linux-drivers/
drivers/gpu/drm/msm

Qualcomm Snapdragon Adreno GPU and display (DRM/MSM)

The graphics and display stack for Qualcomm's Snapdragon system-on-chips, driving the Adreno GPU and on-chip display and HDMI/DSI output blocks. It powers most Android phones and tablets, Chromebooks, and a growing number of Windows-on-ARM and Linux laptops, from early-2010s Snapdragons through the current Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

keep conf=0.97 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=gpu category=graphics-display
97%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because it is the upstream graphics and display driver for Qualcomm's Adreno GPUs found across virtually all modern Snapdragon-powered phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and laptops. Active feature work from Qualcomm engineers continued into 2026 (including new performance-counter interfaces), and Qualcomm is still launching new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S26, so the hardware base is growing rather than shrinking. There is no alternative upstream driver covering the same role.

repository signals

277 files
113,499 source lines
2,604 commits, 5y
+126,836 / −110,453 lines added / removed, 5y
239 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 2,604 total · active in 60/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 37 commits · +1,005 −354 2021-05: 40 commits · +4,906 −5,666 2021-06: 32 commits · +1,231 −871 2021-07: 52 commits · +1,552 −1,018 2021-08: 24 commits · +291 −208 2021-09: 39 commits · +595 −326 2021-10: 50 commits · +1,119 −3,699 2021-11: 45 commits · +533 −355 2021-12: 40 commits · +794 −540 2022-01: 30 commits · +861 −577 2022-02: 71 commits · +1,752 −1,847 2022-03: 21 commits · +1,265 −1,232 2022-04: 95 commits · +4,781 −3,024 2022-05: 38 commits · +491 −164 2022-06: 93 commits · +1,680 −1,635 2022-07: 15 commits · +211 −608 2022-08: 48 commits · +1,036 −1,239 2022-09: 24 commits · +182 −78 2022-10: 19 commits · +90 −137 2022-11: 21 commits · +361 −188 2022-12: 43 commits · +1,307 −198 2023-01: 57 commits · +1,063 −610 2023-02: 44 commits · +340 −323 2023-03: 92 commits · +3,371 −2,146 2023-04: 101 commits · +4,725 −4,088 2023-05: 54 commits · +1,267 −948 2023-06: 71 commits · +1,529 −554 2023-07: 98 commits · +4,793 −3,057 2023-08: 43 commits · +528 −762 2023-09: 31 commits · +1,208 −288 2023-10: 55 commits · +1,645 −1,164 2023-11: 23 commits · +247 −227 2023-12: 77 commits · +2,088 −1,607 2024-01: 32 commits · +9,540 −3,643 2024-02: 51 commits · +2,631 −651 2024-03: 29 commits · +321 −333 2024-04: 50 commits · +24,655 −42,118 2024-05: 23 commits · +2,158 −557 2024-06: 34 commits · +2,396 −1,739 2024-07: 14 commits · +928 −17 2024-08: 24 commits · +1,478 −142 2024-09: 41 commits · +1,448 −544 2024-10: 41 commits · +3,754 −2,217 2024-11: 13 commits · +588 −588 2024-12: 53 commits · +1,719 −680 2025-01: 13 commits · +197 −109 2025-02: 74 commits · +1,701 −1,014 2025-03: 28 commits · +197 −235 2025-04: 39 commits · +1,061 −483 2025-05: 75 commits · +2,738 −3,638 2025-06: 72 commits · +5,300 −2,216 2025-07: 41 commits · +3,904 −3,439 2025-08: 37 commits · +405 −246 2025-09: 46 commits · +1,778 −1,087 2025-10: 21 commits · +791 −77 2025-11: 45 commits · +6,082 −3,575 2025-12: 33 commits · +547 −815 2026-01: 26 commits · +1,444 −258 2026-02: 11 commits · +133 −160 2026-03: 3 commits · +37 −10 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    lore_activity on drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c shows active April 2026 upstream feature development in drm/msm, including a new PERFCNTR_CONFIG ioctl.

  2. lore.kernel.org

    The recent 'Remove obsolete perf infrastructure' patch is scoped to obsolete internal perf code within drm/msm, not a proposal to deprecate or remove the driver.

  3. qualcomm.com

    Qualcomm's October 21, 2024 announcement says Snapdragon 8 Elite includes an Adreno GPU and that many OEMs were launching devices with it, indicating broad new-device deployment.

  4. qualcomm.com

    Qualcomm's February 25, 2026 announcement says Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, with Adreno GPU, powers Samsung Galaxy S26 devices, confirming the hardware family remains current and sold new after 2025.

  5. cateee.net

    LKDDb identifies CONFIG_DRM_MSM as the MSM DRM driver for MSM/Snapdragon and shows it present through current kernel series up to 7.0-rc+HEAD.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

lore_activity tool on msm_drv.c produced the cited lore URLs and showed very recent substantive work by multiple Qualcomm/DRM contributors; the only 'remove' evidence found there was removal of obsolete sub-infrastructure, not driver retirement. web search returned the Qualcomm press-release URLs; web open inspected the 2024 Snapdragon 8 Elite page and LKDDb page, while the 2026 Qualcomm result already exposed the relevant launch details in search output. Together this indicates an actively maintained upstream driver for still-shipping Snapdragon/Adreno hardware with high current deployment volume. No separate upstream replacement driver covers the same Qualcomm DRM/KMS role.