HP OMEN Laptops To Be Better Supported With Linux 5.16

HP's higher-end "OMEN" laptop series is set to see better support with the next kernel cycle.

While just missing out on the Linux 5.15 merge window, one of the early changes queued up so far this week in any of the "-next" branches is the x86 platform drivers picking up HP OMEN laptop support within the HP WMI driver.

The HP-WMI driver is adding support for HP OMEN laptops thanks to the work by an independent developer. This support allows for most functionality offered by HP's Omen Command Center on Windows to now work under Linux.

Among the functionality known to be working are fan speed monitoring via HWMON's sysfs interface, ACPI Platform Profile support for toggling between cool / balanced / performance mode preferences, HDD temperature reporting, and a max fan speed toggle.

It's a shame HP didn't contribute the support themselves, but that's the case these days for much of the Linux laptop improvements around the WMI drivers and other code. The HP OMEN laptop support for this driver is currently residing in pdx86's "for-next" branch ahead of the Linux 5.16 cycle later this year.