Linux 7.3 Will Begin Checking USB-C Cables For Alt-Mode Support

Linux 7.3 introduces kernel-level checking of USB-C cable capabilities for alt-mode support, addressing a long-standing gap where the kernel didn't verify whether a cable actually supports alt-modes like DisplayPort or Thunderbolt. The new code checks for an identity header, whether a passive cable is limited to USB 2.0 speeds, and that active cables have matching plugs, preventing incorrectly advertised states or initialization failures. Contributed by Andrei Kuchynski of Google's ChromeOS team. Separately, the release adds a busy_poll option for USB4STREAM (introduced in Linux 7.2 by Intel) to reduce latency for USB4/Thunderbolt data transfers at the cost of higher CPU usage. Other changes include Device Tree bindings for the ASpeed AST2700 DWC3 controller.

Source: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.3-USB. 8 Sync News only summarizes and links out; content copyright belongs to the authors and original sources.