AMD openSIL Achieves Its Production Goal With 6th Gen EPYC "Venice"

Since 2023 I and many open-source advocates have been very eager for AMD's openSIL project for delivering open-source CPU silicon initialization as a replacement to the traditional AGESA code. With Zen 5 there was proof-of-concept support that we have enjoyed with Coreboot on an MSI Ryzen motherboard and a Gigabyte EPYC server motherboard thanks to the Coreboot-based Dasharo ports by 3mdeb. The goal for production readiness was for Zen 6, but with this week's EPYC 9006 SP7 announcement the openSIL topic wasn't touched on. So I asked around. With the AMD EPYC 9006 series SP7 processors now shipping, capturing the headlines has been the incredible Zen 6 server performance with the likes of the EPYC 9686F and EPYC 9996 processors. In the media briefings and slides, openSIL wasn't touched on that piqued my curiosity whether everything was still on track per their earlier goals, what was happening in terms of the CPU silicon initialization for Venice, etc. I followed up with AMD and, fortunately, all is well for openSIL. OpenSIL achieved its previously-stated production goals with 6th Gen EPYC "Venice". Wondering if the openSIL path was optional and perhaps the classic AGESA path also still supported/used, I was relayed as part of the messaging, "no Venice platform has booted anything without openSIL." It was also reaffirmed that they will be releasing the open-source code to openSIL for Venice within one quarter of the official product launch. So the openSIL Venice code should be out within roughly three months, aligning with their earlier openSIL presentations. It looks like all of their openSIL goals laid out in 2024 are all in good shape and being achieved with Venice as planned: Great to see everything aligned and a relief after the lack of any openSIL messaging around the EPYC 9006 SP7 shipping. As for any Coreboot-based EPYC 9006 servers, AMD is continuing to monitor customer support/interest. At the very least once the openSIL Venice code is out there in a quarter, it opens up the possibility like what we saw with 3mdeb's work on them independently bringing their Coreboot-based Dasharo to retail motherboards. Lastly, for those wondering, the AMD EPYC 9006 reference motherboards continue making use of OpenBMC. AMD began using OpenBMC on their reference boards with Genoa and always warms the heart seeing it used over proprietary BMC software alternatives.