[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Bug#693455: marked as done (guide user at the "hardware needs non-free firmware" step)

Your message dated Sun, 29 Aug 2021 21:27:19 +0200
with message-id <[🔎] 20210829212719.68e88b48a2506b86cbbefe9d@mailbox.org>
and subject line Re: guide user at the "hardware needs non-free firmware" step
has caused the Debian Bug report #693455,
regarding guide user at the "hardware needs non-free firmware" step
to be marked as done.

This means that you claim that the problem has been dealt with.
If this is not the case it is now your responsibility to reopen the
Bug report if necessary, and/or fix the problem forthwith.

(NB: If you are a system administrator and have no idea what this
message is talking about, this may indicate a serious mail system
misconfiguration somewhere. Please contact owner@bugs.debian.org
immediately.)


-- 
693455: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=693455
Debian Bug Tracking System
Contact owner@bugs.debian.org with problems
--- Begin Message --- 
Package: hw-detect
Severity: normal
Tags: d-i

when network card firmware is missing, no precise instructions are given
to the user. to repeat what the screen says:

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                     |
| Some of your hardware needs non-free firmware files to operate. The |
| firmware can be loaded from removable media, such as a USB stick of |
| floppy.                                                             |
|                                                                     |
| The missing firmware files are: brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw                   |
|                                                                     |
| If you have such media available now, insert it, and continue.      |
|                                                                     |
| *Load missing firmware from removable media?*                       |
| (No, Yes)                                                           |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+

some bug reports show that this causes irritation (#573238, #685117) --
myself, on a usb stick, i created a /brcm folder and put bcm43xx-0.fw
from firmware-brcm80211 there, and it was not detected.

there should be instructions on how such a medium is generated
(alternatively, a description of what it has to or can look like).

i'd suggest an interface like that:

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                     |
| Some of your hardware needs non-free firmware files to operate. The |
| firmware can be loaded from removable media.                        |
|                                                                     |
| The missing firmware files are: brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw                   |
|                                                                     |
| If you want to use that device during the installation, download    |
| the firmware package from this URL, place the .deb file on a USB    |
| stick, insert it and continue:                                      |
| http://packages.debian.org/wheezye/all/firmware-brcm80211/download  |
|                                                                     |
| *Load missing firmware from removable media?*                       |
| [No, Yes]                                                           |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+

if it is not managable to have the firmwarefile->package mapping in the
installer (as described in #655507), a service on the website could
provide it.

(after writing this, i've checked with the debian user manual, and it
uses a firmware.tar.gz complete tarball instead. using that would just
work as well, it'd just say "place the .zip file" and another url.
whatever is the preferred way these days.)

(another detail aside: my wording uses "that device", well aware that
the user doesn't necessarily know which device we're talking about. it
would be great if we could tell him, but i suppose we can't as we don't
at the moment -- maybe this can be slightly rephrased not to leave that
gap.)


even if the installer is free of non-free firmware, we do ship those
files in debian. i'd much rather link to a non-free part of debian than
have users guess or google the files, which is usually what they do
before reading the manual. (advanced users might even see how they can
download those .deb files and check they're trusted, but i guess
establishing a trust path doesn't find place in the installer
instructions.)


i hope this helps enhancing d-i
chrysn

-- 
There's always a bigger fish.
  -- Qui-Gon Jinn

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: Digital signature


--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- 
With the recent Bullseye installer, we have a new mechanism in place, which
takes care of loading firmware more reliable.
So situation is extremly more relaxed now.

Therefore, I'm closing this bug



-- 
Holger Wansing <hwansing@mailbox.org>
PGP-Fingerprint: 496A C6E8 1442 4B34 8508  3529 59F1 87CA 156E B076

--- End Message ---
Reply to: