SolidRun SolidNET PCIe DPU vDPA driver
Host-side support for SolidRun's SolidNET data processing unit, a half-height PCIe accelerator card built around NXP's LX2162A SoC that offloads networking and storage tasks for cloud, edge, and enterprise servers. It plugs the card into Linux's vDPA framework so virtual machines and containers can use it as a virtio-style network device.
recommendation
Worth keeping but worth flagging as niche. The driver only landed in 2023, picked up a real bug fix in 2024, and was still being touched as part of broader vDPA work in 2025, so it is genuinely maintained rather than abandoned. However, the SolidNET DPU is a specialized product that no longer features in SolidRun's recent announcements and likely has a small installed base, and nothing else in the kernel can substitute for its SolidNET-specific control path.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
2024 upstream patch series fixed a real UB/devres bug in vdpa: solidrun, showing the driver still receives targeted maintenance rather than being abandoned.
- lore.kernel.org
A lore-reported bug was filed against this driver and later closed by the 2024 fix, indicating real review/bug-fix traffic.
- lore.kernel.org
The vDPA subsystem was still being actively evolved in late 2025, matching the local history that this directory was touched by current vDPA integration work rather than removal work.
- solid-run.com
SolidRun describes SolidNET as a PCIe HHHL software-defined DPU based on NXP LX2162A, aimed at cloud/edge/enterprise server offload use cases.
- solid-run.com
SolidRun's 2025-2026 press room highlights many newer product lines but shows no fresh SolidNET/DPU announcements, consistent with a niche product with limited current-market visibility.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Real driver: local shell inspection showed a PCI vDPA driver with module_pci_driver() and SolidRun PCI IDs in snet_main.c. Upstream activity came from local git log via shell: initial merge in 2023, driver-specific fix in 2024, and subtree touches in 2025; I found no remove/deprecate discussion in local history. The two lore URLs were obtained from commit metadata/body in local git log (one explicit Closes URL, one Message-Id converted to canonical lore URL); the 2025 lore URL was built from a Message-Id seen in local git log using canonical lore URL form. Web search/open provided the SolidRun product/news pages. Recommendation is keep-annotate: the driver is young and still maintained, but hardware appears specialized and current deployments are likely low/niche, with no natural upstream replacement for SolidNET-specific host control.