diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b0977df2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Shell scripts must use LF line endings; CRLF breaks the shebang
+# (e.g. `/usr/bin/env: 'bash\r'`) when COPYed into and executed in containers.
+*.sh text eol=lf
diff --git a/packages/npu/xdna/Dockerfile b/packages/npu/xdna/Dockerfile
index afbe2b45..229cc1c6 100644
--- a/packages/npu/xdna/Dockerfile
+++ b/packages/npu/xdna/Dockerfile
@@ -31,8 +31,10 @@ RUN cd /ryzers/xdna-driver/tools && \
 RUN cd /ryzers/xdna-driver/xrt/build/ && \
     ./build.sh -npu -opt -noctest
 
-# Build XDNA driver (-release also generates the .deb package)
+# Build XDNA driver (-release also generates the .deb); stub download_npufws so
+# firmware comes only from the linux-firmware deb, not repo.radeon.com
 RUN cd /ryzers/xdna-driver/build && \
+    sed -i '/^download_npufws()/,/^}/c\download_npufws() { :; } # firmware via Ubuntu linux-firmware deb (extract_npu_firmware.sh)' build.sh && \
     ./build.sh -release
 
 # Finally, save and install the XRT/XDNA debian packages
@@ -43,7 +45,11 @@ RUN mkdir /ryzers/debs && \
     cp /ryzers/xdna-driver/xrt/build/Release/xrt*-amd64-base.deb /ryzers/debs/ && \
 	dpkg -i /ryzers/debs/*.deb
 
-# Cleanup
+# Extract NPU firmware from Ubuntu's linux-firmware deb
+COPY extract_npu_firmware.sh /ryzers/extract_npu_firmware.sh
+RUN chmod +x /ryzers/extract_npu_firmware.sh && \
+    /ryzers/extract_npu_firmware.sh
+
 ENV SHELL=/bin/bash
 
 COPY test.sh /ryzers/
diff --git a/packages/npu/xdna/README.md b/packages/npu/xdna/README.md
index 40e0b518..07eedc0f 100644
--- a/packages/npu/xdna/README.md
+++ b/packages/npu/xdna/README.md
@@ -48,4 +48,35 @@ Validation completed
 
 ---
 
+## Host firmware
+
+The `amdxdna` kernel driver loads the NPU firmware (`*.sbin`) from `/lib/firmware/amdnpu/` on the **host**. If it is missing, the device never enumerates and you will not see `/dev/accel/accel0` (so `xrt-smi examine` finds no NPU). On Ubuntu 24.04+ this firmware ships in the `linux-firmware` package.
+
+Install it on the host using one of the following:
+
+```bash
+# Option A: from the distro package (simplest on Ubuntu 24.04+)
+sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y linux-firmware
+
+# Option B: extract just the amdnpu blobs with the helper script (no full package install)
+sudo ./extract_npu_firmware.sh /lib/firmware/amdnpu
+
+# Option C: copy the firmware out of the built xdna image
+docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/host" xdna:latest \
+    bash -c "cp -a /lib/firmware/amdnpu /host/amdnpu"
+sudo cp -a ./amdnpu /lib/firmware/
+```
+
+After installing the firmware, reload the driver (or reboot) so it picks up the blobs:
+
+```bash
+sudo modprobe -r amdxdna && sudo modprobe amdxdna
+# then confirm the device shows up
+xrt-smi examine
+```
+
+The same `extract_npu_firmware.sh` runs automatically inside the container build, so the firmware is present in the image; this section is only about the host kernel driver. The driver's own firmware fetch (`download_npufws`, which pulls `.sbin` blobs from `repo.radeon.com`) is stubbed out during the build, so the image's firmware comes **exclusively** from the `linux-firmware` deb.
+
+---
+
 For further details, refer to the official [xdna-driver](https://github.com/amd/xdna-driver) repository.
diff --git a/packages/npu/xdna/extract_npu_firmware.sh b/packages/npu/xdna/extract_npu_firmware.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f79c4019
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/npu/xdna/extract_npu_firmware.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Copyright (C) 2026 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+#
+# Extract AMDNPU firmware (.sbin) from Ubuntu's linux-firmware deb.
+# Usage: ./extract_npu_firmware.sh [target_dir]
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+TARGET_DIR="${1:-/lib/firmware/amdnpu}"
+WORK_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
+
+cleanup() { rm -rf "$WORK_DIR"; }
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+echo "==> Downloading linux-firmware package..."
+cd "$WORK_DIR"
+
+# apt-get download fetches the deb without installing it.
+# On Ubuntu 24.04+ the amdnpu firmware is part of linux-firmware.
+apt-get update -qq
+apt-get download linux-firmware 2>/dev/null \
+    || apt-get download linux-firmware-amdgpu 2>/dev/null \
+    || { echo "ERROR: could not download linux-firmware package"; exit 1; }
+
+echo "==> Extracting AMDNPU firmware..."
+mkdir -p extracted
+for deb in *.deb; do
+    dpkg-deb --fsys-tarfile "$deb" \
+        | tar -C extracted -x --wildcards '*/firmware/amdnpu/*' 2>/dev/null || true
+done
+
+# Find where the firmware ended up (varies by package layout)
+FW_SRC=""
+for candidate in extracted/lib/firmware/amdnpu extracted/usr/lib/firmware/amdnpu; do
+    if [ -d "$candidate" ]; then
+        FW_SRC="$candidate"
+        break
+    fi
+done
+
+if [ -z "$FW_SRC" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: no amdnpu firmware found in downloaded package"
+    echo "Available firmware dirs:"
+    find extracted -type d -name 'firmware' 2>/dev/null
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "==> Installing firmware to $TARGET_DIR"
+mkdir -p "$TARGET_DIR"
+cp -a "$FW_SRC"/* "$TARGET_DIR"/
+
+echo "==> Installed NPU firmware:"
+find "$TARGET_DIR" -type f -o -type l | sort
+echo "Done."