Linux NPU Driver v1.1.0
Components revisions included in the release
- linux-npu-driver - https://github.com/intel/linux-npu-driver/tree/v1.1.0
- Firmware binary:
firmware/bin/vpu_37xx_v0.0.bin, version:20231031*MTL_CLIENT_SILICON-release*2101*ci_tag_mtl_pv2_vpu_rc_20231031_2101*cb0b783368d - NPU compiler (openvinotoolkit/npu_plugin@cb47a12) build with OpenVINO 2023.0.2
Tested components
- oneAPI Level Zero Loader - https://github.com/oneapi-src/level-zero/releases/tag/v1.10.0
- Ubuntu 22.04 with Linux kernel 6.6.0 with the
intel_vpu.komodule enabled - OpenVINO + NPU plugin 2023.2.0 release for Ubuntu22.04
Installation procedure on Ubuntu22.04
- Remove old packages
dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq intel-driver-compiler-npu intel-fw-npu intel-level-zero-npu level-zero
- Download all *.deb packages
wget https://github.com/intel/linux-npu-driver/releases/download/v1.1.0/intel-driver-compiler-npu_1.1.0.20231117-6904283384_ubuntu22.04_amd64.deb
wget https://github.com/intel/linux-npu-driver/releases/download/v1.1.0/intel-fw-npu_1.1.0.20231117-6904283384_ubuntu22.04_amd64.deb
wget https://github.com/intel/linux-npu-driver/releases/download/v1.1.0/intel-level-zero-npu_1.1.0.20231117-6904283384_ubuntu22.04_amd64.deb
wget https://github.com/oneapi-src/level-zero/releases/download/v1.10.0/level-zero_1.10.0+u22.04_amd64.deb
- Install all packages
dpkg -i *.deb
Warning
The NPU driver v1.1.0 requires to use level-zero v1.10.0 version.
To check what is installed, run:
$ dpkg -l level-zero
ii level-zero 1.10.0 amd64 oneAPI Level Zero
This issue will be solved in next driver release and any level-zero loader can be used.
After successful installation of packages, we recommend to do the machine reboot.
After that, the intel_vpu module should work properly with firmware from intel-fw-npu package.
reboot
# if everything works, we should see /dev/accel/accel0 device
ls /dev/accel/accel0
# to receive intel_vpu state, check dmesg
dmesg
User access to the device
If you are using the root user, this step can be skipped.
The new device /dev/accel/accel0 requires to set manually permission access.
The accel devices should be in the "render" group in Ubuntu:
# set the render group for accel device
sudo chown root:render /dev/accel/accel0
sudo chmod g+rw /dev/accel/accel0
# add user to the render group
sudo usermod -a -G render <user-name>
# user needs to restart the session to use the new group (log out and log in)
The above steps must be repeated each time module is reloaded or on every reboot.
To avoid manual setup of the group for accel device, the udev rules can be used:
sudo bash -c "echo 'SUBSYSTEM==\"accel\", KERNEL==\"accel*\", GROUP=\"render\", MODE=\"0660\"' > /etc/udev/rules.d/10-intel-vpu.rules"
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger --subsystem-match=accel
Warning
In case of NPU is not visible, always check the access to the device with following command:
$ ls -lah /dev/accel/accel0
crw-rw---- 1 root render 261, 0 Jan 31 15:58 /dev/accel/accel0
If render is missing, or crw-rw---- is not set, repeat the steps to set the access to the device.
Additional information
The kernel driver intel_vpu can be found here.