Two new display drivers - Verisilicon DC8200 for RISC-V SoCs and Coreboot framebuffer support - have been submitted to DRM-Next for Linux 7.1, alongside Nouveau improvements and other graphics driver enhancements.
The Linux 7.1 kernel development cycle has officially begun with the first DRM-Misc-Next pull request submitted this week, introducing several new graphics and display driver features. Among the most notable additions are two new drivers targeting different use cases in the Linux graphics stack.
Verisilicon DC8200 Display Driver for RISC-V
The first new driver is the Verisilicon DC8200 display driver, which initially targets the T-Head TH1520 RISC-V System-on-Chip (SoC). This driver enables HDMI display output support for the TH1520, marking another step forward in RISC-V platform maturity. The Verisilicon DC8200 display IP is also used by the StarFive JH7110 SoC, though support for that particular chip isn't complete in this initial driver release.
The inclusion of this driver is significant for the RISC-V ecosystem, as display output support has been one of the missing pieces for many embedded and development boards using these processors. HDMI output through a properly integrated display driver means better compatibility with monitors and TVs, making RISC-V systems more viable for desktop-like applications.
Coreboot DRM Framebuffer Driver
The second new driver is a Coreboot DRM driver providing simple framebuffer support. This "corebootdrm" driver was developed by Thomas Zimmermann at SUSE and has already been successfully tested with both Wayland's Weston compositor and the traditional Linux framebuffer console.
This driver fills an important gap for systems booting with Coreboot firmware. Coreboot, being a lightweight firmware solution, traditionally relied on simpler framebuffer implementations. By providing proper DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) integration, this driver enables better graphics performance and compatibility with modern Linux graphics stacks, including Wayland environments.
Nouveau Driver Improvements
Alongside the new drivers, the pull request includes several improvements to the open-source NVIDIA Nouveau driver. Notably, the Nouveau driver now includes ZCULL support, which complements the recently merged ZCULL support in the NVK Vulkan driver. ZCULL is a memory management feature that can improve performance by reducing unnecessary memory operations, particularly beneficial for graphics workloads.
The Nouveau GSP (GPU Scheduler Protocol) code has also been updated to support the GA100 accelerator, expanding compatibility to NVIDIA's data center and professional graphics cards based on this architecture.
Other Graphics Driver Updates
The pull request also includes several other smaller but important changes to various graphics drivers:
- AMDGPU driver now supports OLED panel type for eDP (embedded DisplayPort) outputs
- atmel-hlcdc driver gains support for the SANA5D65 LCD controller
- Rockchip RK3576 now has DisplayPort output support
- Various other minor driver changes and improvements
These incremental improvements across multiple drivers demonstrate the ongoing work to support new hardware and improve existing implementations in the Linux graphics stack.
Looking Ahead to Linux 7.1
With this first DRM-Misc-Next pull request, the development cycle for Linux 7.1 is officially underway. The kernel is scheduled for release in mid-2026, giving developers several months to refine these new drivers and incorporate additional features.
The inclusion of drivers for emerging platforms like RISC-V, along with continued improvements to established drivers like Nouveau and AMDGPU, shows the Linux kernel's commitment to supporting both cutting-edge hardware and maintaining compatibility with existing systems.
For developers working with T-Head TH1520 or StarFive JH7110 boards, the Verisilicon DC8200 driver will be particularly welcome. Similarly, Coreboot users will benefit from the new framebuffer driver's improved graphics support. As Linux 7.1 development progresses, we can expect to see more graphics driver improvements and new hardware support in subsequent pull requests.
All the details of this pull request and the complete list of changes can be found in the official DRM-Next submission.
Comments
Please log in or register to join the discussion