Linux NPU Support

This article will teach you how to run LLMs on your AMD XDNA 2 NPU on Linux using FastFlowLM.
Get set up and then show us what you build!

Date: March 5, 2026
Authors: Lemonade-server🍋 and FastFlowLM contributors

📢 FastFlowLM Linux Support

FastFlowLM is a lightweight LLM runtime optimized for AMD NPUs.
Today, FastFlowLM is adding support for Ubuntu, Arch, and other distros to enable fast, low-power LLMs on Ryzen™ AI PCs that run Linux.

This article will help you:

Understand Linux NPU support status and required platform versions
Install the FLM + driver stack for your distribution
Validate your setup with flm validate
Fix common firmware, driver, and memlock issues

⚙️ Hardware Requirements

Supported processors

FastFlowLM on Linux requires an AMD XDNA 2 NPU.

Ryzen AI family	Codename	Status
Max 300-series	Strix Halo	Supported
300-series	Kraken Point, Strix Point	Supported
400-series	Gorgon Point	Supported
Z2 Extreme	Handheld devices	Supported

Note: Ryzen AI 7000 / 8000 / 200-series chips have XDNA 1, which is not supported.

🧰 Software Requirements

Runtime stack

The NPU requires specific firmware, kernel version, driver, and runtime software to function.
The quickstart guide below will help you install these requirements.

Item	Requirement
NPU firmware	Version 1.1.0.0 or later
Kernel + driver	Kernel 7.0+ with `amdxdna`, or `amdxdna-dkms`
Runtime	FastFlowLM installed
Memlock limit	Must be high enough for NPU execution

🚀 Quickstart

Supported Distributions

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Ubuntu 25.10
Ubuntu 26.04
Arch Linux
Other (Generic Linux)

1. Prerequisites

amdxdna driver (included in kernel 7.0+, or via amdxdna-dkms)
NPU firmware version 1.1.0.0 or later
Python 3.8+
XRT stack from AMD

2. System Preparation

Ubuntu (24.04, 25.10)

1. Add the AMD XRT PPA (Required for NPU/XDNA)

The AMD XRT stack is a prerequisite for NPU support. Add AMD’s PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:amd-team/xrt
sudo apt update

See amd-team/xrt PPA for details.

2. Install XRT and NPU Drivers

sudo apt install libxrt-npu2 amdxdna-dkms

3. Reboot

sudo reboot

4. Install FastFlowLM

Download the latest .deb package from the Releases page:

sudo apt install ./fastflowlm*.deb

5. (NPU) Check memlock limit

Run:
```
 ulimit -l
```
If not unlimited, add to /etc/security/limits.conf: ```
- soft memlock unlimited
- hard memlock unlimited ```
Reboot system

Ubuntu 26.04, Arch, and Others

Check this https://lemonade-server.ai/flm_npu_linux.html

Building from Source

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/FastFlowLM/FastFlowLM.git
cd FastFlowLM

Build:

cd src
cmake --preset linux-default
cmake --build --preset linux-default -j$(nproc)
cmake --install --preset linux-default

4. Validating NPU Setup

To validate your NPU setup, run:

flm validate

You should see output similar to:

[Linux]  Kernel: 7.0.0-rc1-00052-g27936bfca73d
[Linux]  NPU: /dev/accel/accel0
[Linux]  NPU FW Version: 1.1.2.64
[Linux]  Memlock Limit: infinity