Fedora 44 and 45 add out-of-box Raspberry Pi 5 support with accelerated graphics, NVMe boot

Fedora contributor Peter Robinson revealed that the Raspberry Pi 5 has been supported out-of-the-box since Fedora 44's release in late April 2026, though the announcement was delayed. The initial Fedora 44 implementation delivers a minimum viable product with boot from microSD or NVMe, wired and wireless networking, USB functionality under Linux, accelerated graphics, basic thermal and fan control, and some SPI/I2C peripherals. A temporary kernel command-line workaround (cma=256M@0M-1024M) was required for first boot on Fedora 44, but this has been resolved in Fedora 45 and backported to updated Fedora 44 systems. Fedora 45 release candidates now allow standard flashing procedures without workarounds, matching the experience of other Raspberry Pi models.

The supported configurations cover all Raspberry Pi 5B variants, though the Raspberry Pi 500 and Compute Module 5 remain works in progress. Notable gaps persist: USB boot is unsupported, and audio output is not yet functional. Robinson noted that upstream contributions have accelerated since the Fedora 44 launch, with multiple developers feeding improvements back into Fedora's kernel and firmware packages. The project expects continued maturation including expanded variant support in future releases.

Fedora 44/45 Raspberry Pi 5 enablement status

• Boot media: Fedora 44 and 45 support microSD and NVMe boot; USB boot remains unavailable, limiting deployment flexibility for some use cases.
• Graphics stack: Accelerated graphics are functional, enabling a usable desktop experience on Fedora 45 with composited rendering; this represents a significant improvement over unaccelerated framebuffer-only operation.
• Kernel workaround: Fedora 44 requires cma=256M@0M-1024M passed via arm-image-installer --args for initial boot; Fedora 45 eliminates this requirement entirely through updated kernel and firmware.
• Peripheral coverage: Wired Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB host controller, SPI, and I2C are operational; thermal management with fan control is present but basic; audio subsystem is not yet enabled.
• Hardware variants: Only Raspberry Pi 5B boards are supported; Raspberry Pi 500 keyboard-integrated unit and Compute Module 5 carrier systems are explicitly marked as work-in-progress with no timeline provided.

Why it matters

Mainline distribution support for the Raspberry Pi 5 reduces reliance on vendor-specific Raspberry Pi OS images and broadens the platform's appeal for developers and system builders who prefer Fedora's upstream-first packaging model. The growing contributor base around Raspberry Pi 5 upstreaming suggests the hardware may achieve more complete Linux support faster than previous Raspberry Pi generations, which historically lagged in mainline kernel enablement. For embedded and IoT deployments, NVMe boot capability on Fedora provides a more robust storage option than microSD alone, though the lack of USB boot and audio limits some industrial and media applications.