Re: WiFi Hardware not detected, during Debian NetInst Install
On Mon 22 Mar 2021 at 09:39:54 -0500, David Wright wrote:
> 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.
All good advice. I think the modules that should be loaded are
rtw88_8723de, rtw88_8723d, rtw88_core and rtw88_pci. After doing
the "Detect Network Hardware" step the OP could use 'lsmod' in a
console.
The buster d-i kernel does not have these modules.
--
Brian.
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