NVIDIA moves to Boot42 registers for next-gen GPUs

NVIDIA begins preparing Nova driver for next-gen GPUs

NVIDIA has started posting patches for its open-source Nova kernel graphics driver that reference support for ‘next-gen’ GPU architectures. A new patch series submitted this week mentions changes required for “next-gen GPUs,” which refers to post-Blackwell products. The next architecture expected after Blackwell is Rubin, followed later by Feynman.

One patch titled “gpu: nova: add boot42 support for next-gen GPUs” confirms that future chips will no longer store architecture and revision data in the current NV_PMC_BOOT_0 register. Instead, this information will move to NV_PMC_BOOT_42 , with BOOT_0 being cleared. NVIDIA engineer explained that Nova will now detect GPUs from Turing onward using updated logic that remains valid as hardware moves forward.

Source: Phoronix

The change also removes a few data types previously used in the driver and reduces the overall code size in this area. The patch notes include comments documenting how these registers are used across different GPU generations.

Phoronix notes, this is an early step in enabling Rubin support in the Rust-based Nova driver . NVIDIA is making these preparations in the open on public mailing lists, which suggests that Rubin Linux support work may follow earlier than in past development cycles.

Source: Phoronix