Trisquel on Intel Core Ultra Series
Hi! I was unable to find any info online, whether the new Intel Core Ultra Series CPUs and their integrated GPUs can work on Trisquel GNU/Linux without proprietary blobs/drivers. Maybe someone on this forum already tested this hardware and can comment on it? It would be great to know. Thanks in advance!
If you have trouble I'm pretty sure it would be with the integrated graphics. You may want to read through my thread on getting an Intel Meteor Lake computer with integrated Arc graphics running on Trisquel 11 and 12 here - https://trisquel.info/en/forum/new-novacustom-computer-intel-meteor-lake-integrated-arc-graphics-still-works-jxselfs-linux-li
Thanks! I've read the thread and have a question: did you achieve any other progress since the time of writing the posts there? Or maybe did some other tests? For example, does the hardware acceleration work for video playback or for FOSS games? Does Vulkan work or only OpenGL? I don't have the hardware to test myself, but my family members are thinking about getting computers with those Intel Ultra Series CPUs. I don't want them to buy hardware that then forces them into using nonfree blobs in order to be usable, that's why I opened this thread.
Edit: removed 'a' in 'buy a hardware'
Video playback works for sure, but on your other two questions I'm not completely certain, as it's a work computer that I don't use all the time and that I don't play any games on. The only snippet I copied in that thread was from 'glxinfo | grep render', instead of 'vulkaninfo --summary'.
However, Vulkan should hopefully be brought up for you with Core Ultra Series 1 chips for 3 reasons:
1. The driver appears to exist in the Trisquel repos. For example, 8/25/25 @icarolongo -
"Please, install mesa-vulkan-drivers and try again.
sudo apt install mesa-vulkan-drivers" https://trisquel.info/en/forum/gtx-570-nouveau-3d-nvidia-gpu-drivers#comment-180966
2. The hardware initializes under linux-libre on my work machine. My glxinfo showed the real Mesa Intel(R) Arc(tm) Graphics (MTL) hardware renderer, not llvmpipe — so the kernel driver, even stripped of GuC/HuC/DMC firmware, brought the GPU up enough for full hardware acceleration.
3. ANV sits on the same kernel interface as Iris. Nothing about Vulkan requires the proprietary firmware that linux-libre removes — those files affect scheduling modes, media offload, and power features, not the fundamental command-submission path.
But a word of caution - I'm reading more information about the Core Ultra Series, and it appears to me that anything beyond Core Ultra Series 1 (i.e. Core Ultra Series 2 or 3) may require a GuC blob as a microcontrolling piece for you to get any Xe graphics at all (i915 fallback possibly removed), which could leave you with only CPU-driven llvmpipe renderer to get graphics. For example, see this Phoronix article for reference on Intel Lunar Lake: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Intel-Lunar-Lake-Graphics-FW
Without a lot more data, I'm not sure I would recommend spending your money to try it, only to find out it doesn't work the way you want. So you'd better do your homework before buying one. If it requires a non-free GuC blob for the Arc graphics to work at all, you may want to reconsider.
Also, if you do get Arc graphics running, I would be hopeful that switching out Xorg for XLibre would resolve any screen tearing issues.
I tried for fun, on my modern HP laptop. Intel (Arrowlake) Ultra Evo 7, at first it booted, then it just failed to load any further than the initial loading screen. That's the iGPU.
Parabola explicitly said "No Video Cards Found". So I would say no.
Also, sorry I know this is an FSF channel and all, but you need to consider Intel Microcode updates as they can be needed. With older CPUs the intel microcode is end-of-life so its not a concern.
You'll only know if you try it with jxself's Linux-libre kernels - I never got Xe or Arc graphics to work with the default Trisquel kernels.
Curious... then how do you install Trisquel at all?
I mean don't you need the graphics to make installing work?
The computers don't even need to have any kind of display hardware at all because the netinstall doesn't need any graphical subsystems. It can also be done using serial, SSH, or with a preseeded configuration so that there's zero interactive prompts. And this is just with Trisquel's own stuff. There are more options if you start looking into third-party software too, which can require that you do nothing more than plug the computer into power/networking and turn it on.
Hmm... is that how netinstall works?
Well okay.
You get llvmpipe graphics if you add something like a nomodeset at grub. But llvmpipe is CPU generated graphics - not good for things like battery life, graphics acceleration, and other things.
Do you know, why Trisquel GNU Linux doesn't ship the actual Linux-libre kernels, that https://www.fsfla.org/ikiwiki/selibre/linux-libre/ provides? This would have been much easier to use. For example, in order to make my integrated GPU to work, I had to add a kernel parameter that disables guc to kernel command line into the grub config. And the kernels from fsfla just pass it by default
"We track Ubuntu's kernel to assure compatibility with the rest of the system and other ancillary tools like the debian-installer but also to make use of security updates released by the upstream project."
I found that while reading about how Trisquel is made: https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/how-trisquel-made.
Thanks! Somehow I missed it...or forgot :)
Hello,
I joined here because I had a question about selecting hardware with working wifi for Trisquel, but this thread made me realize I may have underestimated the actual challenge. That "Intel Microcode" that needs to be updated because it can be needed, how do you update it? And why is it needed? Is Trisquel taking care of the update? I am still reading on the topic, starting there: https://trisquel.info/en/forum/question-about-cpu-microcode-under-libre-linux#comment-141988.
Welcome latenightwake!
That "Intel Microcode" is nonfree software. It does not respect your freedom. For that reason, Trisquel does not ship it.
For Wi-Fi, an analog problem exists with proprietary firmware, which is software that a chip in the peripheral device executes. You can buy a USB adapter with the AR9271 chipset. There is a free firmware for it. Trisquel ships it by default. As a consequence, Wi-Fi will work out as soon as you plug the adapter in a USB port. You can go for https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/wireless-adapters or search "AR9271" on a site such as ebay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=AR9271&_sop=15
There are also WiFi cards, that you can install inside the PC/Laptop, that don't need proprietary firmware to work. For example you can find them here https://www.thinkpenguin.com/catalog/networking-gear-gnu-linux
They are rebranded versions of other WiFi cards, so you can try to find them in other places (with other names), if you for one reason or another don't want to buy from thinkpenguin.
I personally have Framework 12 laptop with Intel i5-1334U CPU. I bought this one https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/wireless-n-dual-band-m2-ngff-combo-card-tpe-m2ncrd and installed it inside (so I don't need to have a USB dongle in my laptop all the time). Just if you buy an internal WiFi card, make sure, that it's compatible with your device :)
[Sorry I replied to the wrong message. See https://trisquel.info/en/forum/trisquel-intel-core-ultra-series#comment-184188 above]
Thank you both, I am glad the answer is not too complicated nor too long!
I had indeed been reading about those USB adapters, and this will probably be needed since most laptops I have been checking up to now seem to have some other brand "inside". I can also see a use for the internal replacement option, so it is good to read that it is also available.
About that microcode, up to this point of reading this is the only thread where I have seen updating it presented as being "needed". The other threads instead mention "mitigations" put in place by the system in case of a known security risk. I assume these "mitigations" are free software and are only needed because a security risk has been identified. Could this have changed with newer Intel CPUs? Could the updates be necessary to get a newly acquired computer to be fully functional with Trisquel, or to work at all? If not, they are not more "needed" than on older CPUs, so this is not blocking and there is no reason not to go get a recent laptop.
You can stick with the microcode shipped with the processor and never update it. The worrying issue andyprough points deals with the firmware for the integrated graphics. He fears that "anything beyond Core Ultra Series 1 (i.e. Core Ultra Series 2 or 3) may require a GuC blob as a microcontrolling piece for you to get any Xe graphics at all (i915 fallback possibly removed), which could leave you with only CPU-driven llvmpipe renderer to get graphics". LLVMpipe is not nothing. My understanding (@andyprough: please correct me) is that the computer will "be fully functional with Trisquel", but with bad graphical performances... which may still be better than what can be achieved with recent AMD or nVidia cards without their respective proprietary firmware. Feedback is welcome.
The AMD 7640U ryzen 5 gpu doesn't work too well without the amd gpu blob (proprietary firmware)
I have prior experience with this.
Redshift will not work without that gpu blob in amd ryzen 5.
I wonder if its any better in newer AMD processors.
Although the AMD PSP makes me nervous so I wouldn't trust any computer with that running for anything but gaming.
OK, thank you for the clarification Magic Banana. Those updates are not needed, one less hurdle.
I get that graphics is a separate question. I am not an intensive user of graphics, so was hoping integrated graphics would work. Will keep an eye on this thread, thanks all.
@Magic Banana >"LLVMpipe is not nothing. My understanding (@andyprough: please correct me) is that the computer will "be fully functional with Trisquel", but with bad graphical performances... which may still be better than what can be achieved with recent AMD or nVidia cards without their respective proprietary firmware. Feedback is welcome."
You can run a system with llvmpipe graphics, and I have done so for weeks at a time, but there are consequences to running your entire graphics load via your cpu. The most obvious to me was reduced battery life. But there is also going to be increased heat. And cpu's simply are not as efficient as gpu's at pushing graphics around, so you are running your system less efficiently in terms of things like power.
From what I could gather on the topic, using llvmpipe for 3D rendering will not consume more energy than the equivalent graphic card would. Most discrete GPUs seem to target graphics performance (features, resolution, smoothness, etc) rather than energy efficiency, while CPU-based software rendering has to be resource efficient in order leave enough processing power for everything else.
It is a bit surprising to see that it may be needed with integrated graphics at all, but it still provides a viable option for most non-gaming purposes, until the latest improvements get backported to the default Trisquel kernel.
>"From what I could gather on the topic, using llvmpipe for 3D rendering will not consume more energy than the equivalent graphic card would."
Where did you gather than from? I can't find any sources that say that, and my experience is the opposite.
Based on power consumption reported for commercially available discrete GPUs. You can find sources all over the place.
As a raw example: https://global.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/original/3X/f/7/f74390e4c562221c88ed5d9a2c010e86192c3a19.jpeg.
I don't know much about nvidia gpu's, and we were talking about Intel integrated gpu's anyway. But those graphics you linked to appear to all show using nvidia proprietary driver 530.41.03 with P-state P2 vs P8, which would seem to mean using mesa, vulkan, the whole graphics stack. I don't see anything related to llvmpipe -- correct me if I'm looking at them incorrectly.
There are clearly several topics intertwined here. My concern is about getting something usable with Trisquel. A toaster would not do, but a laptop that may need 3D software rendering to work out of the box may be fine - as long as it does not turn into a toaster at the first 3D hurdle.
I am still to read anything about llvmpipe consuming more power than a discrete GPU would for similar tasks and, if I am reading the above post correctly, you do not happen to have a similar experience with those, which would be a requirement for a hands-on comparison with llvmpipe.
Ahh, I see, you have a completely different goal in mind. Yes, my only goal was getting the latest possible Intel cpu with integrated graphics working entirely without non-free graphics firmware, but with graphics acceleration, using Linux-libre kernels. If you can get satisfactory llvmpipe usage of a modern discrete graphics card without using non-free firmware, then I'm sure we will be interested to hear about your experience.
I also wrote an email to Framework (because my family members would like to get the Framework 12 laptops with these new Intel Series 3 CPUs) and asked about proprietary firmware and GNU Guix/Trisquel GNU Linux support, but it's been a month since I asked, and they just yesterday emailed me back and told me, that they need more time to answer this question :(
If I get any useful response from them, I will post it here.
I would recommend system76 over Framework if possible.
*IF* it has open firmware.
If it doesn't, they about the same.
Didn't know, that system76 has coreboot in some laptops. As far as I can tell it's still not completely free (only libreboot and GNU boot are), but better than Framework laptops in that regard. I also know about Purism devices. They also have Coreboot or their modification Pureboot, so they might also be considered. And I guess Thinkpenguin has a laptop, but I've never checked it out. It might be with proprietary bios/uefi, but with support for linux-libre.
But Framework also clearly works on Coreboot support: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Framework-Intel-Coreboot-2026
I hope to see it on my Laptop sooner than later.
That would be cool.