IPU6 on Linux: Frustrating Experience, Lack of Usable Drivers

Hi team,

I'm writing this issue out of deep frustration.

I've spent countless hours trying to get my IPU6-based camera to work properly on Linux. I’ve followed every guide, tried multiple distros (Fedora, Ubuntu, etc.), installed the IPU6 drivers from this repository and others, and even compiled kernels manually — all in vain.

The camera is either not detected at all or fails to initialize.

There's barely any meaningful feedback in the logs.

Many people across forums and GitHub issues seem to face the exact same situation.

Documentation is outdated or incomplete.

The few success cases rely on very specific kernel and distro combinations, which are unrealistic for regular users.

This has been a maddening experience — so maddening, in fact, that I'm literally switching laptops just to get away from this nightmare. That’s how desperate it’s gotten.

Why is Intel still shipping hardware that isn't properly supported in upstream Linux?

I truly want to help improve this situation, but we need:

Clear documentation on supported distros and kernel versions.

A realistic timeline for mainline support.

At the very least, an installer script or DKMS module that makes this process manageable.

Please consider making this driver usable for real-world Linux users.

Thanks for reading. I hope this can move the needle forward — even a little.