iPad Runs Unmodified Linux amdgpu Driver for On-Device LLM Inference via LemonSeed Studio

68AI Score

Executive Summary

LemonSeed Studio embeds the unmodified upstream Linux amdgpu and amdkfd drivers into an iPad app via a PCIDriverKit extension to control external AMD GPUs. This enables on-device LLM inference using the HSA runtime and HRX/Loom engine, bypassing Apple's native GPU support limitations.

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Contents2 sections

LemonSeed Studio

An editor and IDE for iPad with on-device LLM inference on an AMD GPU.

LemonSeed Studio is a single iPad app. It bundles:

mac_linuxgpu: the unmodified upstream Linux amdgpu + amdkfd driver, embedded in the app as a PCIDriverKit extension. It drives an AMD GPU in a Thunderbolt enclosure.
LemonSeed Engine: the inference engine, running on that GPU through its HSA runtime and HRX/Loom.
amdgpu_mtopg: live GPU telemetry.

Layout

Text

third_party/mac_linuxgpu   GPU driver (submodule)
third_party/LSE            inference engine (submodule)
third_party/amdgpu_mtopg   GPU monitor (submodule)

Getting the source

git clone --recurse-submodules <repository>

Or, in an existing clone:

git submodule update --init

mac_linuxgpu fetches its own pinned Linux sources sparsely on first build, so its nested kernel submodule does not need to be cloned recursively.