Realtek DHC RTD13xx/RTD16xx SoC pin controllers
Pin multiplexing and configuration support for Realtek's Digital Home Center system-on-chip family (RTD1315E, RTD1319D, RTD1619B and relatives) used in 4K media players, set-top boxes, and Android TV devices. These SoCs power consumer streaming hardware such as Zidoo's Z9X line, which is still sold and updated in 2025.
recommendation
It should stay in the kernel because it is a relatively new addition (merged in September 2023) that is still receiving active upstream maintenance, including a regmap fix landing as recently as October 2025. While the install base is modest and concentrated in niche media-player products, vendors like Zidoo continue to ship and support RTD1619B-based devices in 2025, so the driver remains relevant to current hardware.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
The driver was added upstream in September 2023 as a common pinctrl driver for Realtek DHC RTD SoCs, indicating this is a recently introduced platform driver rather than legacy carryover.
- lore.kernel.org
The directory continued receiving upstream maintenance in 2024, including code-quality fixes to the common Realtek pinctrl driver.
- git.kernel.org
A substantive fix landed on 2025-10-23 to select REGMAP_MMIO for the RTD pinctrl driver, showing active upkeep very recently.
- zidoo.tv
A current retail media-player product page advertises a Realtek RTD1619BPD-based device, showing this SoC family is still present in new hardware sales.
- zidoo.tv
Vendor support pages list firmware/app releases dated 2025-04-18 for RTD1619BPD and RTD1619DR player lines, evidence of ongoing deployed-device support in 2025.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Directory inspection via shell showed real platform-driver code and Kconfig entries for RTD1315E/RTD1319D/RTD1619B. Upstream activity was established from shell `git log` on the directory; lore URLs were taken from commit Link tags, and the 2025 git.kernel.org commit URL was formed from the shell-retrieved commit id using canonical kernel.org commit URL structure. A shell grep of local git history for remove/deprecat on this path returned no hits, so there is no visible removal momentum. Web search provided Zidoo product/support pages showing RTD1619B-family boxes still sold and updated in 2025. Conclusion: niche consumer/STB deployments remain, but upstream maintenance is active, so this should be kept rather than deprecated.