In the first 30-45 minutes, we will provide an overview of the evolution and current status of the Arm UEFI/ACPI firmware ecosystem and the Arm SystemReady compliance program (a foundation for enabling the installation and boot of generic off-the-shelf operating systems on Arm systems). We will focus on the adoption of Arm system architecture specifications such as BSA, SBSA, and SBBR (UEFI, ACPI, SMBIOS), and examine their roles in enabling the installation and boot of generic operating systems. We will also highlight open platforms and firmware implementations available for development or reference, including support through open-source repositories from Arm and its partners.

Following the overview, we will move to a hands-on workshop session that guides participants through the process of validating Arm-based platforms for SystemReady Band compliance. Attendees will learn how to set up test environments, run open-source compliance test suites (ACS), and interpret results aligned with standards such as BSA, SBSA, and SBBR. The session will use an open platform (RPi4, Radxa Orion O6, or Arm Infrastructure FVP) and open-source firmware to demonstrate real-world scenarios, common issues, and best practices. Participants will gain practical knowledge to integrate compliance testing into their development workflows and prepare their platforms for SystemReady band compliance.

Equipment (Choose one of the following setups for hands-on activities)
1. An Arm device, a USB stick, a USB serial cable, and a laptop
- Participants can bring their own Arm device that uses ACPI/UEFI firmware to follow along with the hands-on activities led by the speaker.
- Recommended devices are SystemReady SR/ES certified devices, such as Radxa Orion O6, RPi4, and so on. For a full list, see https://www.arm.com/architecture/system-architectures/systemready-compliance-program/systemready-past-certifications.
- The laptop USB port must be unblocked, so we can write the test suite image to the USB stick.
2. A laptop that can run FVP locally or remotely
- Participants who prefer to use Infrastructure FVP (emulator) can follow the setup instructions https://developer.arm.com/documentation/102677/0500/Set-up-the-RD-N2-FVP/Set-up-the-host-machine-and-download-the-software-stack?lang=en to set up the FVP on a Linux-based system that can be accessed during the workshop.