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Package: hw-detect
Version: 1.65
Severity: important
Tags: d-i, patch
Debian Installer images that do not contain the IXP4xx NPE-B microcode
cause the installation of Debian on the Linksys NSLU2 to fail, unless
the user has access to a serial console. The installer detects that
the ixp4xx_eth module has requested the NPE-B microcode, and displays
following text in the "Detect network hardware" dialog box:
---
Some of your hardware needs non-free firmware files to operate. The
firmware can be loaded from removable media, such as a USB stick or
floppy.
The missing firmware files are: NPE-B
If you have such media available now, insert it, and continue.
Load missing firmware from removable media?
<Yes> <No>
---
The installer will appear to freeze for users that do not have serial
console access, and they will never be able to
proceed.
Martin Michlmayr proposed the following workaround, which works, but
he wasn't sure whether this was the correct way to solve the problem
[1].
Index: oldsys-preseed
===================================================================
--- oldsys-preseed (revision 55149)
+++ oldsys-preseed (working copy)
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@
INTERFACE=eth0
else
INTERFACE=eth1
+ if [ "$NONINTERACTIVE" = "yes" ]; then
+ add "$FILE" "hw-detect/load_firmware" "boolean" "false"
+ fi
fi
fi
if [ "$NET_CONFIG" != "static" ]; then
Gordon
[1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2008/08/msg00646.html
--
Gordon Farquharson
GnuPG Key ID: 32D6D676
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