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kernel: Run the A9 SoC and memory performance states high - #122

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henrikklee merged 1 commit into
OrchardLinux:mainfrom
brkosebay:j71t/soc-perf
Nov 12, 2026
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kernel: Run the A9 SoC and memory performance states high#122
henrikklee merged 1 commit into
OrchardLinux:mainfrom
brkosebay:j71t/soc-perf

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@brkosebay

@brkosebay brkosebay commented Nov 12, 2026

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Part 16 of 23 of the iPad 5 (J71t) series in this repository; merge after #121.

Problem

S8000/S8003 left the SoC and memory performance state at the boot default, which bounds GPU throughput by memory bandwidth.

Change

Describe the SoC performance state in the binding and DT, run the SoC and memory at the high state while active, and restore the low state for sleep.

Testing

  • Hardware: iPad 5 Wi-Fi (J71t). Hands-on testing on 2026-11-11 with an integrated build of this series, made before the final failure-path fixes, covered GPU benchmarks with the high state selected.
  • 2026-11-12: no further hardware test of this change beyond the above. The top of this series applies to the same kernel tree as the release build tested on J71t that day (20+ warm restarts without a freeze).
  • Host: the Linux test suite passes at this branch's head, and the kernel and m1n1 patch series apply on apple-16k and apple-4k. At the top of the series the applied kernel tree is identical to the one in the built release image.
  • Other boards that share these drivers or compatibles have not been tested.

Dependencies

Depends on #121.

This branch is stacked on the PRs it depends on and carries their commits; the change of this PR is its last commit, "soc: apple: pmgr-misc: Run the S8000 SoC and memory states high".

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

@brkosebay brkosebay mentioned this pull request Nov 12, 2026
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@brkosebay @henrikklee
kernel: Run the A9 SoC and memory performance states high
928ce2c 
The A9 (S8000/S8003) boots with SoC and memory in their low state,
memory at 800 of 1200 MHz, and nothing on Linux raised it. Raise it at
probe and lower it on suspend, as on the A10. On a J71t this takes CPU
read bandwidth from 8.8 to 15.1 GB/s and glmark2 scenes 13-64 % faster.

The A9 uses the same register, states and pending bit as the T8010, so
both chips now share one description in apple-pmgr-misc, with the 8 ms
wait iOS uses (the T8010 waited 1 ms; a change takes under 1 ms). The
J71b only gets the longer upper bound on that wait.

From orchard PR OrchardLinux#122 (commit 5775e3e). The binding and the device tree
node are unchanged; the driver patch is reworked to share the T8010
description instead of adding a second variant. Every A9 board gets
the node, as every A10 board does.
@henrikklee henrikklee changed the title soc: apple: pmgr-misc: Run the S8000 SoC and memory states high kernel: Run the A9 SoC and memory performance states high Nov 12, 2026
@henrikklee

henrikklee commented Nov 12, 2026

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Landing this as your commit. The binding and device tree node are unchanged; the driver patch is reworked so the A9 and the A10 share one description (same register, states and pending bit) with iOS's 8 ms wait, instead of a second variant. The branch now holds only this topic on top of main; your previous head is kept as tag contrib/brkosebay-j71t-soc-perf. Please check the memory bandwidth / glmark2 gain is still there on the next nightly.

@henrikklee
henrikklee merged commit 0592b6e into OrchardLinux:main Nov 12, 2026
3 checks passed
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge upstream main into j71t/psci
8c737f8 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/psci branch into j71t/pmu-rtc
72ca165 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in drivers/usb are renumbered to follow
main's.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/pmu-rtc branch into j71t/warm-storage
bfb58aa 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, drivers/base and drivers/usb
are renumbered to follow main's.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/warm-storage branch into j71t/warm-peripherals
86c47ee 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, drivers/base and drivers/usb
are renumbered to follow main's.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/warm-peripherals branch into j71t/warm-kernel
2de73b0 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, drivers/base,
drivers/pmdomain and drivers/usb are renumbered to follow main's.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/warm-kernel branch into j71t/reset-guard
172c287 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, drivers/base,
drivers/pmdomain and drivers/usb are renumbered to follow main's.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/reset-guard branch into j71t/suspend
934d6c5 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, devices/t8010, drivers/base,
drivers/media, drivers/pmdomain, drivers/power and drivers/usb are
renumbered to follow main's.

Main's versions apply first now, so 0011 in drivers/media keep their
change with a diff regenerated for the new context.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/suspend branch into apple-g5p-render
e040874 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, devices/s8003,
devices/t8010, drivers/base, drivers/media, drivers/pmdomain,
drivers/power and drivers/usb are renumbered to follow main's.

Main's versions apply first now, so 0011 in drivers/media keep their
change with a diff regenerated for the new context.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the apple-g5p-render branch into j71t/g5p-pipeline
a8e4e7a 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, devices/s8003,
devices/t8010, drivers/base, drivers/media, drivers/pmdomain,
drivers/power and drivers/usb are renumbered to follow main's.

Main's versions apply first now, so 0011 in drivers/media keep their
change with a diff regenerated for the new context.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/g5p-pipeline branch into j71t/g5p-suspend
7a6370c 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, devices/s8003,
devices/t8010, drivers/base, drivers/media, drivers/pmdomain,
drivers/power, drivers/soc-apple and drivers/usb are renumbered to
follow main's.

Main's versions apply first now, so 0011 in drivers/media keep their
change with a diff regenerated for the new context.
brkosebay added a commit to brkosebay/hardware that referenced this pull request Nov 13, 2026
@brkosebay
Merge the j71t/g5p-suspend branch into j71t/gpu-handover
f97a7d0 
Bring this branch onto current main. Main has since merged OrchardLinux#124, OrchardLinux#122,
OrchardLinux#118, OrchardLinux#121, OrchardLinux#110, OrchardLinux#127, OrchardLinux#101, OrchardLinux#126, OrchardLinux#108 and OrchardLinux#111, several in part or
reworked, and OrchardLinux#123 and OrchardLinux#128 were closed. Where main carries a topic,
main's version is kept; the left-out parts that warm restart and
suspend need come back in OrchardLinux#107 and OrchardLinux#117.

This branch's own patches in devices/s8000, devices/s8003,
devices/t8010, drivers/base, drivers/media, drivers/pmdomain,
drivers/power, drivers/soc-apple and drivers/usb are renumbered to
follow main's.

Main's versions apply first now, so 0011 in drivers/media keep their
change with a diff regenerated for the new context.
@brkosebay brkosebay mentioned this pull request Nov 13, 2026
Open
@brkosebay

brkosebay commented Nov 13, 2026

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Checked on an iPad 5 (J71t) on 2026-11-13 with a user install image built from main 8ea3182 plus the open 0.4 PRs (top j71t/gpu-handover), installed with orchard install from DFU, then a cold boot from DFU and a warm restart (kexec) from the desktop.

Confirmed, no regression against our r5 numbers:

Scene Cold Warm r5 / rc2
build (vbo) 413 fps 446 fps 427–432 fps
terrain 17 fps 17 fps 17 fps
refract 29 fps 30 fps 30 fps

glmark2-es2-wayland ran in the labwc G5P session on zink over PowerVR. The ~285 overall / terrain 25 reference was a different scene set and setup, so I compared against the same scenes from our earlier flights.

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2 participants

@brkosebay @henrikklee