News from AROS commit log!

Below is a summary of work that happened during September 2026, written to be invormative for AROS users.
Summary is generated by AI and corrected by human. Omisions and mistakes are possible.

Try out all the new features, download nightly build!

http://www.aros.org/nightly1.html
https://aros.sourceforge.io/nightly1.html

Specific discussion & testing threads:

RaspberryPi: https://arosworld.org/infusions/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=2019
64-bit PC AROS: https://arosworld.org/infusions/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=2081


Mesa 3D port (terminills, Nick Andrews, Bo StĂĽle Kopperud)
Brings Mesa 26 graphics support to AROS, including 3D support for Raspberry Pi graphics,
improved software rendering, and initial Vulkan application support. More OpenGL software
and graphics workloads can run reliably across supported hardware and software renderers.

vmwaresvga.hidd (Nick Andrews)
Adds VMware virtual graphics support, including accelerated 3D rendering, allowing users of
VMware virtual machines to run graphics applications with hardware-assisted drawing.

BCM2712 SoC/display (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud, Nick Andrews, Andreas W. Just)
Adds Raspberry Pi 5 hardware support across startup, storage, networking, PCIe, and display.
Users gain working onboard Wi-Fi and USB, improved HDMI mode selection, and support for
higher-resolution displays.

controller.hidd (Nick Andrews)
Adds game-controller input support and connects controllers to the system's low-level
input facilities, so games and other applications can receive controller events.

Installer (terminills, Andreas W. Just, Andy Rexx)
Bring the Installer close to true V43 compliance. Many script verbs are newly
implemented (copyfiles/copylib, foreach, effect, reboot, trace/retrace, back,
iconinfo, rexx, querydisplay, open/show/closewbobject, media verbs, override)
and many V43-compatible behaviour is fixed: unset variables, string comparisons,
case-insensitive names, etc.

cd32mpeg.device / cd.device (Nicolas Ramz)
Improves CD32 video and audio playback, media insertion, and CD access. These changes fix
compatibility problems in games and video titles, reduce startup memory use, and make
streamed CDXL playback more dependable.

aarch64 kernel/exec (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud, Nick Andrews)
Enables multiprocessor operation on 64-bit Raspberry Pi systems, including processor
startup, inter-processor coordination, and per-core timing. Applications can make use of
multiple cores with more reliable scheduling and interrupt handling.

networking (bwfm/AROSTCP/wifi) (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud)
Adds a Wi-Fi network chooser and command-line controls, reports wireless signal quality,
and improves connection-loss handling. Users can find and select networks more easily and
get clearer status from the onboard wireless adapter.

IPMI (ipmi.hidd) (Nick Andrews)
Adds support for communicating with server management controllers and a command for viewing
device information, sensors, and event logs. Administrators can inspect hardware status and
send management commands from the system.

posixc.library (Nick Andrews, tomaszstaniak, Ashahell)
Expand the POSIX compatibility layer: openat/fdopendir/fstatat/unlinkat variants, fnmatch,
ftruncate64, posix_fadvise, meaningful sysconf answers (clock ticks, physical memory) and
a working newlocale. Terminal attribute and ioctl handling is validated and made safe,
pthread is set up properly, and the usergroup library is now released when a program exits.

graphics (Nicolas Ramz, Nick Andrews, Bo StĂĽle Kopperud)
Improves classic planar display updates, bitmap copying and redraws, and pointer rendering.
Users get smoother screen updates and better compatibility with applications that rely on
traditional Amiga-style graphics.

bluetooth (Raspberry Pi HCI transport) (Jaime Dias)
Adds Bluetooth support using the Raspberry Pi's onboard radio, allowing compatible
Bluetooth devices and applications to use the system's Bluetooth services.

ata.device (Nick Andrews, Andreas W. Just)
Makes disk and optical-drive requests more robust, particularly during packet-based device
operations and interrupted I/O. Users should see fewer stalled or mishandled drive commands.

nouveau.hidd (Nick Andrews)
Extends NVIDIA graphics support to newer Blackwell-class cards and improves drawing and
recovery behavior. Users gain hardware-rendered graphics on supported hardware, including
cards that were not previously handled by the driver.

Zune (widget toolkit) (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud, Andy Rexx)
Adds a flexible group-layout option and improves standard preference-window behavior.
Applications can arrange interface elements more naturally, while users get more consistent
controls for changing application settings.

Snoopy (system monitor) (Andy Rexx, Andreas W. Just, Nick Andrews)
Makes monitor actions safer and adds persistent, validated filter preferences with reliable
undo and clearer save-error reporting. Users can retain their chosen filters and recover
more predictably from preference changes.

intuition (Nick Andrews, Nicolas Ramz, Andy Rexx)
Make window/screen behaviour more correct and predictable: hidden windows no longer take
activation or focus on open, ShowWindow/HideWindow implement classic placement and report
errors to callers, screen creation failure cleans up correctly, and screen backfill
refreshes finish properly.

fat.handler (Nick Andrews, John Knipper)
Improves FAT volume transfers, clean shutdown handling, flushing, and metadata updates.
Users get more dependable writes and file changes, including safer behavior after failed
operations or when renaming files.

afs.handler (Nick Andrews, John Knipper, Ashahell)
Improves AFS volume creation, read-ahead, large transfers, and cache flushing, while fixing
file replacement and invalid-name handling. Users get more reliable file access and better
performance on supported volumes.

BCM2708 SoC support (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud, Jaime Dias)
Adds Raspberry Pi peripheral support for clock, DMA, and I²C operations. This enables
connected devices to work more reliably and improves access to board-level functions used
by other system features.

console.device (Andreas W. Just, Andy Rexx)
Improves console editing and terminal control sequences, including character insertion and
deletion, cursor movement, keymaps, and visual alerts. Users get more consistent terminal
behavior in windows and applications.

command-line tools (tomaszstaniak, Andy Rexx, Andreas W. Just)
Improves command execution, redirected output, file operations, and error reporting across
system utilities. Users receive more accurate failure results and storage details, and
scripts can handle command output more reliably.

m68k-amiga platform (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud, Nicolas Ramz, Nick Andrews)
Improves timer behavior, clock support, and boot-task cleanup on Amiga-compatible systems,
while reducing retained task state. Users get more dependable timing and improved use of
limited system memory.

usb2otg.hidd (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud)
Improves USB operation under load by reducing unnecessary polling and interrupt work,
handling stalled transfers more carefully, and scheduling the USB worker appropriately.
This makes connected USB devices more responsive and reliable.

Shell (CLI) (Andreas W. Just, Bo StĂĽle Kopperud, Andy Rexx)
Adds error-output redirection and improves pipes, argument handling, and command execution
when buffers or other resources run short. Users get more expressive shell commands and
clearer, more reliable failure behavior.

Darwin/Cocoa host backend (Espen Otterstad)
Improves the macOS display, mouse, and keyboard experience, including correct framebuffer
presentation on newer Macs. Users get a more complete and accurate AROS desktop when
running on macOS hosts.

pcixhci.usb (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud)
Improves USB controller discovery across PCI and platform-connected hardware, then presents
supported controllers consistently to the system. Users can access USB devices on more
machines, including Raspberry Pi platforms.

x11 host backend (Gareth Davidson, Andreas W. Just)
Keeps keyboard input balanced through key repeat and window-focus changes, and improves
UTF-8 clipboard handling. Users get more dependable typing and text exchange with other
applications on X11 desktops.

CDVDFS (cdrom FS) (Nicolas Ramz)
Reduces the memory required by CD volumes while preserving needed cached data and reusing
information when media is mounted again. Users can browse CD filesystems more efficiently,
especially on memory-constrained systems.

BoingIconBar (Andrzej Subocz, Andreas W. Just, metaneutrons)
Fixes toolbar placement, refresh, timing, and screen-change behavior, and improves its
wallpaper handling. Users get a steadier desktop toolbar that remains positioned correctly
and avoids unnecessary redraw activity.

gadget classes (Gareth Davidson, Nick Andrews, Andy Rexx)
Fixes several interface gadgets, including tape controls, color wheels, sliders, and window
decorations. Users get more dependable control feedback, correct sizing, and fewer visual
problems when interacting with application interfaces.

m68k memory-footprint reductions (Nicolas Ramz)
Reduces memory reserved for task state, graphics-related objects, and command processing.
Users of older Amiga systems have more memory available for applications and large commands
are less likely to require oversized fixed buffers.

con-handler (Andreas W. Just, Andy Rexx, Nicolas Ramz)
Improves console window creation, line editing, completion, and input handling. Users get
more useful control-key editing and completion, with fewer failures when opening or using
console windows.

exec (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud, Nick Andrews, Nicolas Ramz)
Improves task CPU-affinity controls and reset handling. Applications can place work on
selected processors, and system reset callbacks are more likely to complete safely even
when an individual handler does not cooperate.

pthread (Nick Andrews, Ashahell)
Improves the availability of POSIX thread interfaces and timed condition waits. Ported
applications can use standard thread and synchronization APIs more consistently, with
waits that respect the time limits requested by callers.

poseidon (USB stack) (Nick Andrews)
Allows the HID driver to take over supported USB input devices after startup, so keyboards
and other HID hardware can move from boot-time handling to normal USB services.

lan78xx (USB NIC) (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud)
Improves data throughput for supported USB Ethernet adapters, making network transfers
faster for users of the LAN78xx family of devices.

security.library (Nick Andrews)
Improves startup and isolates volumes that fail key checks. Users receive safer handling of
protected storage and the system can continue startup in a controlled way when a volume's
credentials cannot be trusted.

dos.library (Bo StĂĽle Kopperud, Espen Otterstad, Nicolas Ramz, John Knipper)
Improves process placement, file renaming, startup flags, and command execution behavior.
Users get more predictable process startup and file operations, with better handling of
interactive commands and restricted-memory conditions.

nvme.device (Nick Andrews, Bo StĂĽle Kopperud)
Improves NVMe drive capability reporting and handling of namespace limits and queued
requests. Users get more reliable access to drives with a wider range of controller and
namespace configurations.

icon.library (Nick Andrews)
Improves compatibility between compressed icon data and the system's memory constraints,
helping icons load without consuming unsuitable memory on m68k systems.


Minor changes:

sfs.handler (Nick Andrews, John Knipper)
hostdisk (Espen Otterstad)
identify.library (John Knipper)
VMM (virtual memory) (Andreas W. Just, Nick Andrews)

Since this my first attempted at automated user-focused summary like that, I'd like to hear your feedback if this is good.

Did it give you good enough understanding of improvement you can expect on the ISOs?
Do the descriptions make it clear enought of how you could use new functionalities?
Are some of the summaries vague or not-actionable for you? Which one and why?

I think it is good. With the many commits it becomes difficult to cope with the changes. And it is, in my view, also good for make marketing for AROS outside because it is impressive. So it would be nice if it is updated in future.

The amount of work accomplished in September is staggering. I’d like to thank all the developers for their consistent efforts to improve our favorite system.
The way the information is presented seems optimal to me.
While looking through it, I came across something I don't quite understand: "Enables multiprocessor operation on 64-bit Raspberry Pi systems, including processor startup, inter-processor coordination, and per-core timing. Applications can make use of multiple cores with more reliable scheduling and interrupt handling."
Does this mean that the aarch64 version supports multi-core processing?

SMP is not new to AROS and already supported in experimental versions. What I not understand is it multi core or multi processor? Both are different I think. It is about SMP (multicore) I think

Hmm, that would be a question to bsek, but it might be that AI got too optimistic while summarizing. I know I saw multiple commits improve multicore support in AROS from bsek but I don't know how usable it is on RPi right now.

SMP supports both multiple cores within a single chip and multiple physical processors sharing memory; on my M1, it means using the chip’s four performance cores and four efficiency cores, on the rest, you get the idea.

@deadwood about the rest, it's maybe a bit verbose but I'm not sure how hard it would be to make it shorter and based on the size of the work.

The list is already sorted by "amount of changed lines" per component, so biggest changes go first. The list is indeed long, but I'm thinking the only solution for that can be to publish it bi-weekly instead of monthly, so the size is consumable.

I like it It neatly delineates the biggest changes to the smallest with all the relivant information
It is rather long
A "This Week in AROS" or "The AROS Report" likely would make for a nice consumable size