linux-drivers/
drivers/gpu/drm/etnaviv

Vivante GC-series embedded GPU cores (etnaviv)

Vivante's GC-series GPU IP blocks, which are licensed into many ARM systems-on-chip — most visibly NXP's i.MX 6 and i.MX 8M family — and power 2D/3D graphics on industrial panels, automotive infotainment, single-board computers, and embedded Linux modules. The etnaviv driver is the open-source, reverse-engineered stack that lets Mesa run on these GPUs without vendor blobs.

keep conf=0.93 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=gpu category=graphics-display
93%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because the hardware is still being sold on new SoCs in 2025 and beyond — NXP's i.MX 8M Nano remains an Active product, and Variscite advertises i.MX8M-based modules with supply commitments out to 2034. Upstream activity is healthy too, with feature patches as recent as late 2025 and routine maintenance into 2026, and there is no alternative open driver for these Vivante cores.

repository signals

34 files
10,827 source lines
171 commits, 5y
+2,140 / −1,064 lines added / removed, 5y
51 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 171 total · active in 48/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-05: 3 commits · +28 −28 2021-06: 7 commits · +63 −70 2021-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-08: 11 commits · +56 −34 2021-09: 6 commits · +40 −31 2021-10: 3 commits · +4 −3 2021-11: 5 commits · +25 −44 2021-12: 2 commits · +10 −1 2022-01: 1 commit · +2 −2 2022-02: 3 commits · +8 −20 2022-03: 5 commits · +90 −86 2022-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-05: 1 commit · +8 −2 2022-06: 1 commit · +26 −3 2022-07: 3 commits · +22 −10 2022-08: 1 commit · +5 −4 2022-09: 5 commits · +85 −20 2022-10: 1 commit · +1 −1 2022-11: 3 commits · +19 −22 2022-12: 7 commits · +161 −45 2023-01: 1 commit · +1 −1 2023-02: 5 commits · +100 −2 2023-03: 1 commit · +1 −42 2023-04: 2 commits · +10 −8 2023-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-06: 13 commits · +170 −102 2023-07: 2 commits · +5 −5 2023-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-09: 1 commit · +2 −2 2023-10: 8 commits · +69 −41 2023-11: 3 commits · +72 −9 2023-12: 1 commit · +1 −0 2024-01: 3 commits · +213 −78 2024-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-03: 3 commits · +12 −4 2024-04: 1 commit · +0 −66 2024-05: 2 commits · +13 −2 2024-06: 4 commits · +12 −11 2024-07: 6 commits · +50 −33 2024-08: 1 commit · +1 −1 2024-09: 5 commits · +25 −17 2024-10: 7 commits · +36 −45 2024-11: 8 commits · +49 −22 2024-12: 4 commits · +46 −4 2025-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-02: 1 commit · +11 −11 2025-03: 2 commits · +4 −4 2025-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-05: 1 commit · +1 −1 2025-06: 1 commit · +4 −1 2025-07: 3 commits · +8 −12 2025-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-09: 1 commit · +32 −0 2025-10: 2 commits · +9 −1 2025-11: 5 commits · +464 −70 2025-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-02: 3 commits · +30 −32 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    Recent non-trivial upstream feature work exists for etnaviv ('drm/etnaviv: Add PPU flop reset', 2025-11-19).

  2. lore.kernel.org

    etnaviv still receives upstream maintenance touches in 2026 ('drm-dyndbg: add DRM_CLASSMAP_USE to etnaviv', 2026-03-26).

  3. variscite.com

    Current commercial SoM offering based on NXP i.MX8M Mini lists Vivante GC320/GC NanoUltra graphics and product longevity to 2034.

  4. nxp.com

    NXP still lists the i.MX 8M Nano family as Active, indicating ongoing sale of Vivante-GPU-based SoCs in this ecosystem.

  5. git.kernel.org

    Upstream Kconfig describes DRM_ETNAVIV as support for 'Vivante GPU IP cores'.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Keep: static history already shows high recent churn (163 substantive commits/5y, latest 2026-01-06), and lore_activity on etnaviv files returned 2025-11 and 2026-03 patch traffic with real code changes, consistent with an actively maintained embedded GPU driver. A lore_regex removal/deprecation subject scan timed out, and a shell `lei q` fallback was blocked by sandboxed lei socket startup, so I found no positive removal signal. Web search plus open on Variscite and NXP pages showed currently marketed i.MX8M products using Vivante GC GPUs, including a module page advertising longevity to 2034 and an NXP product page showing Active status. Kernel Kconfig URL was included via canonical recall to anchor the chipset family naming. There is no natural upstream replacement driver for the same Vivante IP blocks, so deprecate/remove is not supported.