This week in Armbian development saw a significant round of kernel updates, board support enhancements, and workflow improvements. Notable changes include refactoring of the sunxi patchset, multiple kernel bumps for Rockchip and sunxi platforms, and the introduction of parallel repository management. Several device-specific fixes were implemented, such as improved fan control and USB support for the Station M3, and initial support for the OrangePi 4A. Deprecated and problematic drivers were removed to streamline builds, while eBPF options and bootloader updates further enhance system capabilities. The team also addressed various patching, locale, and build issues, ensuring smoother operations across supported hardware.

• sunxi: refactor full patchset. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9219
• Apply rtl8723cs bluetooth only with kernels above 6.1. by @paolosabatino in armbian/build#9184
• armbian-kernel: more eBPF-oriented options for userspace tooling. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9193
• atf: once again no-warn-rwx-segment woes. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9162
• Drop USB wireless driver that doesn't want to compile. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9202
• Enable OrangePi 4A CSC Initial Support. by @juanesf in armbian/build#9185
• evict device trees from patches into bare dt. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9215
• extensions/mtkflash: mtk-flash --no-erase-mmc1 landed upstream as --preserve-boot1. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9198
• extensions/ufs: don't check sfdisk version also when BUILDING_IMAGE!=yes. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9161
• feat: implement parallel repository management workflow. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9224
• Fix broken patch due to upstream changes, drop edge kernel as its not used. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9200
• Fix locale warnings during chroot operations. by @iav in armbian/build#9160
• Fix rootfs compilation (dropping deprecated gtk2 engines), drop broken patch on meson64. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9199
• framework & kernel config - rework the optionality of kernel builtins vs modules. by @tabrisnet in armbian/build#9165
• framework - extension_hook_opt_out. by @tabrisnet in armbian/build#9178
• genio/radxa-nio-12l: OPTEE/u-boot/TF-A/FIP bootloader + EXT=mtkflash + fixes. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9159
• genio: kernel quality-of-life enhancements. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9167
• grub: remove invalid hack for hvc0. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9189
• Helios64: update uboot to v26-01. by @iav in armbian/build#9125
• host-release: allow to build on resolute. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9190
• mixtile-blade3: board: disable 'edge' kernel, as it's not ready for end-users yet. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9181
• mvebu64: re-revitalize espressobin - can build (under noble) again. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9182
• NanoPi R3S LTS: Update to u-boot-v2026.01. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9207
• opt-out of driver_rtl8723cs in some legacy kernels so they build again. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9176
• patching: introduce add-only mode for DT Makefile AutoPatcher. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9204
• PR actions scripts: fix workflow execution name. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9186
• rock-3a: unset BOOTFS_TYPE for non-vendor builds. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9068
• Rockchip bump current to 6.18 and edge to 6.19. by @paolosabatino in armbian/build#9169
• Rockchip maint: drop upstreamed patch. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9196
• rockchip/uefi-loong64 6.19: rewrite patches against 6.19-rc4. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9172
• rockchip64-6.18: Enable audio for HDMI0 on station-m3. by @kasimling in armbian/build#9170
• rockchip64: bump edge to 6.19; current 6.12 -> 6.18. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9067
• rockchip64: patch ATF 2.13 to build on gcc-14+ (ref rk3399's m0). by @rpardini in armbian/build#9208
• rtl8723cs: stop including proprietary driver for kernel 6.19 onwards. by @paolosabatino in armbian/build#9171
• station-m3: Fix fan speed and enable USB 3.0 Type-A port. by @kasimling in armbian/build#9177
• sun55iw3.conf bump u-boot to v2026.01 (final). by @juanesf in armbian/build#9197
• sunxi-6.18: rename patch that does fixups for clarity. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9213
• sunxi: Add CONFIG_TTY_OVERY_SDIO to edge kernel config. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9226
• sunxi: bump edge to 6.18.4. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9188
• sunxi: bump current and edge to latest minor. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9229
• sunxi: bump current to 6.12.64. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9195
• sunxi: cleanup old patchsets. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9212
• sunxi: move overlays from various patches into auto-patcher. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9211
• thinkpad-x13s: bump arm64-sc8280xp to steev's 6.18.y. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9173
• tools/repository/extract-repo.sh: simplify extraction by copying directly from pool. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9174
• u-boot: allow custom LOGLEVEL with UBOOT_LOGLEVEL (default to 6). by @rpardini in armbian/build#9191
• u-boot: bump u-boot to v2026.01 (final) for boards that had -rcX. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9179
• kernel-make: clang: Remove -Wno-error=unknown-warning-option from clang KCFLAGS.. by @iav in armbian/build#9183

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