tl;dr: Don’t buy hardware from Razer and expect firmware updates to fix security problems on Linux.

Razer is a vendor that makes high-end gaming hardware, including laptops, keyboards and mice. I opened a ticket with Razor a few days ago asking them if they wanted to support the LVFS project by uploading firmware and sharing the firmware update protocol used. I offered to upstream any example code they could share under a free license, or to write the code from scratch given enough specifications to do so. This is something I’ve done for other vendors, and doesn’t take long as most vendor firmware updaters all do the same kind of thing; there are only so many ways to send a few kb of data to USB devices. The fwupd project provides high-level code for accessing USB devices, so yet-another-update-protocol is no big deal. I explained all about the LVFS, and the benefits it provided to a userbase that is normally happy to vote using their wallet to get hardware that’s supported on the OS of their choice.

I just received this note on the ticket, which was escalated appropriately:

I have discussed your offer with the dedicated team and we are thankful for your enthusiasm and for your good idea. I am afraid I have also to let you know that at this moment in time our support for software is only focused on Windows and Mac.

The CEO of Razer Min-Liang Tan said recently “We’re inviting all Linux enthusiasts to weigh in at the new Linux Corner on Insider to post feedback, suggestions and ideas on how we can make it the best notebook in the world that supports Linux.” If this is true, and more than just a sound-bite, supporting the LVFS for firmware updates on the Razer Blade to solve security problems like Meltdown and Spectre ought to be a priority?

Certainly if peripheral updates or system firmware UpdateCapsule are not supportable on Linux, it would be good to correct well read articles as those makes it sound like Razor is interested in Linux users, of which the reality seems somewhat less optimistic. I’ve updated the vendor list with this information to avoid other people asking or filing tickets. Disappointing, but I’ll hopefully have some happier news soon about a different vendor.