Re: How to self-load non-freeware firmware on existing netinst ISO installer
On Thu 25 Feb 2021 at 14:32:49 (+0000), Brian wrote:
> On Wed 24 Feb 2021 at 22:47:59 -0600, David Wright wrote:
> > On Thu 25 Feb 2021 at 10:36:40 (+0800), Robbi Nespu wrote:
> >
> > > > 5. Create /lib/firmware: mkdir /lib/firmware and transfer the
> > > > firmware there.
> > > >
> > > > 6. ALT-F1 to go back to d-i. d-i should now find the firmware.
> >
> > Note that on most systems, steps 3 through 6 are unnecessary as
> > the installer will find the firmware itself anyway.
>
> That's the advice given in Section 6.4.1 if the Installer Guide and,
> if it works, it works. However, I would not like to guarantee that it
> does, just as, in the case of the OP, the non-free installer ISO does
> not come up with installing the firmware.
Agreed: it's difficult to do too much for the installer.
And AFAICT my advice and the Installation Guide § 6.4.1 and
§ 4.3.1 are all out of date. It appears that nowadays (official
buster 10.8 netinst, amd64 and i386), loose firmware files
don't get picked up, either off a second USB stick¹, or off an
extra partition added to the hybrid installation stick. You
have to offer it the firmware in .deb files.
OTOH my official wheezy 7.1.0 netinst i386 installer does pick up
the loose files, exactly as described in the Installation Guide.
So it appears we have a regression in the debian-installer.
I haven't tested jessie or stretch because my netinst media are
all firmware versions, so I can't pinpoint the change in behaviour.
The Installation Guide's wording in those two sections (above)
became settled by the time of wheezy, but has remained unchanged
since then. Unless the problem has been fixed for bullseye²,
I would suggest that the guide text needs revising.
> Transferring the firmware files directly to where the installer kernel
> can find them seems more assured of success. If it doesn't, there is a
> big problem for the system both during and after installation.
I also haven't tested whether, when you copy loose files to
/lib/firmware, you have to preserve the directory structure.
For example, wheezy automatically copies the file tg3_tso5.bin
from '/media/tigon' to '/lib/firmware/tigon', but would manually
copying it to /lib/firmware/tg3_tso5.bin still work (if the
user wasn't aware of its usual location, …path-to/tigon/tg3_tso5.bin)?
↑↑↑↑↑↑
¹ All my USB sticks are partitioned, ie /dev/sdX1, not /dev/sdX.
² I haven't yet tried bullseye, or its installer, at all.
Cheers,
David.
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