The SeaBIOS-hppa version 18 has seen significant improvements, including support for up to 256 GB RAM on 64-bit guests and enhancements to virtual CPU reset functions. Several new board models have been introduced, such as the Tenstorrent Ascalon CPU and RV64 Xiangshan Nanhu CPU. Numerous bug fixes have also been implemented, addressing issues in IOVA validity checks and timebase frequency when using KVM acceleration.
The release notes detail a variety of other enhancements across numerous architectures, including RISC-V, s390x, and x86, with improvements to device emulation, audio handling, graphics support, and networking. Key updates include the addition of virtio-mem support on s390x, faster emulation of string instructions on x86, and refinements in block device backends, improving performance and functionality.
Documentation has undergone a significant overhaul, streamlining the QEMU Machine Protocol (QMP) interface and introducing new reference indices for easier navigation. Additionally, support for developing device models in Rust is still experimental but has made progress towards feature parity with traditional QEMU binaries.
Looking ahead, QEMU 10.0 will continue to evolve, with ongoing testing and adjustments in response to user feedback and technological advancements. Users are encouraged to consult the updated documentation for detailed guidance on deprecated features and to explore the new capabilities introduced in this version. For further information, users can visit the QEMU project’s official page
QEMU 10.0 released
QEMU 10.0 has been released, introducing new features and deprecated options. The -old-param option, used for booting ancient Arm kernels, has been deprecated, and the Arm PXA2xx CPUs and iwMMXt emulation will be removed in a future release. The CPU now emulates the Secure EL2 physical and virtual timers, and new CPU architectural features have been added. The Stellaris boards now model both I2C controllers, and the 'virt' chip now has a 'highmem-mmio-size' property to allow configuring a larger PCIe MMIO region.
The new SeaBIOS-hppa version 18 includes fixes and enhancements, such as emulating up to 256 GB RAM on 64-bit guests, speeding up translation time, improving the virtual CPU reset function, and supporting space register hashing via diag registers. Machines have been added, including the Tenstorrent Ascalon CPU, RV64 Xiangshan Nanhu CPU, AIA userspace irqchip_split support, and Microblaze V generic board. Bugs have been fixed such as the validity check of IOVA, the APLIC in_clrip and clripnum write emulation, and the timebase frequency when using KVM acceleration.
