Broadcom BCM47xx NVRAM/SPROM and BNXT firmware helpers
A small collection of firmware-access helpers for Broadcom hardware: NVRAM and SPROM readers used by BCM47xx/BCM53xx home-router systems-on-chip from the 2000s and 2010s, plus a TEE client that manages firmware on Broadcom's current NetXtreme-E (BNXT) PCIe Ethernet NICs found in modern servers.
recommendation
Worth keeping but documenting its split personality: the BCM47xx pieces serve a legacy router niche that OpenWrt still ships images for in 2025, while the BNXT firmware manager pairs with Broadcom NICs that are actively sold today. The directory saw maintenance commits as recently as early 2026 and there is no replacement driver covering the same ground, so removal would break both legacy routers and current server NICs.
repository signals
sources
- cateee.net
CONFIG_BCM47XX_NVRAM remains present in current kernel series and is specifically for Broadcom home-router NVRAM access.
- cateee.net
CONFIG_BCM47XX_SPROM remains present in current kernel series as the Broadcom SPROM helper for BCM47xx/BCMA/SSB-style devices.
- cateee.net
CONFIG_TEE_BNXT_FW is still present in current kernel series and builds module tee_bnxt_fw for Broadcom BNXT firmware management.
- spinics.net
There was public mailing-list traffic touching this directory in 2025, indicating maintenance rather than abandonment.
- openwrt.org
OpenWrt still documents BCM47xx/BCM53xx router SoCs as a supported hardware family, showing ongoing legacy deployment.
- downloads.openwrt.org
OpenWrt shipped bcm47xx/legacy target images in 2025, which is concrete evidence of continued field use for BCM47xx-era hardware.
- docs.broadcom.com
Broadcom was still marketing current PCIe Ethernet NIC adapters in 2026 under the NetXtreme-E family, supporting the conclusion that BNXT-class hardware is still sold new.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local inspection via shell `rg`/`sed` showed this directory is real kernel driver code, not docs/helpers-only: it contains BCM47xx NVRAM/SPROM firmware-access drivers plus `tee_bnxt_fw` (TEE client driver). Local `git log` showed substantive touches through 2026-01-07 and no sign of stagnation. Web search produced LKDDB pages for all three Kconfig symbols, confirming they are still in current kernels; a 2025 spinics patch shows recent public maintenance; OpenWrt wiki plus 2025 release artifacts show BCM47xx remains deployed in legacy router niches; Broadcom's NetXtreme-E product brief shows BNXT-class NIC hardware is still sold. No removal discussion was found in the limited lore-oriented web queries, so this does not justify `deprecate`/`remove`. `keep-annotate` fits better because the directory mixes actively maintained but niche/legacy BCM47xx support with a still-current BNXT firmware manager, and there is no natural replacement driver for the same functions.