Skip to content

testing_guide.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
121 lines (82 loc) · 3.53 KB

testing_guide.md

File metadata and controls

121 lines (82 loc) · 3.53 KB
Raw

Testing Your Brainchip AKD1000 M.2 Setup

1. Validate Driver & PCIe Connection (check_hardware.sh)

./scripts/check_hardware.sh

What this checks:

# Check Tool Expected Result
1 PCIe bus lspci Co-processor: Device 1e7c:bca1 (rev 01)
2 Kernel module loaded lsmod akida_pcie module present
3 Device node exists /dev/akida* /dev/akida0 visible
4 MetaTF hardware enumeration akida devices PCIe/NSoC_v2 listed
5 BAR0 MMIO integrity mmap read Value ≠ 0xFFFFFFFF

Check 4 (akida devices) is the official Brainchip confirmation. Check 5 (BAR0 MMIO) is the deeper hardware integrity test — if BAR0 returns all-FFs, the card's internal bus is non-functional regardless of whether the driver loaded cleanly.

2. Validate MetaTF Python Stack (test_akida.py)

python3 tests/test_akida.py

What this checks:

  • akida imports correctly
  • akida.devices() returns a hardware device, not software emulation

3. Run Object Detection (test_object_detection.py)

python3 tests/test_object_detection.py

Loads the pre-trained YOLOv2 model (PASCAL-VOC, 20 classes), converts it to Akida format, runs inference, and saves an annotated output image.

# With a custom image
python3 tests/test_object_detection.py --image photo.jpg

# FPS benchmark
python3 tests/test_object_detection.py --benchmark 100

Troubleshooting

lspci gives no results (Check 1 fails)

The Akida card is not visible on the PCIe bus.

  1. Power the machine fully off (not just restart).
  2. Reseat the AKD1000 M.2 card firmly into its slot via the M.2 HAT+.
  3. Power back on. Re-run ./scripts/check_hardware.sh.

akida_pcie kernel module not loaded (Check 2 fails)

sudo modprobe akida_pcie

If that fails, reinstall the driver:

./scripts/install_drivers.sh

Note: After any kernel update (apt upgrade), you must re-run install_drivers.sh. The driver must be rebuilt for each new kernel version.

/dev/akida* not found (Check 3 fails)

The driver loaded but did not attach cleanly. Use the safe reset utility:

./scripts/resetpcie.sh

akida devices shows no PCIe device (Check 4 fails)

Two possible causes:

  • MetaTF version too old (must be ≥ 2.2.0, recommended 2.19.1): 
    pip install akida==2.19.1
  • Permissions issue — /dev/akida0 not accessible to your user. Test with sudo: 
    sudo akida devices
    If root works but your user doesn't, reload udev rules: 
    sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

BAR0 MMIO returns 0xFFFFFFFF (Check 5 fails)

The card's internal application core is not responding, even though the PCIe link and driver probe both succeed.

Symptom: check_hardware.sh passes checks 1–4, but MetaTF gives Connection timed out or No devices detected.

Deep diagnostics:

sudo ./scripts/diagnose_pcie.sh

If diagnostics confirm the card is non-responsive, test it in an x86 PC with a standard M.2 slot to determine if the card itself is faulty (RMA) or if the issue is Pi-specific (HAT+ slot power or device tree).

RuntimeError: unexpected transfer len: 1 expected: 4

Transient PCIe communication error. Run the reset utility:

./scripts/resetpcie.sh

System stuck / applications not responding

Reboot fully. If a low-level PCIe operation fails, ghost errors can persist. Always unplug power and wait ~60 seconds before rebooting.