Starting Guide

Welcome to Tenstorrent! This guide will walk you through setting up your Tensix Processor(s) and installing necessary software.

Table of Contents

  1. Prerequisites

  2. Unboxing and Hardware Setup

  3. Software Installation

  4. Support & FAQ

1. Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

  • A compatible host machine with minimum hardware and OS requirements as specified by each product’s minimum system requirements:

  • Network access to download software packages.

  • Administrator privileges on the host machine.

NOTE: The recommended OS for all Tenstorrent software is Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish). Each SDK may support newer distributions of Ubuntu; however, compatibility should be considered experimental at this time.

NOTE: Software support for Grayskull has been discontinued. The last supported versions of Tenstorrent’s software for Grayskull are as follows:

  • TT-Firmware: fw_pack-80.15.0.0.fwbundle

  • TT-KMD: ttkmd_1.31

  • TT-Buda: v0.19.3

  • TT-Metalium: v0.55

TT-QuietBox BIOS Requirement

The BIOS for the host motherboard is configured at the factory with the setting for PCIe AER Reporting Mechanism set to OS First. Tenstorrent’s TT-SMI software will fail if this setting is not configured properly. You should not have to change this setting when first setting up your TT-QuietBox.

If for whatever reason the BIOS needs to be updated or is reset, this setting must be configured again to ensure TT-SMI is able to function. It is located in the BIOS here:

Chipset -> AMD CBS -> NBIO Common Options -> NBIO RAS Common Options -> PCIe AER Reporting Mechanism

2. Unboxing and Hardware Setup

  1. Unpack the hardware and check all components against the provided list.

  2. Install the hardware following the hardware installation manual and safety guidelines by product:

  3. Secure the hardware in place, ensuring it is firmly seated and all connections are stable.

3. Software Installation

To interact with the Tensix Processor(s), you’ll need to install the system-level dependencies on your host machine.

Quick Installation

Tenstorrent provides a bash script, tt-installer, for fast and easy setup of our software stack. The installer supports Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian. To use it, paste the following into your terminal:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://github.com/tenstorrent/tt-installer/releases/latest/download/install.sh)"

By default, TT-Metalium is installed as a container using Podman. This containerized environment is appropriate for most users as explained here, but advanced users and developers may wish to install Metalium natively on the host system or use Docker instead of Podman. To skip installing Podman and Metalium, answer “n” when asked. After the installation is completed, proceed to TT-NN / TT-Metalium Installation for manual installation instructions.

For more information about tt-installer, please see the repository. If you would prefer to install the software stack manually, proceed to Manual Installation.

Manual Installation

Important!

This Starting Guide will reference each software utility where the latest version is available. However, each SDK will have its own compatibility matrix associated with each release. It is strongly recommended to consult each SDK’s release compatibility matrix to ensure you are installing the correct versions of the system software packages.

Step 1: Install Software Dependencies

Install git, wget, pip, and DKMS (Dynamic Kernel Module Support) by running the following command in your terminal according to your Linux distribution:

Linux Distro

Installation Command

Debian, Ubuntu

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y wget git python3-pip dkms cargo

Fedora

sudo dnf check-update && sudo dnf install -y wget git python3-pip dkms cargo

Enterprise Linux based

sudo dnf install -y epel-release && sudo dnf check-update && sudo dnf install -y wget git python3-pip dkms cargo

*NOTE: Installation on non-Ubuntu distributions should be considered experimental at this time.*

Step 2: Install the Kernel-Mode Driver (TT-KMD)

Install the driver (TT-KMD) by running these commands in the terminal:

git clone https://github.com/tenstorrent/tt-kmd.git
cd tt-kmd
sudo dkms add .
sudo dkms install tenstorrent/1.34
sudo modprobe tenstorrent

Step 3: Device Firmware Update (TT-Flash / TT-Firmware)

The TT-Firmware file needs to be installed using the TT-Flash utility.

Install TT-Flash

To install TT-Flash, run this command in the terminal:

pip install git+https://github.com/tenstorrent/tt-flash.git

*NOTE: If you are not using a Python virtual environment (venv), you may see an error externally-managed-environment when installing via pip. To resolve this, create and/or activate a venv or use a tool like pipx.*

Update Device Firmware

⚠️ NOTE: Blackhole devices require firmware version 18.3.0 or newer.

To update Tenstorrent device firmware using TT-Flash, run these commands in the terminal:

wget https://github.com/tenstorrent/tt-firmware/releases/download/v18.4.0/fw_pack-18.4.0.fwbundle
tt-flash --fw-tar fw_pack-18.4.0.fwbundle

If this process worked, reboot the system and go to the next section.

If running that command results in an error that says the firmware is too old, enter the following command:

tt-flash --fw-tar fw_pack-18.4.0.fwbundle --force

Then reboot the system.

Step 4: Set Up HugePages

HugePages lets your system allocate dedicated memory to accelerate communication with Tenstorrent devices. Set up HugePages by running these commands in the terminal:

# Install `.deb`
wget https://github.com/tenstorrent/tt-system-tools/releases/download/v1.3.1/tenstorrent-tools_1.3.1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i tenstorrent-tools_1.3.1_all.deb

# Start Services
sudo systemctl enable --now tenstorrent-hugepages.service
sudo systemctl enable --now 'dev-hugepages\x2d1G.mount'

# System Reboot
sudo reboot

*NOTE: This is a temporary solution for configuring hugepages. If the above fails, please check the latest available release from TT-System-Tools.*

Step 5: (Optional) Multi-Card Configuration (TT-Topology)

NOTE: TT-LoudBox and TT-QuietBox ship with their topology already configured. Use this application only if you have modified or are trying to modify the topology of your Wormhole-based TT-LoudBox or TT-QuietBox. If you are not doing so, skip this step. TT-Topology is provided as-is.

If you are running on a multi-card Wormhole system such as TT-LoudBox or TT-QuietBox, install the Tenstorrent Topology utility (**TT-Topology**) and configure a mesh topology by running these commands in the terminal:

pip install git+https://github.com/tenstorrent/tt-topology
tt-topology -l mesh

Step 6: Install the System Management Interface (TT-SMI)

Install the Tenstorrent Software Management Interface (TT-SMI) by entering this command in the terminal:

pip install git+https://github.com/tenstorrent/tt-smi

Step 7: Verify System Configuration and Test TT-SMI

Once your hardware and system software are installed, verify that your system has been configured properly by running the tt-smi utility.

You should see an interface like this one:

tt-smi

Within TT-SMI, you can see device information, telemetry, and firmware. If TT-SMI runs without errors, congratulations! You’re ready to use your Tenstorrent device. Take note of any host compatibility warnings.

If you are using a TT-QuietBox and have reboot issues while using TT-SMI, and you’ve recently updated/reset the BIOS, you will need to update a setting. In the BIOS, find the following setting:

​ Advanced -> AMD CBS -> NBIO Common Options -> PCIe Aer Reporting Mechanism

And change the setting to OS First.

Installation

Tenstorrent provides open source software stacks for developing on Tensix Processors:

Each SDK will have its own system dependency requirements and installation process.

First 5 Things to Do with TT-Metalium

  1. Install and Build: Install and build the project by following the instructions in the installation guide.

  2. Beginner TT-Metalium Usage | DRAM Loopback: Try creating a basic kernel example that uses the L1 and DRAM memory structures of the Tenstorrent device.

  3. Beginner TT-Metalium Usage | Eltwise Binary Kernel: Augment your loopback example with an additional kernel that will use the compute engine of the Tensix core to add values in two buffers.

  4. Beginner TT-Metalium Usage | Single-Core Matrix Multiplication Kernel: Use TT-Metalium to define your own matrix multiplication kernels. Refer to our simpler single-core example as a starting point.

  5. Advanced Metalium Usage | Multi-core Matrix Multiplication Kernel: Explore expert-level usage by building on the previous example to create a multi-core implementation.

TT-Buda (Deprecated)

Tenstorrent has discontinued development and support for the TT-Buda stack; these links are provided for reference and for developers still using Grayskull® cards.

Support & FAQ

For support, forums, and community, visit Tenstorrent’s Discord channel.

For additional support, file any issues through our Customer Success Platform or you can contact us directly at support@tenstorrent.com.