later on or on an as-needed basis. For two years now Intel engineers have been working on this unaccepted memory support and this week posted their thirteenth iteration of these fundamental Linux kernel patches.

Portable Computing Language 4.0 Adds Intel Level Zero API Driver
Portable Computing Language 4.0 Adds Intel Level Zero API Driver
11 Hours Ago - Programming - PoCL 4.0 - Add A Comment

The Portable Computing Language "PoCL" began as an open-source CPU-based OpenCL implementation that has become quite a comprehensive implementation over the years. But in leveraging the LLVM/Clang compiler stack, over time PoCL has grown beyond just a CPU implementation to also support OpenCL execution on NVIDIA GPUs, AMD HSA-capable GPUs, and more. The latest now coming with PoCL 4.0 is support for Intel Level Zero execution for running this OpenCL implementation over Intel Arc Graphics GPUs.

2 June

AMDVLK vs. Mesa RADV Radeon Vulkan Driver Performance On Linux
AMDVLK vs. Mesa RADV Radeon Vulkan Driver Performance On Linux
2 June 12:00 PM EDT - Display Drivers - 20 Comments

Kicking off a number of interesting articles over the week ahead for the Phoronix 19th birthday week is a fresh look at how AMD's official open-source Linux Vulkan driver "AMDVLK" compares to Mesa's RADV Vulkan driver that tends to be more popular with Linux gamers and is the driver backed by Valve, Red Hat, and other stakeholders.

1-Wire "w1" Subsystem Seeing More Activity With Linux 6.5
1-Wire "w1" Subsystem Seeing More Activity With Linux 6.5
2 June 08:03 AM EDT - Hardware - Linux W1 - 4 Comments

The Linux 1-Wire "w1" subsystem is used for supporting drivers with hardware that communicates via a single wire (plus ground) in a simple master-slave configuration The Linux kernel has drivers such as for W1 over GPIO, i2c to W1 bridge, and supporting some very old hardware. The W1 subsystem hasn't seen much work recently while for the upcoming Linux 6.5 cycle will be seeing a larger update.

1 June

31 May

NVIDIA Cleans Up GSP Firmware Binary License
NVIDIA Cleans Up GSP Firmware Binary License
31 May 08:38 AM EDT - NVIDIA - Easier Redistribution - 30 Comments

With yesterday's NVIDIA R535 Linux driver beta one of the unlisted changes with this driver update is revising the driver license around the firmware handling to make it more explicit around permitting the GPU System Processor (GSP) firmware binaries to make it easier for redistribution and use by the Nouveau open-source kernel driver.

30 May

LLVM Clang 16 vs. GCC 13 Compiler Performance On AMD 4th Gen EPYC "Genoa"
30 May 11:42 AM EDT - Software - 12 Comments

With the recent stable releases of LLVM's Clang 16 and GCC 13 compilers there is now initial AMD Zen 4 "znver4" support in these open-source compilers. Curious about the performance difference between these two compilers on the very newest AMD 4th Gen EPYC "Genoa" server processors, I ran some LLVM Clang 16.0 and GCC 13.1 benchmarks on the flagship EPYC 9654 2P Linux server.

29 May

Intel Posts Latest 113 Patches For Linux KVM TDX Support
29 May 08:38 AM EDT - Intel - Kernel-based Virtual Machine - Add A Comment

One of the new features of Intel Xeon Scalable 4th Gen "Sapphire Rapids" server processors is support for Trust Domain Extensions (TDX) but for this generation is only being activated for CPUs going to select cloud providers. Intel TDX allows better isolating virtual machines from the VMM/hypervisor and other non-TD software on the platform. This limited roll-out of Intel TDX has worked out okay with the Linux support for this security feature still being in flux. Sent out today was the 14th spin of the 113 patches needed for getting KVM TDX support wired up within the Linux kernel.

GCC 11.4 Released With 110+ Bugs Fixed
29 May 06:28 AM EDT - GNU - GCC 11.4 - 1 Comment

While GCC 13 saw its first stable release several weeks back, for those taking their time in moving to major new compiler releases and still relying on the two-year-old GCC 11 series, out today is the GCC 11.4 point release.

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