LoongArch

I recently saw the news that LoongArch64 is becoming
officially supported in Debian. For those of us who have been
around the free software block a few times, the name
"Loongson" brings back memories of the Lemote Yeeloong - that
small, underpowered netbook that RMS used for years because
it was the only laptop that could run with a 100% free
BIOS.

Naturally, this got me wondering: Does the new Loongson
3A6000 hardware represent a return to that? I dug into the
technical details of the Morefine M700S Mini PC and the
XC-LS3A6M motherboard to learn more.

On the surface, things look promising. Loongson has moved
to what they call the "New World" ecosystem, pushing code
upstream. That's a good step. But when you look at the
firmware and hardware initialization - the places where user
control goes to die on modern Intel and AMD systems - the
story is disappointing.

The 3A6000 systems use UEFI based on TianoCore EDK2. EDK2
is free software, which sounds great until you realize it's
just a wrapper. Deep inside lies a binary blob provided by
Loongson that initializes the memory controller (DDR4
training), the PCIe bus, and the HyperTransport link.

Without this non-free blob, the machine doesn't boot. It's
the same "FSP" (Firmware Support Package) problem we have
with modern Intel chips. You can have all the free UEFI code
you want, but if the hardware doesn't turn on without a black
box of proprietary junk, you're not really in control of the
software.

It gets worse when you try actually to use the computer.
The integrated GPU in the 7A2000 bridge chip isn't documented
well enough to write a free driver for it. The kernel driver
relies on a firmware blob. In terms of WiFi, the Morefine
M700S comes with a Realtek chipset that requires proprietary
junk to do anything. The one nice thing is that it can be
swapped out for something else.

Then there's the "Security" Element. Just like Intel has
the Management Engine (ME) and AMD has the Platform Security
Processor (PSP), Loongson has added a "Security Element"
(SE). It runs proprietary firmware to manage encryption and
Secure Boot. While it might not have an active network stack
like Intel AMT, it's still a computer inside your computer
that you can't control.

There's a distinction often lost in these discussions: the
difference between national sovereignty and user freedom.
Loongson gives China "technological sovereignty" as they call
it - independence from US export controls. That's a strategic
win for them. But for you and me - the users sitting at the
keyboard - it trades one master for another. We aren't
looking for a "sovereign" computer; we're looking for a
computer that only runs free software. A computer that obeys
us, not someone else.

It's sad to see Loongson, a company that once powered the
flagship laptop of the free software movement, go down the
same path as Intel and AMD. The 3A6000 is a modern,
high-performance chip, but if you're looking for a system
that respects your freedom, these aren't the ones. It's more
of the same proprietary restrictions, just with a different
instruction set.

Copyright © 2025 Jason Self. Unless otherwise noted
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