2026.01.00

Release Notes

This release includes major changes compared previous Freedom-U-SDK (FUSDK) release. The notable changes include:

• Layers and Bitbake have been updated and are compatible with Whinlatter.
• Some packages have been updated.
• Some bugs and security issues have been fixed.
• GCC has been updated from 14.3.0 to 15.2.0
• LLVM has been updated from 20.1.0 to 21.1.8.
• Binutils has been updated from 2.44 to 2.45.
• Glibc has been updated from 2.41 to 2.42.
• GDB has been updated from 16.2 to 16.3.
• Mesa has been updated from 24.0.7 to 25.2.5.
• OpenSBI has been updated from 1.6 to 1.8.1.
• U-Boot has been updated from 2025.01 to 2026.01.
• Linux kernel longterm has been updated from 6.12.15 to 6.18.3.
• Linux headers have been updated from 6.12 to 6.17.
• Python3 has been updated from 3.13.3 to 3.13.9.
• Xfce4 is still 4.20.0.

Full Changelog: 2025.10.00...2026.01.00

Instructions to build assets

pip install --user kas

mkdir 2026.01.00 && cd 2026.01.00

git clone --depth 1 --branch 2026.01.00 https://github.com/sifive/freedom-u-sdk

kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/freedom-u540.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/qemuriscv64.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/unmatched.yml

2025.11.00-HFP550

Release Notes for 2025.11.00-HFP550

2025.11.00-HFP550

This Release includes major changes compared previous Freedom-U-SDK (FUSDK) release. The notable changes include:

• This is a major release with the kernel version updated from 6.6.77 to 6.12.33.
  • Dropped support of internal rtc driver since it was not used.
• It is mandatory for customers to update to latest bootchain image with which Yocto has been validated.
• OpenSBI version is still 1.6.
  • Added support to trap and emulate HENVCFG and SENVCFG CSR.
• U-boot version is still 2024.01.
• Updated DISTRO_VERSION and DISTRO_CODENAME.

Known Issues

• On executing a reboot command with external GFX connected, sometimes, the board reboot hangs.
• Bus error reported from UART driver at startup. This will be addressed in the subsequent releases.

2025.10.00

Release Notes

This release includes major changes compared previous Freedom-U-SDK (FUSDK) release. The notable changes include:

• Layers and Bitbake have been updated and are compatible with Walnascar.
• Some packages have been updated.
• Some bugs and security issues have been fixed.
• GCC is still 14.3.0.
• LLVM has been updated from 19.1.7 to 20.1.0.
• Binutils is still 2.44.
• Glibc is still 2.41.
• GDB is still 16.2.
• Mesa is still 24.0.7.
• OpenSBI is still 1.6.
• U-Boot is still 2025.01.
• Linux kernel longterm is still 6.12.15.
• Linux headers are still 6.12.
• Python3 has been updated from 3.13.2 to 3.13.3.
• Xfce4 is still 4.20.0.

Full Changelog: 2025.02.00...2025.10.00

Instructions to build assets

pip install --user kas

mkdir 2025.10.00 && cd 2025.10.00

git clone --depth 1 --branch 2025.10.00 https://github.com/sifive/freedom-u-sdk

kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/freedom-u540.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/qemuriscv64.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/unmatched.yml

2025.07.00-HFP550

Release Notes for 2025.07.00-HFP550

2025.07.00-HFP550

This Release includes major changes compared previous Freedom-U-SDK (FUSDK) release. The notable changes include:

• Layers and Bitbake have been updated.
• Some packages have been updated.
  • GCC has been updated from 13.3.0 to 14.2.0.
  • LLVM has been updated from 18.1.5 to 19.1.7.
  • Binutils has been updated from 2.42 to 2.44.
  • Glibc has been updated from 2.39 to 2.41.
  • GDB has been updated from 14.2 to 16.2.
  • Mesa has been updated from 24.0.5 to 24.0.7.
  • Python3 has been updated from 3.12.3 to 3.13.2.
  • Xfce4 has been updated from 4.18.3 to 4.20.0.
• OpenSBI version updated from 1.4 to 1.6.
  • Modified CSR registers 0x7C3 and 0x7C4 to improve memory Performance.
• U-boot version is still 2024.01.
• Linux kernel version is still 6.6.77.
  • Add PL2 and CCACHE PMU drivers to enable PMU perf events.
  • Corrected register address of SLOW command in PAC1934 driver to address bootup error.
  • Integrated changes to Map 48 GB PCIe bridge window using multiple ATU regions.
• Updated DISTRO_VERSION and DISTRO_CODENAME.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed NVMe Boot Issue with Yocto image.

Known Issues

• On executing a reboot command with external GFX connected, sometimes, the board reboot hangs.
• Bus error reported from UART driver at startup. This will be addressed in the subsequent releases.

2025.04.00-HFP550

Release Notes for 2025.04.00-HFP550

2025.04.00-HFP550

This release includes major changes compared previous Freedom-U-SDK (FUSDK) release. The notable changes include:

• Linux Kernel has been updated to 6.6.77.
• Integrated kernel patches to support AMD GPUs having rDNA architecture. Full validation is pending.
• Added Fancontrol service and supporting configuration file. The Fancontrol configuration file is set to
  • Set MAXTEMP to 65.
  • Set MINTEMP to 25.
  • Set PWM range from 25 to 255.
• U-Boot version is 2024.01.
  • Enabled NVMe as boot media.
  • Updated boot media sequence is as below.
    SD->USB->NVMe->SATA->eMMC
• OpenSBI version is 1.4.
• Updated DISTRO_VERSION and DISTRO_CODENAME.

NOTES

• User needs to flash the latest bootchain as DDR firmware is updated.
  • Updated DDR firmware binary can be found over tools repository.

Known Issues

• On executing a reboot command with external GFX connected, sometimes, the board reboot hangs.
• Bus error reported from UART driver at startup. This will be addressed in the subsequent releases.

2025.02.00

Release Notes

This release includes major changes compared previous Freedom-U-SDK (FUSDK) release. The notable changes include:

• Layers and Bitbake have been updated.
• Some packages have been updated.
• Some bugs and security issues have been fixed.
• GCC is still 14.2.0.
• LLVM has been updated from 19.1.6 to 19.1.7.
• Binutils have been updated from 2.43.1 to 2.44.
• Glibc has been updated from 2.40 to 2.41.
• GDB has been updated from 15.2 to 16.2.
• Mesa is still 24.0.7.
• OpenSBI is still 1.6.
• U-Boot has been updated from 2024.10 to 2025.01.
• Linux kernel longterm has been updated from 6.6.59 to 6.12.15.
• Linux headers are still 6.12.
• Python3 has been updated from 3.13.0 to 3.13.2.
• Xfce4 is still 4.20.0.

Full Changelog: 2024.12.00...2025.02.00

Instructions to build assets

pip install --user kas

mkdir 2025.02.00 && cd 2025.02.00

git clone --depth 1 --branch 2025.02.00 https://github.com/sifive/freedom-u-sdk

kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/freedom-u540.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/qemuriscv64.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/unmatched.yml

2024.12.00

Release Notes

This release includes major changes compared previous Freedom-U-SDK (FUSDK) release. The notable changes include:

• Layers and Bitbake have been updated.
• Some packages have been updated.
• Some bugs and security issues have been fixed.
• GCC is still 14.2.0.
• LLVM has been updated from 19.1.3 to 19.1.6.
• Binutils are still 2.43.1.
• Glibc is still 2.40.
• GDB is still 15.2.
• Mesa is still 24.0.7.
• OpenSBI has been updated from 1.5.1 to 1.6.
• U-Boot is still 2024.10.
• Linux kernel longterm is still 6.6.59.
• Linux headers are still 6.12.
• Python3 is still 3.13.0.
• Xfce4 has been updated from 4.18 to 4.20.

Full Changelog: 2024.10.00...2024.12.00

Instructions to build assets

pip install --user kas

mkdir 2024.12.00 && cd 2024.12.00

git clone --depth 1 --branch 2024.12.00 https://github.com/sifive/freedom-u-sdk

kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/freedom-u540.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/qemuriscv64.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/unmatched.yml

2024.10.00

Release Notes

This release includes major changes compared previous Freedom-U-SDK (FUSDK) release. The notable changes include:

• Layers and Bitbake have been updated.
• Some packages have been updated.
• Some bugs and security issues have been fixed.
• GCC has been updated from 13.3.0 to 14.2.0.
• LLVM has been updated from 18.1.5 to 19.1.3.
• Binutils has been updated from 2.42 to 2.43.1.
• Glibc has been updated from 2.39 to 2.40.
• GDB has been updated from 14.2 to 15.2.
• Mesa has been updated from 24.0.5 to 24.0.7.
• OpenSBI has been updated from 1.5 to 1.5.1.
• U-Boot has been updated from 2024.04 to 2024.10.
• Linux kernel longterm has been updated from 6.6.32 to 6.6.59.
• Linux headers have been updated from 6.6 to 6.12.
• Python3 has been updated from 3.12.3 to 3.13.0.

Full Changelog: 2024.07.00...2024.10.00

Instructions to build assets

pip install --user kas

mkdir 2024.10.00 && cd 2024.10.00

git clone --depth 1 --branch 2024.10.00 https://github.com/sifive/freedom-u-sdk

kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/freedom-u540.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/qemuriscv64.yml
kas build --update ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/unmatched.yml

2024.11.00-HFP550

Release Notes for 2024.11.00-HFP550

This release is applicable only for HiFive Premier P550 board and not for the Unmatched board.

2024.11.00-HFP550

• U-Boot is still 2024.01.
• OpenSBI is still 1.4.
• Kernel is still 6.6.21.
• Added support for USB as boot media.
• Added PMP for memory region 0x2000_0000-0x3FFF_FFFF in OpenSBI.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bus error for memory region 0x2000_0000-0x3FFF_FFFF.

Known Issues

• On executing a reboot command with external GFX connected, sometimes, the board reboot hangs.
• Bus error reported from UART driver at startup. This will be addressed in the subsequent releases.

2024.09.01-HFP550

Release Notes for 2024.09.01-HFP550

2024.09.01-HFP550

• U-Boot version is 2024.01.
• OpenSBI version is 1.4.
• Kernel version is 6.6.21.
• Only Xfce4 desktop images are supported.
• eMMC and SD Card are supported as boot media.
• The following images in DEPLOYDIR are required for flashing on the board.
  • bootloader_ddr5_secboot.bin - Bootchain image which comprises of DDR firware, second boot firmware, U-Boot and OpenSBI.
  • boot.vfat - vfat image for kernel. This includes kernel Image, DTB and extlinux.
  • demo-coreip-xfce4-hifive-premier-p550.rootfs.ext4.xz - Compressed rootfs image for eMMC.
  • demo-coreip-xfce4-hifive-premier-p550.rootfs.wic.xz - Compressed image for SD card.
• Irrespective of boot media, bootchain is always flashed to SPI Flash.
• EsBurnTool is the tool required to flash images to eMMC. This tool can be found over tools repository.
• eMMC boot and root partitions can also be flashed with fastboot tool.
• Bootable SD Card can be prepared by writing the .wic image using dd command.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed USB 2.0 hub detection issue.
• Fixed fan speed read timeout error.
• Fixed issue of failure while copying large files with USB 3.0.

Known Issues

• Occassional bus error reported from memory region 0x2000_0000-0x3FFF_FFFF. These will addressed in the subsequent releases.
• On executing a reboot command with external GFX connected, sometimes, the board reboot hangs.
• Bus error reported from UART driver at startup. This will be addressed in the subsequent releases.

Instructions to build assets

pip install --user kas

mkdir 2024.09.01-hfp550 && cd 2024.09.01-hfp550

git clone https://github.com/sifive/freedom-u-sdk.git -b 2024.09.01-HFP550

kas build ./freedom-u-sdk/scripts/kas/hifive-premier-p550.yml