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OpenBook 0.1.0-preview.3

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@Mhsbrian Mhsbrian released this 06 Nov 01:42
· 19 commits to main since this release
v0.1.0-preview.3
ca67fd6

Developer preview for the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025, GA403WR). It's a debug build signed with Android's public test keys. It passed the release tests in virtual machines: the live stick (40/40), install to disk (13/13), and update and rollback (33/33). Use a laptop with nothing on it you need.

On the G14: G14 smoke passed on ob20261105.1, using NVK, Mesa and kernel components byte-identical to preview.3. Preview.3's complete image passed the VM release suite; this hardware run used a newer launcher and translator. On the RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU through NVK: glmark2 build at 2,562 fps and Vulkan compute n-body (8,192 particles) at 351.6 fps, both native x86_64, with no driver error and the GPU back in its off state afterwards. The launcher's taskbar, All Apps, menus and Overview worked, with no crash.

  • Install: https://openbook.page/install.html
  • Check the download: SHA256SUMS is signed with OpenBook's release key (SHA256:p2CHvoYmi9AsCB98uyBn4kp/rpc7eDWDeeL9rAKi8Ec, keys/allowed_signers in this repository): ssh-keygen -Y verify -f allowed_signers -I release@openbook.page -n openbook-release -s SHA256SUMS.sig < SHA256SUMS, then sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS.
  • Source: SOURCES.md and the four openbook-0.1.0-preview.3-source-*.tar.xz files are the corresponding source of the image's GPL and LGPL parts, with the scripts that built them. openbook-0.1.0-preview.3-sources.sha256 lists their hashes.
  • NVIDIA: the image carries NVIDIA's GSP firmware 615.78.08, unmodified, under the NVIDIA Driver License Agreement in LICENSE.nvidia-driver-615.78.08.
  • Torrent: the .torrent file uses this release's direct download as its web seed, so it starts even with no other peers.

Added

  • Apps can run on the NVIDIA GPU. OpenBook NVK, a Vulkan driver built on NVIDIA's open kernel driver, ships
    in the image as the system package org.openbook.nvk. OpenGL ES apps reach it through ANGLE. OpenBook Graphics
    adds an "NVIDIA GPU for apps" switch and a GPU choice for each app. The Radeon stays the default.
  • OpenBook Launcher, OpenBook's own desktop launcher. It is a fork of AOSP Launcher3, running in its desktop form:
    • a glass taskbar with one line of state;
    • click a running app's taskbar icon to minimize it; middle-click it to open a new window;
    • Meta+1 to Meta+9 open or focus the taskbar's apps in order;
    • drag a pinned app off the taskbar to unpin it;
    • All Apps as a centred glass panel, with app names on up to two lines;
    • start typing on the desktop to search;
    • one glass menu for the desktop, the taskbar and All Apps;
    • Overview for desks;
    • one motion system for the launcher's animations.
  • New apps stay off the desktop. Installing an app no longer adds its icon to the desktop. A setting turns
    this back on.
  • OpenBook Graphics in the G14 image: the graphics-mode app (Eco and Hybrid) with its allow-list.

Changed

  • Vulkan 1.0 apps now draw on the RTX. Before, they couldn't create a swapchain on it.
  • Frames from the RTX are copied into the window with the GPU's copy engine, which speeds up light OpenGL ES
    scenes on the RTX.
  • The Eco and Hybrid switch is safer with NVIDIA's driver: the dGPU is powered off only when nothing holds it, and
    an unfinished switch is never repeated.

Known issues

  • Under heavy Vulkan stress tests, the RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU (GB205) can still hit driver errors.
  • Apps on the RTX take longer to start than apps on the Radeon, because the GPU wakes from its deepest power state
    first.
  • The images use AOSP's public test keys and report an unlocked (orange) verified-boot state.
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