# New Linux kernel patches enable Samsung Galaxy XR and Qualcomm Halliday SoC

> **Key takeaway:** Initial Device Tree support has been submitted to the Linux kernel to bring the Samsung Galaxy XR headset and its Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 SoC to mainline.

**Published:** 2026-11-09T10:46:20+00:00 
**Source:** Phoronix Benchmarks & Drivers 
**Category:** kernel-os 
**Canonical URL:** https://fosswire.org/news/new-linux-kernel-patches-enable-samsung-galaxy-xr-and-qualco.html 

## Summary
Developer Stanislav Aleksandrov has submitted a series of 17 patches to the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML) aimed at bringing up the Samsung Galaxy XR headset on the mainline kernel. Currently, the headset relies on downstream kernel patches via Android XR, but these new contributions aim to provide native support for the hardware.

The patches focus on the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2, codenamed "Halliday," which serves as the primary SoC for the device. While this initial release enables booting to an initramfs with a USB NCM shell, more complex subsystems like PCIe and WiFi are still pending implementation.

## Technical details of the Halliday SoC bring-up
- **Device Tree Support:** The 17 submitted patches provide the initial Device Tree definitions required for both the Qualcomm Halliday SoC and the Samsung Galaxy XR hardware.
- **Boot Progress:** The current implementation allows the headset to successfully boot into an initramfs environment.
- **Connectivity Status:** Initial support is limited to a shell accessible via USB NCM, while PCIe and WiFi drivers are not yet included in this specific patch set.
- **Development Methodology:** The developer utilized multiple Large Language Models (LLMs), including Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, to assist in drafting the kernel patches.

## Why it matters
This development is a significant step toward breaking the vendor lock-in of the Samsung Galaxy XR headset, which currently requires proprietary downstream kernels. Successful mainline integration would allow developers to run standard Linux distributions on high-end XR hardware, potentially expanding the open-source ecosystem for spatial computing and VR/AR.