Bug#352758: -- installation: "etch" installer fails to detect/configure PC card NIC
On Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 07:56:14AM EST, Holger Wansing wrote:
> Hi,
>
Hello,
First of all, why are you gentlmen replying to me directly instead of
posting to the list?
Do this mean that you would rather discuss this off-list?
Or am I misundertanding how this list works?
[..]
> This whole problem can be splitted in two parts:
> 1. the debian-installer cannot use the device since the needed
> firmware is not provided.
Correct.
> 2. why is the firmware not in the current debian archive while it was contained
> in the archive in the past?
I have not evidence it was ever provided on the distribution CD's.
I was not part of etch, hence my sending in a bug report, and sarge was
my first install, and I have fuzzy memories of the install. IIRC, I was
running RedHat at the time and followed some debootstrap document I had
found online and did not install of a full CD, netinst, etc.
> To 1.
>
> Non-free firmware is not included in the installer iso! The installer
> provides the possibility to use such firmware, but you have to provide
> the particular file by hand. The process is documented in the debian
> installer manual. See http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/ for the
> development version of the manual. Chapter 6.4 is what you need. You
> get a link there, where a file with several firmwares can be
> downloaded. Try if the needed firmware is contained in that archive
> file. (There is one firmware file for 3Com included, it is named
> "typphon.bin" or something like that. Maybe this file works for you?)
Thanks, that may come in handy in the event the version of 3CCFEM556.cis
I currently use becomes obsolete and I need a new version.
OTOH, I have not idea if the firmware is debian-compatible license-wise
or not. That was pure speculation on my part and just a fairly
legitimate assumption at that.
> If no firmware from this archive file is working for you: do you have
> the needed 3CCFEM556.dat file somewhere at your harddrive or similar?
> Then copy it to a usb stick and provide it to the debian installer
> that way. Try if the debian-installer can use the network device then.
Oh, yes. I've been carrying around for about four years now. ;-)
> If you don't have the 3CCFEM556.dat file anymore, you can download an
> old version of the pcmcia-cs package from a debian mirror (for example
> here:
> http://ftp.ee.debian.org/debian/pool/main/p/pcmcia-cs/pcmcia-cs_3.2.8-9_i386.deb).
> It contains the needed file (as you already wrote). Try if you can
> get the network device to work with debian-installer.
I think I'll give that a try as soon as I get a chance.
> To 2.
>
> Could you try to find out if the firmware is non-free?
I have no idea how I could go about doing that. I mean, it's really for
debian to decide whether a given piece of [soft/firm]ware meets their
requirements.
> Could it be included in the debian-archive?
> It was included in the past, but maybe that was indeed not correct from the
> DFSG point of view.
Right, although speculation on my part, that's precisely what I was
thinking.
> The pcmcia-cs package is no more available in the debian archive.
> Maybe some firmware that was included in pcmcia-cs can still be
> included in debian, but was simply forgotten and removed with the
> whole pcmcia-cs package?
I guess if the former pcmcia-cs debian maintainer would know more about
this, possibly the whole story?
> Holger
Thanks, and sorry to bother you about this. At least I do follow up on
my bug reports ;-)
CJ
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