Public bug reported:
Summary
=======
On a Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 running Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, the integrated
OV01A10 MIPI webcam failed after upgrading to kernel
7.0.0-29-generic.
The immediate failure is that intel-ipu6 is loaded from the -29
initramfs before the real root filesystem is mounted, but its required
firmware intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin.zst is not present in that initramfs.
The firmware request therefore fails with -ENOENT and the intel-ipu6
PCI probe aborts.
The same running 7.0.0-29 kernel can successfully initialize the
camera after manually reprobling the PCI device once the real root
filesystem and firmware are available.
Adding ipu6ep_fw.bin.zst explicitly to the -29 initramfs also allows
the camera to initialize successfully on the next boot.
Hardware / OS
=============
Hardware:
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320
PCI device:
Intel Corporation Alder Lake Imaging Signal Processor [8086:465d]
Subsystem: Dell [1028:0af3]
Camera sensor:
OV01A10
Operating system:
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon)
Affected kernel:
7.0.0-29-generic
linux-image-7.0.0-29-generic 7.0.0-29.29
Relevant kernel packages:
linux-main-modules-ipu6-7.0.0-29-generic 7.0.0-29.29
linux-main-modules-usbio-7.0.0-29-generic 7.0.0-29.29
linux-main-modules-vision-7.0.0-29-generic 7.0.0-29.29
Firmware:
/usr/lib/firmware/intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin.zst
Firmware package:
linux-firmware-intel-graphics
Expected result
===============
intel-ipu6 should successfully initialize during boot and the physical
OV01A10 sensor should appear as a V4L2 subdevice.
For example:
/sys/class/video4linux/v4l-subdevX/name:
ov01a10 17-0036
Actual result before workaround
===============================
During early boot:
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: Direct firmware load for intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin
failed with error -2
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: error -ENOENT: Requesting signed firmware
intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin failed
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: probe with driver intel-ipu6 failed with error -2
After boot:
lspci -nnk -s 00:05.0
showed no "Kernel driver in use: intel-ipu6".
The intel_ipu6 module itself was loaded, but the PCI device was
unbound.
Only the v4l2-relay virtual camera was present and:
grep -Hi ov01a10 /sys/class/video4linux/*/name
returned no result.
Initramfs comparison
====================
The older initramfs images contain neither intel-ipu6 nor the IPU6
firmware:
7.0.0-27-generic:
nothing IPU6-related
7.0.0-28-generic:
nothing IPU6-related
The 7.0.0-29 initramfs contained the driver:
usr/lib/modules/7.0.0-29-generic/kernel/drivers/media/pci/intel/ipu-bridge.ko.zst
usr/lib/modules/7.0.0-29-generic/kernel/drivers/media/pci/intel/ipu6/intel-ipu6.ko.zst
usr/lib/modules/7.0.0-29-generic/ubuntu/dkms/ipu6/intel-ipu6-psys.ko.zst
but did NOT contain:
usr/lib/firmware/intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin.zst
Boot timing
===========
journalctl -b -o short-monotonic shows that the IPU6 probe occurs
inside the initramfs:
[1.087755] systemd[1]: Running in initrd.
[1.283047] intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: enabling device
[1.284015] intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: Direct firmware load for
intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin failed with error -2
[1.284891] intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: error -ENOENT: Requesting signed
firmware intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin failed
[1.284996] intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: probe with driver intel-ipu6 failed
with error -2
The actual root filesystem is not mounted until later:
[4.391023] EXT4-fs (nvme0n1p3): mounted filesystem ... ro
Therefore the IPU6 PCI probe occurs approximately three seconds before
the real root filesystem containing the firmware is available.
Manual reprobe test
===================
Without rebooting, after the real root filesystem was mounted, I ran:
echo 0000:00:05.0 | sudo tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers_probe
The same 7.0.0-29 kernel then successfully initialized IPU6:
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: IPU6-v3[465d] hardware version 5
intel_ipu6_psys.psys intel_ipu6.psys.40: pkg_dir entry count:8
intel_ipu6_psys.psys intel_ipu6.psys.40: psys probe minor: 0
lspci then reported:
Kernel driver in use: intel-ipu6
and the physical sensor appeared:
/sys/class/video4linux/v4l-subdev5/name:ov01a10 17-0036
All Intel IPU6 ISYS capture nodes also appeared.
This demonstrates that the 7.0.0-29 driver, installed firmware and
OV01A10 sensor can operate correctly once the firmware is available.
Firmware configuration
======================
All tested kernels support compressed firmware:
7.0.0-27-generic:
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS=y
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS_XZ=y
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS_ZSTD=y
7.0.0-28-generic:
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS=y
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS_XZ=y
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS_ZSTD=y
7.0.0-29-generic:
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS=y
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS_XZ=y
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS_ZSTD=y
Therefore this does not appear to be caused by loss of ZSTD firmware
support in kernel -29.
Workaround
==========
I added the required firmware explicitly to the dracut configuration:
/etc/dracut.conf.d/90-ipu6-firmware.conf
containing:
install_items+=" /usr/lib/firmware/intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin.zst "
I rebuilt:
/boot/initrd.img-7.0.0-29-generic
Afterward:
lsinitramfs /boot/initrd.img-7.0.0-29-generic
contains:
usr/lib/firmware/intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin.zst
On the following boot, intel-ipu6 initialized normally:
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: enabling device
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: IPU6-v3[465d] hardware version 5
There was no firmware -ENOENT error.
lspci reports:
Kernel driver in use: intel-ipu6
and the OV01A10 sensor is present:
/sys/class/video4linux/v4l-subdev5/name:ov01a10 17-0036
The webcam works after starting/restarting v4l2-relayd.
Suspected cause
===============
The evidence strongly suggests that the 7.0.0-29 initramfs includes
intel-ipu6.ko but does not automatically include the
intel/ipu/ipu6ep_fw.bin.zst firmware needed by that driver.
This causes the IPU6 driver to probe inside initrd, before the real root
filesystem is mounted, and fail with -ENOENT.
I am not certain whether the appropriate fix belongs in the Ubuntu
linux package, the driver's firmware dependency metadata, or dracut
firmware dependency handling, so I have initially reported this
against the linux package.
Additional observation:
modinfo -F firmware intel_ipu6
produces no output.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 26.04
Package: linux-image-7.0.0-29-generic 7.0.0-29.29
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 7.0.0-29.29-generic 7.0.12
Uname: Linux 7.0.0-29-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.34.1-0ubuntu0.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: atam 6335 F.... pipewire
atam 6355 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC1: atam 6355 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/seq: atam 6335 F.... pipewire
CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Mon Aug 10 10:03:40 2026
InstallationDate: Installed on 2026-07-05 (36 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 26.04 "Resolute Raccoon" - Release amd64 (20260423.1)
IwDevWlp0s20f3Link: Not connected.
MachineType: Dell Inc. XPS 9320
ProcEnviron:
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
PATH=(custom, no user)
SHELL=/bin/bash
TERM=xterm-256color
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-7.0.0-29-generic
root=UUID=e124844c-6877-4e4a-8778-fb977b6c71d1 ro quiet splash
resume=UUID=0f3e81dd-bdda-4e11-9f8b-09edcd10f924 i915.enable_psr=1
i915.enable_fbc=1 nvme_core.default_ps_max_latency_us=0
crashkernel=2G-4G:320M,4G-32G:512M,32G-64G:1024M,64G-128G:2048M,128G-:4096M
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 04/23/2026
dmi.bios.release: 2.30
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 2.30.0
dmi.board.name: 0CW9KM
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.ec.firmware.release: 1.19
dmi.modalias:
dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr2.30.0:bd04/23/2026:br2.30:efr1.19:svnDellInc.:pnXPS9320:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0CW9KM:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct10:cvr:sku0AF3:pfaXPS:
dmi.product.family: XPS
dmi.product.name: XPS 9320
dmi.product.sku: 0AF3
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.
** Affects: linux (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Attachment added: "xps9320-ipu6-kernel-29.tar.gz"
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2163145/+attachment/5990962/+files/xps9320-ipu6-kernel-29.tar.gz
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2163145
Title:
[7.0.0-29 regression] intel-ipu6 included in initramfs without
ipu6ep_fw.bin, causing IPU6 probe -ENOENT and missing OV01A10 webcam
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