Trying to install Debian (i386 arch) on a touchscreen device (Dell Venue 8 Pro) that needs an Atheros driver (
) which is not available in the nonfree installation image or repo. Installer does not recognize media with the firmware files on it and continues to display a prompt asking for media with the firmware files.
Have not filed a bug report yet (not sure whether that is the appropriate first step, and I may not be knowledgeable enough to properly answer follow-up questions). From what I've read, there is possibly a way to manually mount the media with firmware files during install but that requires a keyboard, and this device only has one port (and I do not have a USB hub or USB keyboard).
Device boots into live image but WiFi is not recognized; live installer launches and begins installation but fails about halfway through (please forgive me, I did not document the error message). When using graphical installer (I've tried Debian Stable image and Debian Testing), installer prompts that the firmware file referred to above is missing, and asks user to insert media with firmware file on it. With media inserted, installer fails to recognize the file and displays the same prompt again (have tried this with MBR and GUID formatted media, files located in firmware folder, etc).
Would like to request that this firmware be added to installation images and/or the appropriate repository.
Please let me know if I can provide any further information.