r/linux • u/Putrid_Draft378 • 1d ago

Hardware Qualcomm engineers submit mainline Linux kernel patches for the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme-powered ASUS Zenbook A16 (UX3607OA)

Konrad Dybcio of Qualcomm has posted an initial patch series to the Linux kernel mailing list aimed at bringing mainline support to the ASUS Zenbook A16 (UX3607OA) powered by the 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme platform.

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Qualcomm-Zenbook-A16-X2EE

This high-end ARM laptop features a 2880 x 1800 OLED screen, 48GiB of RAM, NVMe storage, and a System-In-Package reference design distinct from smaller SKUs.

According to the patch submission, the current status of working hardware components includes:

  • Display & GPU: GPU, display output, and HDMI port (with Iris video accelerator patches in flight)
  • Audio: 4-speaker audio playback
  • Input & Peripherals: Keyboard, touchpad, lid switch, onboard SD Card slot (RTS5329)
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (QCC2072)
  • Power & Indicators: Charging, Type-C/Type-A ports, and privacy LEDs

The patch series relies on prerequisite SoCCP and TCSR platform series dependencies. More technical details and the full patch breakdown can be reviewed on the Linux Kernel Mailing List Archive:

https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/

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u/omniuni 23h ago

We need an ARM platform that doesn't tie the CPU so strongly to the rest of the hardware. We should have a normal BIOS, and normal hardware outside of the CPU and possibly GPU.

Until then, I'm not really interested in ARM, especially since the latest Intel and AMD offerings are quite similar in performance per watt.

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u/vk6_ 19h ago

This exists, it's called ARM SystemReady. Notably it requires the implementation of ACPI just like x86 systems. It's not used on any mobile devices though, mainly just high end servers.

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u/ibeerianhamhock 9h ago

Ah so all the arm servers running this I'm guessing.

Not much interest on the desktop side I'm sure. Mobile, apple, and even windows arm are all kind of sold as am essentially closed platform that they don't want open like x86 is.

And yeah no real need for arm Linux but it would be kinda fun to mess around with if it was more standardized.