driversOSGPU

Nvidia-SoC Interoperability: Driver, Firmware and OS Compatibility Checklist

UUnknown

2026-02-10

10 min read

A practical, 2026 checklist for OS and driver teams integrating NVIDIA GPUs with RISC‑V hosts—firmware, DT, IOMMU, and driver steps.

Hook: Stop wasting time on last-minute incompatibilities

Integrating an NVIDIA GPU into a non-traditional host—think a RISC‑V SoC from SiFive with NVLink Fusion—raises a long list of subtle, cross-layer compatibility issues that cost engineering teams weeks of debugging. Kernel oopses, missing firmware blobs, unexpected BAR mappings, unsigned kernel modules and device-tree mismatches are common failure modes. This checklist distills what OS, driver and firmware teams must verify before first boot so you spend time validating performance, not troubleshooting integration basics.

Quick summary (inverted-pyramid)

Top-level checklist:

Hardware & PCIe/ NVLink: confirm PHY, lanes, link training and board routing.
Boot firmware: OpenSBI/U-Boot support, memory map and reserved regions.
GPU firmware blobs: vendor firmware, VBIOS and microcode availability.
Kernel & drivers: kernel config, IOMMU, PCI, module signing and cross-build toolchain.
Device tree & bindings: correct PCI host, interrupts, MSI/MSI-X and DMA ranges.
Security & signing: secure-boot implications and module signing policies.
Validation plan: smoke tests, P2P DMA tests, stress and telemetry.

Why this matters now (2026 context)

By late 2025 — and into 2026 — industry momentum shifted: Nvidia announced integration of its NVLink Fusion interconnect with RISC‑V platforms such as SiFive, driving early production and lab deployments. That shift means OS teams are no longer in purely experimental territory; customers expect validated stacks that cover firmware, kernel and driver compatibility for NVLink-attached GPUs on RISC‑V hosts. Expect increased demand for:

Vendor firmware packaging for new interconnects (NVLink Fusion firmware blobs).
Cross-architecture driver packaging (NVIDIA kernel modules for riscv64).
Standardized device-tree bindings and IOMMU group handling for P2P DMA.

Pre-integration hardware checklist

1. Board and PHY level

Verify PCIe root complex and PHY support the GPU's required link width and speed (e.g., PCIe Gen4/5) and that the board signal integrity meets vendor guidelines.
For NVLink Fusion, confirm the host-side NVLink PHY and link partner compatibility with NVIDIA's reference IP. If using SiFive NVLink IP, get vendor validation docs.
Confirm power rails and sequencing: GPUs expect specific voltage rails and power sequencing (PERST#, VDD_IO order).

2. Partitioning and topology

Document PCIe topology: root ports, switches, bridges, and NVLink bridges. Create a topology map that lists bus/device/function addresses after first enumeration.
Plan reserved memory regions (MMIO, BARs) so no firmware or reserved RAM collides with host needs.

Boot firmware and platform firmware

OpenSBI / U-Boot / GRUB

Confirm your RISC‑V firmware (OpenSBI / U-Boot) exports correct memory maps and device-tree to the kernel, including host bridge nodes for PCIe/NVLink.
Ensure U-Boot handles PCIe enumeration if you expect early device access, or that enumeration will be deferred to the kernel.

Secure boot and measured boot

If platform enforces secure boot, plan for signed kernel modules. Proprietary NVIDIA modules will need to be signed with keys trusted by the firmware (MOK or vendor keys).
Record hashes of boot components for reproducibility and incident investigation.

GPU firmware & vendor blobs

GPU operation typically depends on firmware blobs (microcode, VBIOS, etc.) loaded by the kernel driver. Missing or mismatched firmware is a leading cause of GPU initialization failures.

Obtain the exact firmware package(s) from NVIDIA for your GPU family and platform integration scenario — vendors are increasingly publishing packaging guidance; track vendor repos and advisories like those highlighted when suppliers discuss supply & packaging (vendor packaging and hardware trends).
Confirm the kernel driver can find firmware in the expected path (e.g., /lib/firmware/nvidia or vendor-specified location).
Ensure tooling and packaging pipelines (deb/rpm) will install firmware before driver load.

Kernel & OS support checklist

1. Kernel configuration

Required subsystems: CONFIG_PCI, CONFIG_PCI_MSI, CONFIG_PCI_IOV (if using SR-IOV), CONFIG_IOMMU and architecture-specific PCI host controller drivers.
Enable VFIO and VFIO_PCI if you plan to support passthrough or device isolation testing.
For RISC‑V, verify arch-specific options: ARCH_RISCV and any vendor SoC PCI host drivers.

2. Kernel versions and vendor driver ABI

NVIDIA proprietary drivers have kernel ABI sensitivity. Rather than chasing exact kernel minor versions, implement a CI gate that tests each new kernel against a pinned NVIDIA driver build.
Maintain a compatibility matrix mapping kernel versions to validated NVIDIA driver builds and firmware packages.

3. Cross-build toolchain

Prepare a reproducible cross-compile toolchain for riscv64: consistent GCC, binutils, kernel headers. Set environment variables: ARCH=riscv and CROSS_COMPILE=riscv64-unknown-linux-gnu- (adjust to your toolchain).
Build the kernel and vendor kernel modules with identical CONFIG and kernel headers to avoid version mismatches.

Driver and kernel module checklist

1. Proprietary vs open-source drivers

Decide whether to run NVIDIA's proprietary kernel module, the Nouveau driver, or a hybrid approach. For production NVLink deployments, vendor drivers are typically required.
If using proprietary drivers, prepare for module signing and ensure your DKMS or packaging pipeline can rebuild modules for new kernels.

2. Loading order and conflicts

Blacklist Nouveau to prevent conflicts: add a blacklist entry in modprobe.d and rebuild initramfs if necessary.
Set explicit load order if your environment requires driver userspace (nvidia-persistenced, nvidia-smi) to start after the kernel module is initialized.

3. Module signing and secure policies

Sign all third-party kernel modules using a platform-trusted key. Use the kernel's sign-file utility and register the public key with the firmware (or MOK for UEFI Secure Boot).
Automate signing in CI/CD and integrate signing into your build pipelines.

Device tree and PCIe configuration

RISC‑V platforms commonly use the device tree (DT) to describe hardware. Missing or incorrect DT nodes are a frequent cause of I/O and IRQ issues.

Device-tree checklist

Include a PCI host controller node with correct ranges and #address-cells/#size-cells that expose PCI BARs to the kernel.
Add NVLink-specific nodes if your platform's IP requires additional DT properties—consult the vendor DT bindings.
Provide phandles for interrupts and clocks used by the PCIe root complex.

Example: minimal PCI host DT snippet

<!-- Simplified example: adapt to your SoC and binding -->
/ {
  soc {
    pci@40000000 {
      compatible = "vendor,pci-host";
      reg = <0x40000000 0x10000000>;
      #address-cells = <3>;
      #size-cells = <2>;
      ranges = <0x02000000 0 0x00000000 0x40000000 0 0x10000000>;
      interrupt-parent = <&gic>;
    };
  };
};

(Treat the snippet as illustrative—use your vendor's device-tree bindings document.)

IOMMU, DMA and NVLink specifics

Enable and validate the platform IOMMU (SMMU-like) for device isolation and for secure peer-to-peer (P2P) DMA across NVLink.
Test DMA addresses: confirm GPU DMA can access host memory regions and vice versa. Verify DMA mapping through /proc/iomem and the kernel's IOMMU debugfs entries.
For NVLink peer-to-peer, verify IOMMU group configuration so that VFIO or the driver can set up mapping for direct transfers.

Power management, thermal and runtime PM

Ensure runtime PM doesn't suspend the PCIe root or bridges while GPU firmware is loaded; supply proper D3/D0 power handling.
Confirm thermal telemetry paths (hwmon or driver sysfs) so orchestration layers can read GPU temperature and throttling state.

Security: module signing, blob verification and secure boot

Sign kernels and third-party modules. On Secure Boot platforms, enroll the module signing key in firmware or use MOK workflows.
Validate firmware blob signatures if the vendor supplies a signed package. Check vendor guidance for integrity verification.

Testing and validation plan (actionable steps)

Follow this staged test plan before releasing to QA:

First-boot validation: Confirm PCIe enumeration: lspci -vv or cat /sys/bus/pci/devices/*/vendor on RISC‑V host. Check dmesg for PCI errors: dmesg | grep -i pci.
Driver load: verify module load and firmware load: lsmod | grep nvidia, dmesg | grep -i nvidia.
Smoke test: run nvidia-smi (or vendor utility) and confirm device state and firmware version are populated.
P2P DMA test: run a peer-to-peer memory transfer benchmark to validate NVLink coherency and address translation.
Stress test: continuous kernel quarantine tests, memory and PCIe stress for several hours, monitoring for errors and resets.
Perf validation: ensure no unexpected bottlenecks on PCIe/MMIO bandwidth; use perf counters and vendor tools.

Troubleshooting checklist (common failure modes)

No PCI device: verify PHY power and PERST#, confirm PCIe lanes, check device-tree ranges and U-Boot enumeration.
Driver fails to load: check kernel module symbols (version mismatch), ensure module signing, and scan dmesg for firmware load errors.
Firmware load failure: validate firmware file names and locations. Repackage firmware into the initramfs if driver loads early.
IOMMU faults: look for DMA mapping failures in dmesg, confirm IOMMU is enabled and has correct page-table access for the device.

Practical commands and diagnostics

Check PCI enumeration: lspci -nn (install setpci if needed).
Kernel messages: journalctl -k -b or dmesg --ctime | less.
List loaded driver modules: lsmod | egrep "nvidia|nouveau|vfio".
Inspect device sysfs: ls /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:xx:xx.x/ and check resource and iommu_group.
Verify firmware files: ls /lib/firmware/nvidia*.

Example integration workflow (step-by-step)

Start with a validated board bring-up using U-Boot/OpenSBI and a minimal kernel that enumerates PCIe devices.
Load and test the PCIe root complex and confirm BAR mappings in the device-tree and kernel. Maintain device-tree templates and versioned bindings to reduce regressions across board revisions.
Install vendor GPU firmware package and confirm presence in the filesystem.
Cross-compile the NVIDIA kernel module against your kernel build environment; sign the module and install it into the target rootfs.
Boot the target system with secure boot settings disabled initially (to simplify debugging). Verify module loads and firmware loads via dmesg.
Run smoke tests (nvidia-smi or equivalent), then enable secure boot and test signed-module flow.
Run P2P benchmarks and stress tests, collect logs and adjust DT or kernel config where issues appear.

Monitoring and release gating

Automate nightly gate runs that combine a kernel build, driver build and basic smoke tests on a hardware-in-the-loop bench.
Maintain a published compatibility matrix that lists supported kernel versions, firmware package versions and validated board revisions. This reduces in-field confusion and cut-rate returns — staffing the effort and keeping it current is part process and part hiring: see tips for structured teams and hiring in data/tooling orgs (hiring data engineers).

Future-proofing: what to watch in 2026+

Expect the following trends to affect your compatibility work:

Deeper vendor collaboration: Vendors (SiFive, NVIDIA, SoC vendors) will publish more DT bindings and firmware packages—track vendor repositories.
Driver modernization: NVIDIA and other vendors are investing in cross-architecture driver packaging to reduce ABI churn—monitor their release notes.
Tooling improvements: Expect CI tools and testbeds designed for RISC‑V + GPU stacks to become available as early production deployments rise. See work on edge and tooling for distributed build/test patterns and the CI gate concept for reproducible validation.

"Treat the integration as a cross-team, cross-layer project: firmware, board bring-up, kernel and driver must be validated together, not in isolation."

Actionable takeaways

Build and publish a compatibility matrix mapping kernel versions, driver builds and firmware package hashes.
Automate cross-compiles and module signing in CI so driver builds are reproducible for riscv64.
Use a staged validation plan (enumeration → driver load → smoke → P2P → stress) and gate releases on successful completion.
Maintain device-tree templates for each board revision and version-control them with clear binding references.
Track vendor advisories (NVIDIA, SiFive) and update your matrix when new NVLink or firmware releases ship.

Final checklist (copyable)

Hardware: PHY lanes, power rails, NVLink PHY validated
Firmware: vendor GPU firmware in rootfs and initramfs
Boot firmware: OpenSBI/U-Boot exports correct DT and memory map
Kernel: PCI, IOMMU, MSI enabled and built for riscv64
Driver: proprietary driver built, signed and packaged for riscv64
Device tree: PCI host node, interrupts, ranges correct
Security: module signing and secure-boot policy validated
Validation: lspci, dmesg, nvidia-smi, P2P DMA and stress tests pass

Call to action

If you're responsible for integrating NVIDIA GPUs on RISC‑V hosts, start by exporting this checklist into your CI and hardware validation plans. Need a customized compatibility matrix or help setting up a riscv64 CI gate for NVIDIA drivers? Contact our team at compatible.top for an audit and a templated validation suite tuned for NVLink Fusion and SiFive platforms.

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