Linux Patch To Disable The Snapdragon X Elite "X1E80100" GPU By Default

While many have been excited around the prospects of laptops powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite SoC, the Linux support so far still leaves a lot to be desired... The initial Snapdragon X Elite laptops aren't utilizing ACPI standards and the bring-up under Linux has been slow, but patches have begun appearing for some models. But even with patches, the Adreno GPU remains a big obstacle still being tackled along with other features like web camera, USB4, Bluetooth, etc. With a new kernel patch, the GPU for the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E80100) is being disabled by default.

With a new DeviceTree patch, the GPU is being disabled by default for the X1E80100. Disabling the GPU by default?!?! It comes down to frustrating vendor shenanigans. The patch explains:

"The GPU on X1E80100 requires ZAP 'shader' file to be useful. Since the file is signed by the OEM keys and might be not available by default, disable the GPU node and drop the firmware name from the x1e80100.dtsi file. Devices not being fused to use OEM keys can specify generic location at `qcom/x1e80100/gen70500_zap.mbn` while enabling the GPU.

The CRD was lucky enough to work with the default settings, so reenable the GPU on that platform and provide correct firmware-name (including the SoC subdir)."

The ZAP shader is needed as by default the GPU will power on in a specialized "secure" mode and needs to be zapped out of it. With OEM key signing of the GPU ZAP shader it sounds like the Snapdragon X laptop GPU support will be even messier than typically encountered for laptop graphics.

Due to the ongoing Snapdragon X Elite laptop enablement challenges for Linux, AMD Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel Core Ultra Lunar Lake are looking much more interesting for Linux laptops this year for those wanting fully-working hardware without a lot of broken features. Ryzen AI 300 series Linux laptop benchmarks will be coming up later this month on Phoronix upon the Strix Point availability date while Lunar Lake is launching later this quarter.