For nearly the past decade has been the kernel lockdown mode for tightening up kernel access from user-space such as when UEFI Secure Boot is enabled. The kernel lockdown mode restricts PCI BAR access, no writing to /dev/mem, and other restrictions so user-space can't can't modify the running kernel or access sensitive kernel memory. An oversight has allowed legacy I/O and memory interfaces via sysfs to remain open in lockdown mode, but a fix is on the way...
In addition to the Linux kernel staging area now rejecting AI/LLM-generated patches except for real security fixes, the Linux wireless networking code is also seeing some shifts around how it will deal with AI/LLM generated patches...
A new kernel feature proposed by a Google engineer is Page Alloc Hogger to allow for fine control over where memory pages are allocated in order to more easily reproduce low-memory conditions, make it simpler to exert memory pressure, and enable other stressful memory conditions for testing/debugging how Linux copes...
Earlier this year we began seeing patches for AMD GFX1170 graphics IP labeled as "RDNA 4m" and that was then completed with also adding GFX1171 and GFX1172 as additional targets for the AMDGPU LLVM compiler back-end and AMDGPU kernel driver. Merged today for Mesa 26.3 is now adding the GFX1171 target to Mesa 26.3 for the RADV and RadeonSI drivers...
Qualcomm engineers have initiated a discussion over upstreaming Synx to the Linux kernel, which is a global synchronization framework across different parts of SoCs. Qualcomm is already using Synx internally and is reported to provide "significant" power and performance benefits...
If you happen to have a gaming headset from the latest SteelSeries Nova 5X or Nova 7 series, the upcoming Linux 7.3 kernel will begin properly supporting those headsets...
A new beta of Resources, the system monitor tool Ubuntu 26.04 LTS ships with by default, is out with expanded AMD NPU stats and temperature reporting for PowerPC CPUs. Users with Ryzen 7040, 8040 and Ryzen AI 300/400-series chips can glean utilisation, power and performance metrics for their onboard neural accelerators. A reassuring way to tell if an AI workload is actually using the NPU rather than quietly frying your CPU. You might cock an eyebrow at hearing “PowerPC” mentioned. Resource’s support for PowerPC CPU temps uses the ibmpowernv hwmon driver, which covers POWER8 and newer chips and not the oldie, […]
GNOME 50.4 is now available as the fourth point release to the latest GNOME 50 desktop environment series with more bug fixes, updated translations, and other changes.
For those with one of the original Valve Steam Controllers from a decade ago and looking to make use of it with the native HID Linux driver outside of the Steam client or SDL, an important addition is coming with the Linux 7.3 kernel release later in the year...
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