Windows Dev Kit 2023 - cdsp/adsp PAS init fails with -22 on WDK2023 (blackrock) even with fresh firmware from WOA-Project/8280_QRD 200.0.68.0

[dainank]

adsp and cdsp both fail to boot with error -22 initializing firmware from qcom_q6v5_pas, and this persists even after replacing the firmware with a fresh, independently sourced copy, ruling out a bad/mismatched firmware file as the cause.

Device: Windows Dev Kit 2023 (Volterra / SC8280XP, device tree sc8280xp-microsoft-blackrock)
Kernel: 7.0.0-28-generic (Ubuntu Server, aarch64)

---

Steps taken

1. Initial boot with the linux-firmware-packaged qcadsp8280.mbn / qccdsp8280.mbn under qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/ fails:

remoteproc remoteproc1: Booting fw image qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/qccdsp8280.mbn, size 3571712
qcom_q6v5_pas 1b300000.remoteproc: error -22 initializing firmware qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/qccdsp8280.mbn
remoteproc remoteproc1: can't start rproc cdsp: -22
remoteproc remoteproc0: Booting fw image qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/qcadsp8280.mbn, size 14565740
qcom_q6v5_pas 3000000.remoteproc: error -22 initializing firmware qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/qcadsp8280.mbn
remoteproc remoteproc0: can't start rproc adsp: -22

2. Since no Windows install exists on this device to pull firmware from directly, sourced fresh firmware instead from WOA-Project/Qualcomm-Reference-Drivers, 8280_QRD/200.0.68.0/:

   • qcsubsys_ext_adsp8280.cab → qcadsp8280.mbn (14,606,924 bytes, md5 9053840cf631c3304ae3970ac44c5732)
   • qcsubsys_ext_cdsp8280.cab → qccdsp8280.mbn (3,571,712 bytes, md5 21ffeca53a18760e10e087f9279a7a27)

   Both differ by checksum from the previously installed files (cdsp differs despite identical size).

3. Replaced files in /lib/firmware/qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/, regenerated initramfs (update-initramfs -u) since these files are baked into the initrd on Ubuntu, confirmed via lsinitramfs that the new files were embedded, and rebooted.

4. Confirmed via kernel log that the new firmware was actually loaded this time (size matches new file, 14606924), but the result is identical:

remoteproc remoteproc1: Booting fw image qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/qccdsp8280.mbn, size 3571712
qcom_q6v5_pas 1b300000.remoteproc: error -22 initializing firmware qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/qccdsp8280.mbn
remoteproc remoteproc1: can't start rproc cdsp: -22
remoteproc remoteproc0: Booting fw image qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/qcadsp8280.mbn, size 14606924
qcom_q6v5_pas 3000000.remoteproc: error -22 initializing firmware qcom/sc8280xp/microsoft/blackrock/qcadsp8280.mbn
remoteproc remoteproc0: can't start rproc adsp: -22

---

Two independently sourced, differently signed firmware images (different md5, and in adsp's case different size) both fail identically with -22 from qcom_scm_pas_init_image(). This suggests the failure isn't about which firmware file is used, but something upstream of that, e.g. TrustZone/fuse-level rejection tied to this device's security state, or a gap in how this kernel's qcom_scm/shmbridge interface talks to TZ for PAS_INIT on this board specifically.

Has anyone gotten adsp/cdsp to actually boot (state: running) on a WDK2023 without a prior/parallel Windows install on the device? Happy to test patches or provide more diagnostics, dmesg/journalctl output, qcom_scm module state, etc.

Note

I am very new to most of this kind of work, thus silly mistakes and wrong understandings may be present. I was able to get CPU/GPU/networking all OK on this machine. It is purely NPU that I cannot get working.

[jglathe]

Hi,

I guess the real issue here is "wrong firmware", you need the ones from the Windows installation.

7.0.0-28 is from canonical. And yes, I've seen them not loading firmwares on one wdk here, too. I re-installed that one with the 26.04 image a while back, and resolved this by loading the firmwares with slbounce and qebspil, not really bothering to investigate. That box is running on EL2 and can do kvm stuff.
As it is, my desk machine (volterra) loads all the firmwares as intended, but it is running my kernel build.

The firmwares live in this path:

Only the blackrock path is of interest. Ignore the ".disabled", that's special fuckery for this install (wouldn't do anymore, only needed when booting from type-c).

You can find pre-built packages on the Google Drive.

If you drop me a PN on Matrix or direct email, I may be able to help you further. Contact is in my profile.

[jglathe]

Trying to get the NPU working on the WDK may be a challenge, but there are people who try/do this. I'm not. But to get directions it may be useful to take a look at https://oftc.irclog.whitequark.org/aarch64-laptops . I'm also active there (via Matrix bridge).