Re: WiFi Hardware not detected, during Debian NetInst Install
On Sun 21 Mar 2021 at 21:48:30 (-0400), Kenneth Parker wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 21, 2021, 9:24 PM Robbi Nespu <robbinespu@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 22/3/2021 6:27 am, Kenneth Parker wrote:
> > >
> > > Both his Lenovo, and my HP Laptop have the same WiFi hardware, found via
> > > a "lspci" command:
> > >
> > > > Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8723DE
> > > 802.11b/g/n PCIe Adapter
> > >
> > > So, to ensure that we can complete the Install, I wanted to test, using,
> > > first a Debian Bullseye Netinst CD and, when it failed, a Debian Buster
> > > 10.3 NetInst CD.
> > >
> > > In both cases, I used my favorite, Text / Expert Install (but also tried
> > > Bullseye with the "normal" Text Install). it gets to the step, to find,
> > > and configure the Network, but only finds the Ethernet Port which, for
> > > the purposes of my test, has no Cable attached. So, obviously, the
> > > Network Configuration fails!
> > >
> > > I was ready for it to Find the WiFi, and had, in advance, populated the
> > > /firmware directory of a USB Thumbdrive, but it never gets to the step,
> > > where it is asking for it.
> > >
> > Does the installer said missing firmware? or nothing at all?
> >
> It sits for, about a minute in the "Detect Network Hardware" step. Then,
> when it continues, only the Ethernet Port is detected. It does not, even
> *ask* about Firmware. So, nothing at all.
>
> So, for my purposes, install without network is the best that I can do.
> And then, in the running system, install the Firmware.
So I assume that the running system finds the modules, loads them and
also some firmware for them (perhaps even rtl8723defw.bin?), yes?
If so, then it's worth knowing what the installer found. The file on
your installed system /var/log/installer/hardware-summary has its
lsmod output in the third section, after lspci and usb-list.
If they're found, then /var/log/installer/syslog (considerably larger)
should show the module (the rtlNNNN one) being loaded, followed by the
firmware. If you saw no messages on the console, then it's perfectly
possible that the module and its firmware were found and loaded
successfully, but they just didn't make the wifi work, which would be
a completely different bug.
If you've time to spare, you could of course retry the installer
*without* the firmware on a stick, deliberately provoking the module
(if it gets loaded) to complain. These "forensic" observations would
narrow the scope of potential bugs.
Cheers,
David.
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