Linux Kernel for SiFive HiFive P550 Premier Arch Linux Image

The PKGBUILD file in this repository is used to build the Linux kernel for the SiFive HiFive P550 Premier board running Arch Linux. The kernel source code is available at https://github.com/sifive/riscv-linux using the branch dev/sholland/hifive-premier-p550-amdgpu. The configuration is based on the configuration that ships with the default OpenEmbedded image but enhanced to support zstd and xz initramfs and firmware images for broad OS compatibility. This also enables the radeon, amdgpu, and nouveau drivers. The patches to enable the I2C interface on the 40pin GPIO header are also included. There are also additional filesystems enabled (xfs, btrfs) as modules. Use of an initramfs is strongly recommended.

Notes on video support

This kernel enables the Integrated Display Controller and GPU (iGPU). This has some unfavorable side effects:

• There is a phantom 4K monitor
• The iGPU is always the primary
• Frequenly applications spawn on the phantom monitor
• Wayland doesn't work correctly
• 3D Accelleration has problems since the iGPU is not supported by mainline Mesa currently If your goal is to use a Dedicated GPU in the PCI-express slot (dGPU) then I suggest trying the dgpu variant of this kernel package at https://github.com/edolnx/linux-edolnx-sifive-p550-dgpu That package does not have the iGPU drivers enabled (they cannot be built as modules).

Building the Kernel

The kernel can be built natively on the P550 Premier itself, just like any other Arch package. Follow these steps to build the kernel:

$ git clone https://github.com/edolnx/linux-edolnx-sifive-p550.git
$ cd linux-edolnx-sifive-p550
$ makepkg