On Sun 28 Feb 2021 at 18:36:49 -0600, David Wright wrote: > 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 § 4.3.1 are all out of date.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.
"loose firmware files" is a bit of a woolly term; it needs expanding on. The .deb files will have a directory structure (please see later). > 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. That isn't quite my recollection but it is so long ago that I am not willing to push it. I am also not motivated (yet) to try it out. > 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)? > ↑↑↑↑↑↑ The directory structure has to remain intact. Execute, for example, modinfo zd1211rw | less At the top we have firmware: zd1211/zd1211_uphr The kernel would expect the firmware file to be in zd1211/. -- Brian.
