Re: Is it possible to conduct a Debian install over wifi (iwlwifi)?

[Pascal Hambourg <pascal@plouf.fr.eu.org>]

Brian a écrit :
> 
> Why should the installer ask for firmware if it knows it is present in
> /lib/firmware? Your problem is that the firmware is not transferred to
> the device. The consequence is that the wireless interface wlan0 is not
> detected. The syslog should confirm this.

Or not. It doesn't work this way.

1) The kernel detects the device and notifies hotplug/udev.
2) Hotplug/udev loads the matching kernel module.
3) The kernel module probes the device, decides it needs a firmware and
notifies hotplug/udev.
4) Hotplug/udev tries to load the firmware from the specified location.
5) If the firmware is loaded successfully, the kernel module creates the
network interface.
5") If the firmware is missing, the kernel/module writes a message in
the kernel log.
6) The Debian installer parses the kernel log, detects the error message
and prompts the user for the missing firmware.

If step 2) fails because no kernel module matches the device, then no
firmware will be required.