Group: Hardware/Components/GPUs/nvidia

Introduction

Nvidia GPUs have several freedom issues that are referenced on the table below.

Nonfree software	Effects without the nonfree software or workarounds	Workaround	Workaround consequences	Fix	Existing projects that could be leveraged to fix the problem
GPU firmwares/microcodes	Free firwmare are generated in the Linux driver for many GPUs. However: Some GPUs are probably still missing free firmware like for the Tegra K1 The NV110 family (Maxwell) and more recent require signed firmwares for the GPU power management processor.
Bytecode: This bytecode is part of the Video BIOS and is parsed and executed by the Linux driver	The nouveau driver probably doesn't load The boot software (BIOS, UEFI) may not be able to initialize the display. Untested.	?		Replace the nonfree bytecode by a free one.
The Video BIOS		Use Libreboot or Coreboot with SeaBIOS, put the Video BIOS in memory but don't execute it	The display is initialized very late, when the nouveau driver loads, if the bytecode tables are in the right memory area.	Implement a free Video BIOS replacement either as standalone replacement or in Coreboot and Libreboot.	There is a free Video BIOS replacement in Coreboot for many Intel GPUs. While its meant to support Intel GPUs, it may be a good idea to leverage some of the code and architecture. It may also be a good idea to instead implement it as a standalone Video BIOS replacement, as standalone Radeon GPUs do exist, whereas standalone Intel GPU don't at the time of writing. TODO: List Radeon Video BIOS Replacement projects and their freedom issues (check if the compiler is free) TODO: Look if there are some projects for Nvidia GPUs.

External links

• The nouveau project web page