Arch Linux Now Has A 64-bit AArch64 Kernel For The Raspberry Pi 3

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Arch Linux Now Has A 64-bit AArch64 Kernel For The Raspberry Pi 3

Following openSUSE/SUSE spinning 64-bit Linux for the Raspberry Pi 3, Arch Linux fans now have a mainline AArch64 kernel for the Raspberry Pi 3...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Arch-Linux-ARMv8-RPi3-Kernel

[schmidtbag]

I don't get it - I thought one of the primary benefits of ARMv8 was to allow for generic kernels rather than specific kernels for each device. Unless this is to gain access to closed-source GPU drivers and the RPi3 otherwise does actually work on the generic kernel, this seems pretty counter-productive to me.

[Krejzi]

Sadly, neither SUSE nor Archlinux ARM 64 bit images work here, at least for the GPU part. Nothing is outputted on the HDMI, so I can't see a thing and install / setup needed services for remote control ... Fuck you RPI foundation, for not caring to provide necessary blobs for aarch64, which is one of the main reasons people are getting it ...

[schmidtbag]

Sadly, neither SUSE nor Archlinux ARM 64 bit images work here, at least for the GPU part. Nothing is outputted on the HDMI, so I can't see a thing and install / setup needed services for remote control ... Fuck you RPI foundation, for not caring to provide necessary blobs for aarch64, which is one of the main reasons people are getting it ...

Yeah I really don't get that, though I wouldn't say it's the RPi foundation that's the issue, but rather Broadcom. Perhaps one of the only reasons Broadcom is even relevant for ARM is because of RPi - their CPUs (to my knowledge) are otherwise rare in most devices. You'd think that they would dedicate more funding toward one of (if not, the) largest ARM community. Same goes for Allwinner.

Negligence from companies like Samsung and Qualcomm I can understand. Sure, they do have large Linux communities but they're relatively small compared to the Android, Chrome OS, or Windows phone communities.

[starshipeleven]

Yeah I really don't get that, though I wouldn't say it's the RPi foundation that's the issue, but rather Broadcom. Perhaps one of the only reasons Broadcom is even relevant for ARM is because of RPi - their CPUs (to my knowledge) are otherwise rare in most devices. You'd think that they would dedicate more funding toward one of (if not, the) largest ARM community. Same goes for Allwinner.

Broadcom has pretty good SoCs for routers (no GPU of course), many good or high-end routers have a Broadcom SoC inside, drivers are mostly closed of course.

[schmidtbag]

Broadcom has pretty good SoCs for routers (no GPU of course), many good or high-end routers have a Broadcom SoC inside, drivers are mostly closed of course.

True but Broadcom probably didn't need to contribute much toward the kernel to get those SoCs functioning. For a router, the only drivers they'd really need to worry about would involve chipsets they (or the community) have already been supporting for years. Give the average Linux user a Broadcom-based router without the OS installed and he/she could probably get it fully functional in a day without Broadcom's assistance (assuming they have the tools to install an OS on it in the first place). In fact, you might not even have to do anything - if any of these routers are ARMv8, you could probably install the generic kernel and it'll all work out-of-the-box.

[starshipeleven]

True but Broadcom probably didn't need to contribute much toward the kernel to get those SoCs functioning. For a router, the only drivers they'd really need to worry about would involve chipsets they (or the community) have already been supporting for years. Give the average Linux user a Broadcom-based router without the OS installed and he/she could probably get it fully functional in a day without Broadcom's assistance (assuming they have the tools to install an OS on it in the first place). In fact, you might not even have to do anything - if any of these routers are ARMv8, you could probably install the generic kernel and it'll all work out-of-the-box.

Ummm, not that easy. Broadcom is providing support for the SoC itself in mainline or in source form in their SDK (and people can farm it for drivers to port to mainline), you can't boot a damn if someone does not add the support to initialize and run each specific SoC even if cores are ARM and the bootloader does some low-level initialization on its own.
The closed drivers are for the wifi controllers or chips, I *think* they opensourced most ethernet/onboard switch drivers too, as on any broadcom router taken over by OpenWRT/LEDE the only issue is the wifi driver.
Broadcom isn't that bad, considering the average ARM manufacturer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadc...dcom_and_Linux

If you want to see a SoC that has really shitty opensource linux support, try Cavium's "Octeon II".

[schmidtbag]

Ummm, not that easy. Broadcom is providing support for the SoC itself in mainline or in source form in their SDK (and people can farm it for drivers to port to mainline), you can't boot a damn if someone does not add the support to initialize and run each specific SoC even if cores are ARM and the bootloader does some low-level initialization on its own.

I don't see how that changes what I said. If they support the mainline kernel then you are not restricted to the OS they distribute. As I said before, much of the hardware these devices have were already supported for a while now, regardless of Broadcom's involvement.

The closed drivers are for the wifi controllers or chips, I *think* they opensourced most ethernet/onboard switch drivers too, as on any broadcom router taken over by OpenWRT/LEDE the only issue is the wifi driver.

Broadcom has several open source network drivers - wifi, bluetooth, and ethernet.

Broadcom isn't that bad, considering the average ARM manufacturer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadc...dcom_and_Linux

Broadcom is adequately Linux-friendly, in general. They are not, however, very ARM+Linux friendly. They support what they need to in order to get the hardware working on their intended platforms. That being said, chips like the BCM2835 most likely had some distinct purpose for an embedded device, such as a POS machine or maybe some sort of media device. But beyond that, they don't seem to care.

[starshipeleven]

I don't see how that changes what I said. If they support the mainline kernel then you are not restricted to the OS they distribute. As I said before, much of the hardware these devices have were already supported for a while now, regardless of Broadcom's involvement.

What part of " you can't boot a damn if someone does not add the support to initialize and run each specific SoC even if cores are ARM" you didn't understand?

Broadcom is releasing/mainlining that. Without that you can't boot Linux in there, let alone use the open drivers for devices.

Broadcom is adequately Linux-friendly, in general. They are not, however, very ARM+Linux friendly. They support what they need to in order to get the hardware working on their intended platforms.

Well, considering that the only closed thing in their SoCs is the wifi driver, it could be worse.

That being said, chips like the BCM2835 most likely had some distinct purpose for an embedded device, such as a POS machine or maybe some sort of media device. But beyond that, they don't seem to care.

Well, considering it is a POS (Piece Of Shit), it is selling damn well so yeah they are investing in return. Broadcom is after money, not ideals.

The Raspi3 SoC was pretty much created for a sole purpose: the raspi3. It didn't appear in any catalog before its release, it is 100% pin-compatible with the raspi board and has very weird CPU for the kind of embedded device the SoC was targeted at.
The raspi(1-2-3) SoC is basically a GPU with an ARM cpu added to the side (so-called "app processor"), so yeah changing the design to get a better CPU and sending it to the fabs isn't terribly hard.

I mean, I'd rather have it die in a fire as it has total shit connectivity, but hey, that's profit for Broadcom and it is opensource.

[caligula]

I mean, I'd rather have it die in a fire as it has total shit connectivity, but hey, that's profit for Broadcom and it is opensource.

But you can find tons of articles explaining how to make a great router with RPi. The hardcore RPi veterans users use USB3 gigabit ethernet adapters to achieve up to 400 Mbps.