HFI

The Harmonic Firmware Initiative (HFI) is an effort to establish a standardized firmware experience for RISC-V systems, addressing a gap where such boards typically lack the familiar power-on interface found on x86 PCs. The initiative defines and maintains an approach that provides RISC-V boards with a recognizable power-on screen, hardware enumeration, a POST (Power-On Self-Test) display, a configuration editor referred to as Set-Up, and boot selection menus. These features are intended to deliver a user experience at startup similar to what has been standard on personal computers for decades. HFI coordinates the vision, design, and standardization of this firmware layer, specifying the interface that board makers should implement. It also maintains a reference implementation called HFI BIOS, formally named HFI RISC-V 64-bit System BIOS. This software acts as a firmware experience layer and is built as an extension of U-Boot, rather than replacing it. The evidence shows that HFI BIOS is capable of identifying the board, displaying memory information, detecting USB devices, scanning NVMe storage, and providing access to a Set-Up configuration editor via a keypress at boot. The target audience for HFI includes manufacturers and developers of RISC-V hardware who seek to provide a more complete and standardized out-of-box experience for their systems. The initiative is led by QSOE Systems, which is responsible for the development and maintenance of both the standards and the reference BIOS implementation. Delivery is via firmware that runs on the RISC-V board itself, presenting its interface on the system's own display at power-on. The evidence does not specify the pricing or licensing model for HFI or HFI BIOS. By introducing these features, HFI aims to bring the RISC-V ecosystem in line with the expectations set by decades of PC firmware, making RISC-V hardware more approachable and consistent for end users and vendors alike.