Dell G15 5520 (0c45:6d1d) - intel_ipu6 driver loads but fails to create /dev/media device

[marcusgregory]

System Details:

• Laptop: Dell G15 5520
• Webcam: Integrated, Sonix Technology Co., Ltd.
• Hardware ID: 0c45:6d1d
• OS: Zorin OS 17.1 (based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS)
• Kernel: 6.8.0-85-generic (output of uname -r)

Problem Description:
The integrated IPU6 webcam on the Dell G15 5520 is not functional on Linux. After an extensive troubleshooting process, we have determined that the intel_ipu6 kernel module loads successfully at boot, but it fails to initialize the hardware and does not create the necessary /dev/media* device node. As a result, the libcamera stack and other applications cannot detect or use the camera.

The legacy uvcvideo driver fails with a -71 (EPROTO) error, which is expected for this hardware. The core issue seems to be a silent failure within the intel_ipu6 driver itself for this specific hardware combination.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Performed a clean installation of Zorin OS 17.1 (Ubuntu 22.04 base).
2. Blacklisted the uvcvideo driver to prevent conflicts:bash
   echo "blacklist uvcvideo" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-uvcvideo.conf

3. Cloned the latest ipu6-drivers from the official GitHub repository and compiled/installed it. The module intel_ipu6.ko is present in the correct kernel module directory.
4. Configured modules to load at boot:

   echo -e "intel_ipu6\nintel_ipu6_isys" | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/ipu6.conf

5. Cloned and compiled libcamera and its test utilities (cam) from the official source, as package manager versions were unavailable or problematic.
6. Added the user to the video group (sudo usermod -a -G video $USER) and rebooted to apply permissions.

Expected Behavior:
After rebooting, the intel_ipu6 driver should initialize the camera hardware, creating a /dev/media0 device. Subsequently, running cam -l should list the "Intel MIPI Camera" as an available device.

Actual Behavior:
The intel_ipu6 driver loads but does not proceed with hardware initialization. No /dev/media* device is created, and libcamera finds no available cameras.

Crucial Diagnostic Logs:
These logs confirm the final state of the system after all troubleshooting steps.

1. Check for media device:

   $ ls -l /dev/media*
   ls: cannot access '/dev/media*': No such file or directory

   (This confirms the driver failed to create the device node.)

2. Kernel log for ipu6:

   $ sudo dmesg | grep -i ipu6
   [    5.230748] intel_ipu6: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.

   (This shows the module is loaded, but there are no further messages regarding firmware loading or device probing, indicating a silent failure.)

3. Check for sensor name:

   $ cat /sys/class/video4linux/*/name
   Intel MIPI Camera

   (This shows that a lower-level subsystem is aware of the camera's presence, but the ipu6 driver is not successfully binding to it to create a functional device.)

Based on this, it appears the current out-of-tree driver is not fully compatible with the specific sensor/firmware combination in the Dell G15 5520. Any guidance or potential patches would be greatly appreciated.