Bug#502959: general: raff.debian.org uses non-free software
On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 11:41:14AM +0200, Aurelien Jarno wrote:
> Package: general
> Severity: serious
> Justification: DFSG
>
> raff.debian.org uses a Compaq Smart 5i RAID card. A flash memory is used
> to store the firmware. While the firmware is freely downloadable (as in
> beer) on HP website [1], we don't have the corresponding source code.
>
> I suggest that someone works with HP to get the corresponding source
> code. Until we found a solution, I recommend we simply shutdown the
> machine.
>
> [1] http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=329290&prodSeriesId=374803&prodNameId=266599&swEnvOID=4004&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-3d1aaa0b48c04b628789e598d3
By that stupid definition, the BIOS in your machine should be the first
target.
If the firmware is in a flash chip on the card, then the card works fine
as shipped and needs no firmware to be included with Debian for the card
to work.
This is rather different than say, ivti, bnx2, and similar, which
require the firmware to be loaded by linux on every boot and hence
provided by linux to the hardware.
--
Len Sorensen
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