| The upcoming Linux 6.5 kernel will add support for the Qualcomm Adreno 690 GPU to the open source MSM kernel graphics/display driver. The A690 is primarily used in the Snapdragon 8cx 3rd Generation (SC8280XP) platform, which is also used in the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s laptop and other hardware. |
The new support will contain nearly 200 lines of code and exceed the support of existing Adreno 600 series hardware. This support is provided through Linaro.
What is exciting about this new development is that Adreno A690 support is being fed into the core of drm-msm-next as part of it. This means that the next Linux kernel merge window will include Adreno A690 support. This also means that there will be driver updates with less delay, improving the stability of the hardware used on Linux systems .
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s laptop has long been considered a popular choice for ARM Linux users and developers. The model has a reasonable structure and complete specifications, so the upstream kernel development has already started last year. Now, the launch of the Linux 6.5 kernel makes Lenovo ThinkPad X13s upstream kernel development more feasible, and the support of the open source MSM DRM driver is also more complete.
Additionally, the MSM driver update for Linux 6.5 includes native HDMI output support in the DPU code, Adreno 610 speed binning support, Adreno 660 bindings, Adreno 610 GPU support, and various other updates. These updates will help improve the performance and stability of hardware devices, and will enable users and developers to better enjoy the excellent performance of Linux systems in hardware. For the entire Linux community, this update will further promote the Linux system to occupy a more important position in the exploration and application of constantly evolving technologies.