# openSUSE Tumbleweed ARM updates GRUB 2.16, kernel 7.3, U-Boot 2026.10 for Pi

> **Key takeaway:** openSUSE Tumbleweed ARM's November update delivers GRUB 2.16 with NVMe boot and serial console support, Linux kernel 7.3.1, U-Boot 2026.10 for Raspberry Pi, and broad firmware refreshes for Rockchip, Qualcomm, and wireless chipsets across the SBC ecosystem.

**Published:** 2026-11-11T08:00:00+00:00 
**Source:** openSUSE Announcements 
**Category:** distro-news 
**Canonical URL:** https://fosswire.org/news/opensuse-tumbleweed-arm-updates-grub-216-kernel-73-u-boot-20.html 

## Summary
The openSUSE Tumbleweed ARM port received a concentrated set of updates spanning bootloaders, kernels, firmware, and virtualization tools. GRUB 2.16 arrived with native NVMe disk support and AMBA PL011 UART serial console output for ARM boards, alongside btrfs inspection commands and ML-DSA post-quantum signature support. The Raspberry Pi 64-bit images moved to U-Boot 2026.10, incorporating quarterly fixes for USB and PCIe device enumeration that resolve boot quirks before the kernel loads.

On the kernel front, the 7.2.11 release fixed vc4 driver binner slot allocation and V3D interrupt handling for Raspberry Pi graphics stability, while 7.3.1 opened the new series with Bluetooth L2CAP channel collision prevention. A November 8 firmware refresh brought PCIe3 PHY and Mali panthor firmware to Rockchip RK3588 boards, updated Qualcomm ADSP/CDSP images for multiple platforms, and refreshed wireless drivers across MediaTek, Realtek, Qualcomm ath10k/11k/12k, Microchip, and NXP silicon. Security fixes in 7.2.11 addressed use-after-free in Samsung Exynos PMU code, NULL dereference in TI K3 UDMA, and interrupt leaks in Marvell mwifiex.

## Bootloader, kernel, and firmware changes on ARM
- **GRUB 2.16 on ARM:** Native NVMe disk support enables direct booting of Pi 5 with NVMe drives on the PCIe slot; AMBA PL011 UART support brings bootloader output to serial consoles for headless diagnostics; new btrfs-info, btrfs-list-subvols, and btrfs-get-default-subvol commands allow snapper-style layout inspection from the GRUB shell.
- **U-Boot 2026.10 for Raspberry Pi:** The bootloader now pulls from GitHub rather than the defunct denx FTP server; the update includes fixes for boot, USB, and PCIe device enumeration that occur before kernel initialization, addressing hardware quirks with NVMe hats and USB storage.
- **Linux kernel 7.2.11 graphics fixes:** The vc4 driver resolves binner slot allocation failures on idle GPUs that broke rendering resumption, and V3D interrupts are disabled across runtime suspend to prevent the GPU from waking the SoC.
- **libpisp 1.8.0 camera pipeline:** The GStreamer backend now consistently applies smart resize and crop during stream configuration, making hardware-accelerated scaling and format conversion through the PiSP backend honor requested geometry on Pi 5.
- **Kernel firmware refresh (Nov 8):** Rockchip boards gained snps-pcie3 PHY firmware for RK3588 NVMe/PCIe lanes and initial panthor firmware for Mali Architecture 14.8 GPUs; Qualcomm updates covered shikra, Rubik Pi 3, qcs615, and Snapdragon x1e80100 platforms; wireless updates spanned MediaTek MT7922/7925, Realtek rtw89 8852c/8922d, ath10k/11k/12k families, Microchip wilc1000/3000 v16.5.2, and initial NXP IW610 support.

## Why it matters
These updates tighten the boot-to-desktop pipeline for ARM SBC users who depend on rolling distributions for current hardware support, particularly as NVMe boot and PCIe device handling mature on Raspberry Pi and Rockchip platforms. The breadth of wireless firmware refreshes means fewer out-of-box connectivity failures on the diverse silicon found in ARM boards, while the kernel security fixes protect deployed Exynos, TI K3, and Marvell-based systems. For developers and system administrators maintaining ARM fleets, the GRUB serial console and btrfs inspection tools reduce recovery time on headless systems.