Announcement: NCZ OS 26.6 (r129) — Reinhardt + Magnetar in one ISO: MNEMOS memory OS, full open-Mesa GPU stack, validated Sky1 NPU embeddings

[perlowja]

Hi Sky1-Linux folks 👋

Follow-up to #29 (NCZ 26.5 "Reinhardt") and the earlier 26.6 note: here is the consolidated NCZ OS 26.6 announcement, now at build r129. 26.6 folds Reinhardt (XFCE desktop) and Magnetar (headless server / always-on agent appliance) into a single ISO — pick the variant at the GRUB menu — targeting Cix Sky1 / CP8180.

What's new since 26.5

• One ISO, two variants — Reinhardt desktop and Magnetar server in a single image, GRUB-selectable. (26.5 shipped Magnetar as the only validated variant.)
• MNEMOS — memory operating system for agentic AI. One command, ncz install mnemos, brings it up as a quadlet service on port 5002, SQLite-backed with a persistent mnemos-data volume and on-demand image pull.
• Open Mesa is now the complete default GPU stack. We built Mesa 26.1.3 from source on the board: panvk Vulkan + rusticl OpenCL. This fixes the dead-desktop crash (stock CIX libGLX / Vulkan ICD ran a driver check, failed, and called abort(), crash-looping the display manager). A/B-validated +20.6% prefill / +12.9% decode (llama.cpp Vulkan); rusticl FP16 ~3.6 TFLOPS. rusticl OpenCL works out of the box.
• Validated Zhouyi V3 NPU embeddings — bge-small-zh-v1.5 INT8 via cix-noe-umd / libnoe, ~51 emb/s, with the .cix model committed to the repo so it survives a reinstall.
• Opt-in agents — ncz agent install (desktop icon + first-login notice) removes the first-boot crash-loop; NPU SSDT gating hardened against misfires on unidentified boards.
• ncz status NPU detection fixed — it now probes the correct /dev/aipu node and reports driver binding.
• Boot + install polish — rEFInd graphics-mode menu with icons and an "NCZ-OS 26.6" banner; wireless-regdb Wi-Fi regdomain fix; A/B kernel program (6.18 LTS default + 7.0.12 edge, side by side).

Install — wired Ethernet required. The installer is an online netinst: it debootstraps the base system and upgrades over the network. Plug in a wired cable before powering on (Realtek rtl_nic firmware ships in the installer initrd). Wi-Fi is fully supported on the installed system (NetworkManager) — only the install step needs the cable.

Honest hardware status: validated on Minisforum MS-R1 only. Radxa Orion O6 and Orange Pi 6 Plus (same Sky1 silicon, different boards) ship the drivers but are untested — testers, and ideally a board, wanted.

Download — current revision r129

• Release (ISO + sha256 + notes): https://gitlab.com/ncz-os/cix-installer/-/releases/v26.6
• ISO (3.0 GB): https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/81838641/packages/generic/ncz-iso/26.6-r129/ncz-installer-cixmini-26.6-r129.iso
• sha256: ef4ce0bc3237790ad17c92d58d3c2f1a1878f95b784e60acde0ec77188e118be
• GitHub mirror release: https://github.com/ncz-os/cix-installer/releases/tag/v26.6
• Source: https://gitlab.com/ncz-os/cix-installer

— Jason Perlow

---

公告：NCZ OS 26.6（构建 r129）

各位 Sky1-Linux 的朋友们 👋

这是 #29（NCZ 26.5 "Reinhardt"）的后续，也是 NCZ OS 26.6 的合并版公告，当前构建为 r129。26.6 将 Reinhardt（XFCE 桌面） 与 Magnetar（无头服务器 / 常驻智能体设备） 合并到单一 ISO 中——在 GRUB 菜单中选择所需版本——面向 Cix Sky1 / CP8180。

相较 26.5 的新增内容

• 一个 ISO，两种版本——Reinhardt 桌面与 Magnetar 服务器同处一个镜像，可在 GRUB 中选择。（26.5 仅有 Magnetar 为已验证版本。）
• MNEMOS——面向智能体 AI 的记忆操作系统。 一条命令 ncz install mnemos 即可将其作为 quadlet 服务部署在 5002 端口，基于 SQLite，并配有持久化的 mnemos-data 卷与按需镜像拉取。
• 开源 Mesa 现已成为完整的默认 GPU 栈。 我们在板上从源码构建了 Mesa 26.1.3：panvk Vulkan + rusticl OpenCL。这修复了桌面崩溃问题（原 CIX libGLX / Vulkan ICD 执行驱动检查失败后调用 abort()，导致显示管理器反复崩溃）。经 A/B 验证：预填充 +20.6% / 解码 +12.9%（llama.cpp Vulkan）；rusticl FP16 约 3.6 TFLOPS。rusticl OpenCL 开箱即用。
• 已验证的 Zhouyi V3 NPU 嵌入——通过 cix-noe-umd / libnoe 运行 bge-small-zh-v1.5 INT8，约 51 emb/s，并将 .cix 模型提交至仓库，重装后不会丢失。
• 智能体改为可选安装——ncz agent install（桌面图标 + 首次登录提示）消除了首次开机的崩溃循环；并加固了 NPU 的 SSDT 门控，避免在未识别的主板上误触发。
• 修复 ncz status 的 NPU 检测——现在会探测正确的 /dev/aipu 节点并报告驱动绑定情况。
• 启动与安装优化——rEFInd 图形模式菜单（含图标与 "NCZ-OS 26.6" 横幅）；修复 wireless-regdb（Wi-Fi 监管域）；A/B 内核方案（默认 6.18 LTS + 边缘 7.0.12，并行可选）。

安装——需要有线以太网。 安装器为在线 netinst：它会 debootstrap 基础系统并通过网络升级。开机前请插入有线网线（安装器 initrd 中已包含 Realtek rtl_nic 固件）。安装完成后的系统完全支持 Wi-Fi（NetworkManager）——仅安装阶段需要网线。

硬件状态实话实说： 仅在 Minisforum MS-R1 上完成验证。Radxa Orion O6 与 Orange Pi 6 Plus（相同 Sky1 芯片、不同主板）已附带驱动，但尚未测试——欢迎测试者，最好能提供一块板子。

下载——当前修订版 r129

• 发布页（ISO + sha256 + 说明）： https://gitlab.com/ncz-os/cix-installer/-/releases/v26.6
• ISO（3.0 GB）： https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/81838641/packages/generic/ncz-iso/26.6-r129/ncz-installer-cixmini-26.6-r129.iso
• sha256： ef4ce0bc3237790ad17c92d58d3c2f1a1878f95b784e60acde0ec77188e118be
• GitHub 镜像发布页： https://github.com/ncz-os/cix-installer/releases/tag/v26.6
• 源码： https://gitlab.com/ncz-os/cix-installer

— Jason Perlow

[coffnix]

yo @perlowja good work!

Would you be able to share the patches required to build kernel 7.0.12, as well as the patches needed to build Mesa 26.1.3 with the updated Sky1 patches?

If possible, could you publish them on GitHub as forks of the official repositories:

https://github.com/Sky1-Linux/linux-sky1/

and

https://github.com/Sky1-Linux/mesa-sky1

That way I can build everything here on my Orange Pi 6 Plus and provide you with feedback on the results.

[perlowja]

Hey @coffnix — thanks, glad it's useful! 🙏

Rather than a loose patch series, I've published the full source trees with all the Sky1 drivers + NCZ patches applied inline, so you can just unpack and build on your O6 (no separate git am step). Both are forks under our org:

Kernel — 7.0.12 cix-sky1

Repo: https://github.com/ncz-os/linux-sky1
Source: https://github.com/ncz-os/linux-sky1/releases/download/v26.6-src/linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz

tar xzf linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz && cd linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz
make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- olddefconfig
make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- -j$(nproc) Image modules dtbs

Includes arm64 Sky1 DTs, PCIe, display (DPU/DPTX), panthor GPU, audio DSP+HDA, Zhouyi V3 NPU (armchina), VPU, irqchip/iommu/perf, thermal/PWM/watchdog. We boot the MS-R1 via ACPI; the O6 uses its own device tree (sky1-orion-o6), so build dtbs and point your bootloader at the O6 dtb.

Mesa 26.1.3 — panvk (Vulkan) + rusticl (OpenCL)

Repo: https://github.com/ncz-os/mesa-sky1
Source: https://github.com/ncz-os/mesa-sky1/releases/download/v26.6-src/mesa-26.1.3-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz

tar xzf mesa-26.1.3-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz && cd mesa-26.1.3
meson setup build-ncz -Dprefix=/opt/mesa-26.1.3 -Dgallium-drivers=panfrost,zink \
  -Dvulkan-drivers=panfrost -Dgallium-rusticl=true -Dbuildtype=release
ninja -C build-ncz install

A couple of notes:

• These are forks of Sky1-Linux/* under ncz-os (we don't have push to Sky1-Linux directly) — happy to send the deltas upstream if the maintainers want them.
• Heads-up on 7.1: we're rebasing the Sky1 stack onto the v7.1 stable tag now, but GPU/display on 7.1 still hits a panthor core-clock binding issue (get core clock failed -ENOENT → no /dev/dri yet), so 7.0.12 is the solid track today.

Would love to hear how it builds + boots on the O6 — especially display and NPU. 🙏

[coffnix]

Hey @coffnix — thanks, glad it's useful! 🙏

Rather than a loose patch series, I've published the full source trees with all the Sky1 drivers + NCZ patches applied inline, so you can just unpack and build on your O6 (no separate git am step). Both are forks under our org:

Kernel — 7.0.12 cix-sky1

Repo: https://github.com/ncz-os/linux-sky1 Source: https://github.com/ncz-os/linux-sky1/releases/download/v26.6-src/linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz

tar xzf linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz && cd linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz
make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- olddefconfig
make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- -j$(nproc) Image modules dtbs
Includes arm64 Sky1 DTs, PCIe, display (DPU/DPTX), panthor GPU, audio DSP+HDA, Zhouyi V3 NPU (armchina), VPU, irqchip/iommu/perf, thermal/PWM/watchdog. We boot the MS-R1 via ACPI; the O6 uses its own device tree (sky1-orion-o6), so build dtbs and point your bootloader at the O6 dtb.

Mesa 26.1.3 — panvk (Vulkan) + rusticl (OpenCL)

Repo: https://github.com/ncz-os/mesa-sky1 Source: https://github.com/ncz-os/mesa-sky1/releases/download/v26.6-src/mesa-26.1.3-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz

tar xzf mesa-26.1.3-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz && cd mesa-26.1.3
meson setup build-ncz -Dprefix=/opt/mesa-26.1.3 -Dgallium-drivers=panfrost,zink
-Dvulkan-drivers=panfrost -Dgallium-rusticl=true -Dbuildtype=release
ninja -C build-ncz install
A couple of notes:

• These are forks of Sky1-Linux/* under ncz-os (we don't have push to Sky1-Linux directly) — happy to send the deltas upstream if the maintainers want them.
• Heads-up on 7.1: we're rebasing the Sky1 stack onto the v7.1 stable tag now, but GPU/display on 7.1 still hits a panthor core-clock binding issue (get core clock failed -ENOENT → no /dev/dri yet), so 7.0.12 is the solid track today.

Would love to hear how it builds + boots on the O6 — especially display and NPU. 🙏

yo @perlowja make kernelversion shows 7.0.11 instead 7.0.12. The 7.0.11 kernel boots successfully when using ACPI, but it does not report the L1, L2, or L3 cache information. When booting with the Device Tree (DTB), the kernel fails to boot completely: there is no video output, SSH never becomes available, and no kernel panic is displayed. The system simply remains on a black screen.

[perlowja]

Working on the 7.1.1 port now but I’ll get the reproducible 7.0.12 up shortly as I am reissuing the ISO. Thanks for the patience, this has been a difficult two weeks debugging issues. *Jason Perlow | Argonaut Media Communications* *Voice/Text * (954) 242-3484 | ***@***.*** | *Blog: techbroiler.net <http://techbroiler.net>Read my Tech and Food Industry articles:* https://linktr.ee/jperlow *Bluesky:* https://bsky.app/profile/jperlow.bsky.social *Need to schedule a meeting with me? *https://bit.ly/3y8P3Gp <https://calendly.com/jasonperlow>

…

On Fri, Jun 26, 2026 at 1:21 PM Raphael Bastos aka coffnix < ***@***.***> wrote: *coffnix* left a comment (Sky1-Linux/linux-sky1#32) <#32 (comment)> Hey @coffnix <https://github.com/coffnix> — thanks, glad it's useful! 🙏 Rather than a loose patch series, I've published the *full source trees with all the Sky1 drivers + NCZ patches applied inline*, so you can just unpack and build on your O6 (no separate git am step). Both are forks under our org: Kernel — 7.0.12 cix-sky1 Repo: https://github.com/ncz-os/linux-sky1 Source: https://github.com/ncz-os/linux-sky1/releases/download/v26.6-src/linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz tar xzf linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz && cd linux-7.0.12-cix-sky1-ncz make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- olddefconfig make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- -j$(nproc) Image modules dtbs Includes arm64 Sky1 DTs, PCIe, display (DPU/DPTX), panthor GPU, audio DSP+HDA, Zhouyi V3 NPU (armchina), VPU, irqchip/iommu/perf, thermal/PWM/watchdog. We boot the MS-R1 via *ACPI*; the O6 uses its own device tree (sky1-orion-o6), so build dtbs and point your bootloader at the O6 dtb. Mesa 26.1.3 — panvk (Vulkan) + rusticl (OpenCL) Repo: https://github.com/ncz-os/mesa-sky1 Source: https://github.com/ncz-os/mesa-sky1/releases/download/v26.6-src/mesa-26.1.3-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz tar xzf mesa-26.1.3-cix-sky1-ncz-src.tar.gz && cd mesa-26.1.3 meson setup build-ncz -Dprefix=/opt/mesa-26.1.3 -Dgallium-drivers=panfrost,zink -Dvulkan-drivers=panfrost -Dgallium-rusticl=true -Dbuildtype=release ninja -C build-ncz install A couple of notes: - These are forks of Sky1-Linux/* under ncz-os (we don't have push to Sky1-Linux directly) — happy to send the deltas upstream if the maintainers want them. - Heads-up on *7.1*: we're rebasing the Sky1 stack onto the v7.1 stable tag now, but GPU/display on 7.1 still hits a panthor core-clock binding issue (get core clock failed -ENOENT → no /dev/dri yet), so *7.0.12 is the solid track today*. Would love to hear how it builds + boots on the O6 — especially display and NPU. 🙏 yo @perlowja <https://github.com/perlowja> make kernelversion shows 7.0.11 instead 7.0.12. The 7.0.11 kernel boots successfully when using ACPI, but it does not report the L1, L2, or L3 cache information. When booting with the Device Tree (DTB), the kernel fails to boot completely: there is no video output, SSH never becomes available, and no kernel panic is displayed. The system simply remains on a black screen. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#32?email_source=notifications&email_token=BGW2SJAMQQPZ6QJVRX6DUH35B2WKNA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOBRGE4DANZUGY4KM4TFMFZW63VHNVSW45DJN5XKKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-4811807468>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BGW2SJBGWGW57H5XUZ7LLYD5B2WKNAVCNFSNUABGKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMYTCMJWGI2TCMBQHE5US43TOVSTWNBWHE4DENBYGIYDTILWAI> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[coffnix]

Working on the 7.1.1 port now but I’ll get the reproducible 7.0.12 up
shortly as I am reissuing the ISO. Thanks for the patience, this has been a
difficult two weeks debugging issues.

Jason Perlow | Argonaut Media Communications

Voice/Text * (954) 242-3484 | @.** |
Blog: techbroiler.net http://techbroiler.netRead my Tech and Food
Industry articles: https://linktr.ee/jperlow
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jperlow.bsky.social

*Need to schedule a meeting with me? *https://bit.ly/3y8P3Gp
https://calendly.com/jasonperlow
…

Could you please include the Orange Pi 6 Plus DTBs? Thanks!