Dennis HilkLinux diagnosticsDE

Intel graphics

Intel Broadwell GT2 ULT

Broadwell GT2 ULT: preserve integrated-display and optional discrete-rendering roles without inferring an OEM notebook.

Editorial source review: Share public profileOpen in the identification tool
On this page
  1. Overview & identity
  2. Driver & binding
  3. Firmware
  4. Read-only diagnostics
  5. Limitations & related issues
  6. References

Overview & identity

The checked 0x1616 header row is marked GT2 ULT within the Broadwell family macros. ULT is a source-table platform label; it does not identify an exact ultrabook, memory size or display-routing design. A pasted marketing label must not narrow that evidence further.

Curated identifiers
pci 8086:1616

A numeric match establishes a candidate family within the reviewed evidence. Marketing names, board variants, subsystem conditions and successful operation remain separate questions.

Driver & binding

i915 owns the checked binding path. In a notebook report, inspect the DRM node associated with this PCI address before connecting a userspace renderer name to Broadwell. A second GPU can render while the integrated function handles scanout, so the intended workload selection needs separate confirmation.

  • i915 — kernel driver/module candidate

Detected, bound, operational: learn the difference

Firmware

No host payload established here

No exact externally loaded image was established for this older family in the reviewed profile sources. This describes the evidence here; it does not assert that the hardware or its system firmware is firmware-free. A BIOS, video BIOS or platform initialization report remains separate evidence.

Inspect firmware packaging on your distribution

Read-only diagnostics

Run one displayed command at a time. Replace uppercase placeholders with the affected device, interface or module from your own output. Commands are never executed here. Read-only output can still contain private identifiers.

Identify this Intel graphics function

lspci -nnk -s BDF

Replace BDF with the display function address. This summary normally needs no sudo. Keep 8086:1616 and the “Kernel driver in use” observation together; the candidate module list does not establish the selected driver.

Read the active graphics implementation

readlink /sys/bus/pci/devices/BDF/driver

BDF must include the full PCI domain. The read-only driver link normally requires no sudo. Its last component identifies the active implementation; no link is a binding observation, not proof that the platform is unsupported.

Associate DRM nodes with the PCI address

ls -l /sys/bus/pci/devices/BDF/drm

This read-only directory listing normally needs no sudo. Associate any card/render names with this function rather than assuming card0 is the desired GPU. A missing directory can follow disabled hardware, unbound graphics or failed probe; a listed render node does not prove an application uses acceleration.

Separate engine, display and firmware messages

journalctl -k -b --no-pager

Read the current boot and retain the first i915 or Xe error associated with this address. A GPU hang, DMC warning and EDID rejection describe different subsystems. Journal group permissions may restrict reading; a permissions error is not a GPU result.

Limitations & related issues

An ULT table marker cannot explain a resume failure or predict battery life. No exact external firmware filenames are claimed here, and an absent DRM node alone does not distinguish a disabled GPU from failed initialization.

These guides are linked for relevant observations, not as known defects of every device in this family.

Choose a hardware diagnostic workflow · Inspect a log excerpt in Fix Lab

References

Source review records a checked implementation or document, not a reproduced hardware test. Version-specific tables do not establish a minimum kernel or guaranteed operation.