Intel WMI Thunderbolt force-power and Slim Bootloader firmware update interfaces
Two small platform helpers for Intel-based PCs that talk to the system firmware over WMI. One lets the OS force-power the Thunderbolt controller on laptops that otherwise keep it asleep, and the other exposes a sysfs hook that user space uses to signal a firmware update to Intel's Slim Bootloader on recent platforms like Raptor Lake, Meteor Lake, and Arrow Lake.
recommendation
It should stay because both pieces target hardware Intel still ships in 2025, including Thunderbolt 4/5 systems and current Slim Bootloader platforms, and the code received fresh API-conversion work in early 2026. Slim Bootloader's documented Linux firmware-update flow depends directly on the sysfs interface this directory exports, so there is no natural replacement.
repository signals
sources
- cateee.net
`CONFIG_INTEL_WMI_THUNDERBOLT` is still present through 7.0-rc+HEAD and is described as the Intel Thunderbolt force-power driver for select systems.
- cateee.net
`CONFIG_INTEL_WMI_SBL_FW_UPDATE` is still present through 6.19 and described as the Slim Bootloader firmware-update signaling driver.
- slimbootloader.github.io
Slim Bootloader currently documents support for recent Intel platforms including Arrow Lake, Meteor Lake, and Raptor Lake, indicating ongoing relevance on modern Intel hardware.
- slimbootloader.github.io
Slim Bootloader documents a Linux-triggered firmware-update flow that explicitly depends on `INTEL_WMI_SBL_FW_UPDATE` and the exported sysfs interface.
- intel.com
Intel support documentation reviewed on 2025-07-22 describes current Thunderbolt Share requirements for Thunderbolt 4/5 PCs and accessories, showing Thunderbolt remains a current shipping Intel platform feature.
- git.kernel.org
The thunderbolt half of this directory received a substantive upstream API-conversion commit on 2026-01-20, matching local tree history.
- git.kernel.org
The Slim Bootloader half of this directory received a substantive upstream API-conversion commit on 2026-01-20, matching local tree history.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Real driver directory: two WMI drivers (`intel-wmi-thunderbolt`, `intel-wmi-sbl-fw-update`) confirmed by local file inspection via shell. Upstream activity was checked first from local kernel history with `git -c safe.directory=... log -- drivers/platform/x86/intel/wmi`, which showed substantive touches through 2026-01-20 and no sign of removal churn; commit URLs are canonical kernel.org recall derived from those hashes. Deployment evidence came from web search/open: LKDDb pages confirm both Kconfig entries remain upstream; Slim Bootloader docs show active support on recent Intel platforms and explicitly reference the Linux WMI update path; Intel Thunderbolt support docs show Thunderbolt 4/5 is current shipping hardware. Conclusion: niche but current platform functionality, no natural replacement, and active maintenance argues for keep rather than deprecate/remove.