Serial EEPROM and NVMEM chip drivers (AT24, AT25, 93xx46, DDR4 SPD)
Small serial memory chips that boards use to store identity data, MAC addresses, calibration values, and configuration. The set covers generic I2C EEPROMs (Atmel/Microchip AT24 family and ST equivalents), SPI EEPROMs (AT25), older Microwire 93xx46 parts, and the SPD EEPROMs on every DDR4 memory module — still standard fittings on PCs, servers, and embedded boards in 2025.
recommendation
It should stay in the kernel because these drivers cover the generic serial EEPROM and NVMEM chips that are everywhere in modern hardware: I2C AT24-class parts, SPI AT25 parts, Microwire 93xx46 parts, and the EE1004 EEPROMs sitting on every DDR4 memory module. Vendors like Microchip and ST still ship these chips as in-production parts in 2025, and the core at24 driver was still receiving feature work as recently as April 2026. There is no replacement waiting in the wings.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
Upstream activity is current: in April 2026, at24 still received functional fixes/features ('Handle EEPROM with both read-only and wp-gpios').
- microchip.com
Representative AT24-class I2C EEPROM hardware is still sold new; Microchip lists 24AA025 as 'Status: In Production'.
- st.com
Representative AT24-class I2C EEPROM hardware is still sold new; ST lists M24256E-F as 'Active' and 'Product is in volume production'.
- git.kernel.org
The directory covers broad, still-relevant EEPROM/NVMEM use cases: generic I2C/SPI EEPROMs, DDR4 SPD EEPROMs, and ST RFID/NFC EEPROMs.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Real driver directory: local Kconfig/code inspection via exec_command showed multiple module_i2c_driver/module_spi_driver entries and generic EEPROM support. Active upstream maintenance is evidenced by lore_file_timeline on at24.c, which returned the cited 2026 lore URL and many 2021-2026 touches. Deployment evidence came from web search on vendor product pages (Microchip/ST), both showing in-production serial EEPROM parts that map to this driver's generic families. The git.kernel.org Kconfig URL is canonical recall, used to summarize scope. No natural replacement driver exists; these are the current upstream drivers for their EEPROM/NVMEM niches.