[PATCH v4 0/5] powervr: MT8173 GPU support

YoungJoon Lee getfeus at gmail.com
Wed Jul 29 02:34:46 PDT 2026


Hi Chen-Yu,

A follow-up to my previous email.

The official v1.1 firmware did fix the original "GPU device lost"
problem.

The following now works correctly:

    PVR_I_WANT_A_BROKEN_VULKAN_DRIVER=1 vulkaninfo --summary

The driver initializes successfully and detects the PowerVR Rogue
GX6250.

However, while testing actual rendering, I found another issue which
appears to be unrelated to the firmware.

Kernel:

    Linux 7.2.0-rc5-next-20260727-stb-cbm-next-pvr-v4+

Board:

    Google Elm (Acer Chromebook R13 / MT8173)

Mesa:

    mesa 26.1.5
    vulkan-powervr 26.1.5

Firmware:

    rogue_4.40.2.51_v1.fw
    FW version v1.1 (build 6976702 OS)

Kernel command line:

    powervr.exp_hw_support=1

Test command:

    PVR_I_WANT_A_BROKEN_VULKAN_DRIVER=1 glmark2-es2-drm

Renderer:

    GL_RENDERER:
    zink Vulkan 1.2
    (PowerVR Rogue GX6250)

The benchmark progresses normally:

    build (VBO off)          212 FPS
    build (VBO on)           216 FPS
    texture nearest          174 FPS
    texture linear           173 FPS
    texture mipmap           174 FPS
    shading gouraud          165 FPS
    shading blinn-phong      135 FPS
    shading phong             99 FPS

It consistently hangs at:

    shading=cel

Immediately afterwards the kernel reports:

    refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free

The first warning is:

    pvr_free_list_put()
      -> pvr_hwrt_dataset_release()
      -> pvr_hwrt_dataset_put()
      -> pvr_ioctl_destroy_hwrt_dataset()

followed by:

    refcount_warn_saturate()

Shortly afterwards another kernel Oops occurs:

    Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference

The second backtrace shows:

    pvr_gem_object_create()
      -> pvr_fw_object_create()
      -> pvr_hwrt_dataset_create()
      -> pvr_ioctl_create_hwrt_dataset()

The glmark2 process remains as:

    glmark2-es2-drm <defunct>

The system is otherwise still reachable through SSH.

I collected additional diagnostics, including:

    - complete dmesg
    - complete kernel journal
    - kernel configuration
    - PowerVR module information
    - userspace package versions
    - process/thread state
    - runtime PM state
    - running Device Tree

I can send any of these if they would help.

Also, please disregard my previous Tested-by tag for now, since this
rendering issue was discovered afterwards.

Thank you again for your help.

Best regards,

YoungJoon Lee

2026年7月29日(水) 13:38 YoungJoon Lee <getfeus at gmail.com>:
>
> Hi Chen-Yu,
>
> Thank you. Updating the firmware fixed the issue.
>
> I replaced my previous firmware blob with the official v1.1 firmware:
>
>   FW version v1.1 (build 6976702 OS)
>
>   SHA256:
>   e6bf10aaf442798fd81df9b9122e7e85900aafe77fcbec34b426af435c2b1c44
>
> After rebooting, the driver loaded the new firmware successfully:
>
>   powervr 13000000.gpu: [drm] loaded firmware
>   powervr/rogue_4.40.2.51_v1.fw
>   powervr 13000000.gpu: [drm] FW version v1.1
>   (build 6976702 OS)
>
> I then ran:
>
>   PVR_I_WANT_A_BROKEN_VULKAN_DRIVER=1 vulkaninfo --summary
>
> This now completes successfully and detects the PowerVR Rogue GX6250.
> The previous "GPU device lost" error no longer occurs.
>
> So the issue was caused by the older, non-official firmware blob I was
> using, rather than the v4 kernel series or my kernel configuration.
>
> Thank you for pointing this out, and sorry for the noise.
>
> Tested-by: YoungJoon Lee <getfeus at gmail.com>
>
> Best regards,
> YoungJoon
>
> 2026年7月29日(水) 12:32 Chen-Yu Tsai <wenst at chromium.org>:
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 8:08 AM YoungJoon Lee <getfeus at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Chen-Yu,
> > >
> > > Thank you for posting the v4 series.
> > >
> > > I tested the complete v4 series on my MT8173 Chromebook, but I am
> > > seeing a GPU device loss as soon as Mesa initializes the Vulkan device.
> > >
> > > My current setup is:
> > >
> > >   Board: Google Elm / Acer Chromebook R13 (CB5-312T)
> > >   Kernel:
> > >     linux-next next-20260727
> > >     commit: 33d6e5134c70446eddafbb3fd5ad088e848a7ad6
> > >     (next-20260727-5-g33d6e5134c70)
> > >
> > >   Kernel release: 7.2.0-rc5-next-20260727-stb-cbm-next-pvr-v4+
> > >
> > >   Mesa: 26.1.5
> > >   vulkan-powervr: 26.1.5
> > >   Firmware:
> > >     rogue_4.40.2.51_v1.fw
> > >     SHA256:
> > >     f44b7056992fb4057c987dcd7073468bec628aa56cb9815b1162f1cb7c1d73f2
> >
> > My firmware blob is different from yours:
> >
> > powervr 13000000.gpu: [drm] loaded firmware powervr/rogue_4.40.2.51_v1.fw
> > powervr 13000000.gpu: [drm] FW version v1.0 (build 6503725 OS)
> >
> > SHA256: 1456504351bd041f0bf96667403ad32460fc7b807c09858df1f083e207323e4a
> >
> > Funny thing is neither of ours match the official firmware blobs released
> > by Imagination [1].
> >
> > The latest version is "FW version v1.1 (build 6976702 OS)" with
> > SHA256: e6bf10aaf442798fd81df9b9122e7e85900aafe77fcbec34b426af435c2b1c44
> >
> > This version also works for me.
> >
> > The "initial version" is "FW version v1.0 (build 6734358 OS)" with
> > SHA256: baa227de4f297b7c0928c6535d15affd80aa9c5f528d2d5dc4b764ad050d22f2
> >
> > And this version also works.
> >
> > It seems your firmware build is even older than mine. I suggest you
> > update it and try again?
> >
> > [1] https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/imagination/linux-firmware/-/blob/powervr/powervr/rogue_4.40.2.51_v1.fw
> >
> >
> > > All five patches applied cleanly. The PowerVR driver probes, loads the
> > > firmware, and creates the DRM render node successfully.
> > >
> > > However, when I run the following from an SSH session without GDM or
> > > another graphical session running:
> > >
> > >   PVR_I_WANT_A_BROKEN_VULKAN_DRIVER=1 vulkaninfo --summary
> > >
> > > Mesa prints the expected GX6250 warnings:
> > >
> > >   Missing reset support for brn51764
> > >   Missing reset support for brn58839
> > >   Missing support for brn62269
> > >
> > > The command then hangs, and the kernel reports:
> > >
> > >   powervr 13000000.gpu: [drm] *ERROR* GPU device lost
> > >
> > > There are no additional timeout, MMU fault, firmware, clock, or runtime
> > > PM messages immediately before the device-lost message.
> > >
> > > I originally also observed the same failure when GDM started GNOME
> > > Shell, but reproducing it with vulkaninfo from a non-graphical SSH
> > > session indicates that this is not specific to Mutter or GNOME.
> > >
> > > Since your cover letter reports that vkmark and glmark2-es2-drm work
> > > with Mesa 26.1.5, I suspect that there may be a difference in the
> > > kernel configuration or another part of the test environment.
> > >
> > > Could you please share the following details from your working setup?
> > >
> > >   1. The exact Chromebook board/model used for testing
> >
> > The codename is "telesu", which is basically a hana in a different case.
> >
> > >   2. The exact kernel base commit
> >
> > I have a whole bunch of patches on top of next-20260727, but none
> > that should affect this.
> >
> > >   3. The kernel configuration, or at least the relevant DRM, PM,
> > >      generic power-domain, IOMMU, and MediaTek clock options
> >
> > All relevant options are built-in.
> >
> > >   4. Whether CONFIG_DRM_POWERVR was built-in or built as a module
> >
> > Module.
> >
> > >   5. The firmware SHA256
> >
> > See above.
> >
> > >   6. The kernel command line and bootloader used
> >
> > Chromebook's builtin bootloader.
> >
> > cmdline:
> >
> >     cros_secure root=PARTUUID=824526A4-24EE-344D-85A2-20630C42D31A
> >     console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200n8 earlycon ro text drm.debug=0x106
> >     panic=30 rootwait log_buf_len=1M no_console_suspend
> >
> > AFAICT nothing special.
> >
> > >   7. Whether `vulkaninfo --summary` also completes successfully
> > >
> > > My current relevant configuration includes:
> > >
> > > CONFIG_PM_SLEEP=y
> > > CONFIG_PM=y
> > > CONFIG_PM_GENERIC_DOMAINS=y
> > > CONFIG_MODULES=y
> > > CONFIG_DMA_SHARED_BUFFER=y
> > > CONFIG_DRM_POWERVR=m
> > > CONFIG_DRM_MEDIATEK=y
> > > CONFIG_SYNC_FILE=y
> > > CONFIG_COMMON_CLK_MT8173_MFGTOP=y
> > > CONFIG_IOMMU_SUPPORT=y
> > > CONFIG_ARM_SMMU=y
> > > CONFIG_MTK_IOMMU=y
> > >
> > > I would be happy to test additional patches or provide any further
> > > logs, kernel configuration, or debugging information if that would
> > > help.
> >
> > As mentioned above, please try updating your firmware blob. Your
> > version is even older than mine, and neither of ours is the "official"
> > release.
> >
> >
> > Thanks
> > ChenYu
> >
> >
> > > Thanks,
> > > YoungJoon Lee
> > >
> > > 2026年7月29日(水) 0:28 AngeloGioacchino Del Regno
> > > <angelogioacchino.delregno at collabora.com>:
> > > >
> > > > On 7/28/26 16:44, Chen-Yu Tsai wrote:
> > > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 10:33 PM AngeloGioacchino Del Regno
> > > > > <angelogioacchino.delregno at collabora.com> wrote:
> > > > >>
> > > > >> On 7/28/26 15:13, Chen-Yu Tsai wrote:
> > > > >>> On Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 9:10 PM Brian Masney <bmasney at redhat.com> wrote:
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> Hi Chen-Yu,
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> On Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 05:17:58PM +0800, Chen-Yu Tsai wrote:
> > > > >>>>> Hi everyone,
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> This is v4 of my MT8173 PowerVR GPU support series.
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> This time around Mesa was ready for basic testing, using both vulkanmark
> > > > >>>>> and glmark2-es2-drm (with Zink). Details below.
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> Changes since v3 (all in the clk driver patch):
> > > > >>>>> - Changed pm_runtime_put() to pm_runtime_put_sync()
> > > > >>>>> - Added missing of_node_put() in remove function
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> Changes since v2 (all in the clk driver patch):
> > > > >>>>> - Made COMMON_CLK_MT8173_MFGTOP depend on PM
> > > > >>>>>     - Needed since the driver implements PM domains using the generic PM
> > > > >>>>>       domain library, which also depends on PM
> > > > >>>>>     - Fixes build breakage (kernel test robot)
> > > > >>>>> - Fixed "RST_DELAY_CNT" name (Brian)
> > > > >>>>> - Dropped unused mfg_desc (Brian)
> > > > >>>>> - Added check of clk_prepare_enable()'s return value in
> > > > >>>>>     clk_mt8173_mfgtop_power_on() (Brian)
> > > > >>>>> - Saved error value for return in IS_ERR(data->clk_26m) branch
> > > > >>>>>     (Dan Carpenter / kernel test robot w/ smatch)
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> Changes since v1:
> > > > >>>>> - Adapted to changed DT bindings
> > > > >>>>> - Dropped driver change
> > > > >>>>> - Use same power domain for "a" and "b" GPU power domains
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> This series enables the PowerVR GPU found in the MT8173 SoC, found in
> > > > >>>>> some Chromebooks.
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> I'm making a pull for Stephen for the clk changes. Should patches 1,2,4
> > > > >>>> go through the clk tree? Patches 3,5 go through the DRM tree?
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Only patches 1 and 2 should go through the clock tree.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Patch 3, 4, 5 can all go through the soc tree if Angelo wants to pick up
> > > > >>> DT binding patches. Otherwise I can push patch 3 through drm-misc.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Not sure if I can really take the DRM bindings patch through soc.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> I will take the devicetree ones exactly right now, even though it's going to
> > > > >> give warnings.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> I trust that you'll make the binding get into linux-next before it's too late.
> > > > >
> > > > > Rob beat me to it. :D
> > > >
> > > > Love it!
> > > >
> > > > Thanks Rob :-D
> > > >
> > > > Cheers,
> > > > Angelo



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