Blog Posts

Fastfetch: The Speedy Successor Neofetch Replacement Your Ubuntu Terminal Needs

Fastfetch: The Speedy Successor Neofetch Replacement Your Ubuntu Terminal Needs

If you love customizing your Linux terminal and getting a quick, visually appealing overview of your system specs, you might have used neofetch in the past. However, neofetch is now deprecated and no longer actively maintained. A fantastic, actively maintained alternative is Fastfetch – known for its speed, extensive customization options, and feature set.

While you might be able to install Fastfetch on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish) using the standard sudo apt install fastfetch, the version available in the default Ubuntu repositories is often outdated. To get the latest features, bug fixes, and performance improvements, you’ll want to use a different method.

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How I Created a Custom ChatGPT Trained on the CXL Specification Documents

How I Created a Custom ChatGPT Trained on the CXL Specification Documents

If you’re working with Compute Express Link (CXL) and wish you had an AI assistant trained on all the different versions of the specification—1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1… you’re in luck.

Whether you’re a CXL device vendor, a firmware engineer, a Linux Kernel developer, a memory subsystem architect, a hardware validation engineer, or even an application developer working on CXL tools and utilities, chances are you’ve had to reference the CXL spec at some point. And if you have, you already know: these documents are dense, extremely technical, and constantly evolving.

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I Turned Myself Into an Action Figure

I Turned Myself Into an Action Figure

Part of being in tech, especially in emerging memory technology, is constantly switching between the serious and the surreal. One day you’re in kernel debug mode, the next you’re explaining complex system architectures on a whiteboard, and then suddenly you’re jumping on the latest craze such as making yourself into an action figure.

It’s fun. It’s human. And honestly? It’s a reminder not to take yourself too seriously. (Even if your job title suggests differently)

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Linux Kernel 6.14 is Released: This is What's New for Compute Express Link (CXL)

Linux Kernel 6.14 is Released: This is What's New for Compute Express Link (CXL)

The Linux Kernel 6.14 release brings several improvements and additions related to Compute Express Link (CXL) technology.

Here is the detailed list of all commits merged into the 6.14 Kernel for CXL and DAX. This list was generated by the Linux Kernel CXL Feature Tracker .

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Building NDCTL Utilities from Source: A Comprehensive Guide

Building NDCTL Utilities from Source: A Comprehensive Guide

Building NDCTL with Meson on Ubuntu 24.04

The NDCTL package includes the cxl, daxctl, and ndctl utilities. It uses the Meson build system for streamlined compilation. This guide reflects the modern build process for managing NVDIMMs, CXL, and PMEM on Ubuntu 24.04.

If you do not install a more recent Kernel than the one provided by the distro, then it is not recommended to compile these utilities from source code. If you have installed a mainline Kernel, then you will likely require a newer version of these utilities that are compatible with your Kernel. See the NDCTL Releases as the Kernel support information is provided there.

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Linux Kernel 6.13 is Released: This is What's New for Compute Express Link (CXL)

Linux Kernel 6.13 is Released: This is What's New for Compute Express Link (CXL)

The Linux Kernel 6.13 release brings several improvements and additions related to Compute Express Link (CXL) technology.

Here is the detailed list of all commits merged into the 6.13 Kernel for CXL and DAX. This list was generated by the Linux Kernel CXL Feature Tracker .

CXL related changes from Kernel v6.12 to v6.13:

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Understanding STREAM: Benchmarking Memory Bandwidth for DRAM and CXL

Understanding STREAM: Benchmarking Memory Bandwidth for DRAM and CXL

In today’s Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and high-performance computing (HPC) landscape, memory bandwidth is a critical factor in determining overall system performance. As workloads grow increasingly data-intensive, traditional DRAM-only setups are often insufficient, prompting the rise of new memory expansion technologies like Compute Express Link (CXL). To evaluate memory bandwidth across DRAM and CXL devices, we use a modified industry-standard tool called STREAM.

In this blog, we’ll explore what STREAM is, how it works, why it’s commonly used for benchmarking memory bandwidth, and how a modified version of STREAM can be used to measure performance in heterogeneous memory environments, including DRAM and CXL.

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A Step-by-Step Guide on Using Cloud Images with QEMU 9 on Ubuntu 24.04

A Step-by-Step Guide on Using Cloud Images with QEMU 9 on Ubuntu 24.04

Introduction

Cloud images are pre-configured, optimized templates of operating systems designed specifically for cloud and virtualized environments. Cloud images are essentially vanilla operating system installations, such as Ubuntu, with the addition of the cloud-init package. This package enables run-time configuration of the OS through user data, such as text files on an ISO filesystem or cloud provider metadata. Using cloud images significantly reduces the time and effort required to set up a new virtual machine. Unlike ISO images, which require a full installation process, cloud images boot up immediately with the OS pre-installed

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