blog/Handling_non_free_firmware_in_Debian_Edu_Squeeze.html

   1 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
   2           "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
   3 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="ltr">
   4   <head>
   5     <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
   6     <title>Petter Reinholdtsen: Handling non-free firmware in Debian Edu/Squeeze</title>
   7     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/style.css" />
   8     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/vim.css" />
   9   </head>
  10   <body>
  11     <div class="title">
  12  <h1>
  13      <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/">Petter Reinholdtsen</a>
  14
  15  </h1>
  16
  17 </div>
  18
  19
  20     <div class="entry">
  21       <div class="title">Handling non-free firmware in Debian Edu/Squeeze</div>
  22       <div class="date">27th January 2012</div>
  23       <div class="body"><p>With some computer hardware, one need non-free firmware blobs.
  24 This is the sad fact of todays computers.  In the next version of
  25 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> based
  26 on Squeeze, we provide several scripts and modifications to make
  27 firmware blobs easier to handle.  The common use case I run into is a
  28 laptop with a wireless network card requiring non-free firmware to
  29 work, but there are other use cases as well.</p>
  30
  31 <p>First and foremost, Debian Edu provide ISO images for DVD and CD
  32 with all firmware packages in the Debian sections main and non-free
  33 included, to ensure debian-installer find and can install all of them
  34 during installation.  This take care firmware for network devices used
  35 by the installer when installing from from local media.  But for
  36 example multimedia devices are not activated in the installer and are
  37 not taken care of by this.</p>
  38
  39 <p>For non-network devices, we provide the script
  40 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/auto-addfirmware</tt> which
  41 search through the <tt>dmesg</tt> output for drivers requesting extra
  42 firmware.  The firmware file name is looked up in the Contents-ARCH.gz
  43 file available in the package repository, and the packages providing
  44 the requested firmware file(s) is installed.  I have proposed to do
  45 something similar in debian-installer (BTS report
  46 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/655507">#655507</a>), to allow PXE
  47 installs of Debian to handle firmware installation better.  Run the
  48 script as root from the command line to fetch and install the needed
  49 firmware packages.</p>
  50
  51 <p>Debian Edu provide PXE installation of Debian out of the box, and
  52 because some machines need firmware to get their network cards
  53 working, the installation initrd some times need extra firmware
  54 included to be able to install at all.  To fill the PXE installation
  55 initrd with extra firmware, the
  56 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/pxe-addfirmware</tt> script is
  57 provided.  Again, just run it as root on the command line to fill the
  58 PXE initrd with firmware packages.</p>
  59
  60 <p>Last, some LTSP clients might also need firmware to get their
  61 network cards working.  For this,
  62 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/ltsp-addfirmware</tt> is
  63 provided to update the LTSP initrd with firmware blobs.  It is used
  64 the same way as the other firmware related tools.</p>
  65
  66 <p>At the moment, we do not run any of these during installation.  We
  67 do not know if this is acceptable for the local administrator to use
  68 non-free software, and it is their choice.</p>
  69
  70 <p>We plan to release beta3 this weekend.  You might want to give it a
  71 try.</p>
  72 </div>
  73
  74       <div class="tags">Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.</div>
  75
  76
  77     </div>
  78
  79
  80
  81
  82     <div id="sidebar">
  83
  84
  85
  86 <h2>Archive</h2>
  87 <ul>
  88
  89 <li>2013
  90 <ul>
  91
  92 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/01/">January (10)</a></li>
  93
  94 </ul></li>
  95
  96 <li>2012
  97 <ul>
  98
  99 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/01/">January (7)</a></li>
 100
 101 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/02/">February (10)</a></li>
 102
 103 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/03/">March (17)</a></li>
 104
 105 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/04/">April (12)</a></li>
 106
 107 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/05/">May (12)</a></li>
 108
 109 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/06/">June (20)</a></li>
 110
 111 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/07/">July (17)</a></li>
 112
 113 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/08/">August (6)</a></li>
 114
 115 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/09/">September (9)</a></li>
 116
 117 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/10/">October (17)</a></li>
 118
 119 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/11/">November (10)</a></li>
 120
 121 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/12/">December (7)</a></li>
 122
 123 </ul></li>
 124
 125 <li>2011
 126 <ul>
 127
 128 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/01/">January (16)</a></li>
 129
 130 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/02/">February (6)</a></li>
 131
 132 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/03/">March (6)</a></li>
 133
 134 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/04/">April (7)</a></li>
 135
 136 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/05/">May (3)</a></li>
 137
 138 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/06/">June (2)</a></li>
 139
 140 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/07/">July (7)</a></li>
 141
 142 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/08/">August (6)</a></li>
 143
 144 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/09/">September (4)</a></li>
 145
 146 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/10/">October (2)</a></li>
 147
 148 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/11/">November (3)</a></li>
 149
 150 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/12/">December (1)</a></li>
 151
 152 </ul></li>
 153
 154 <li>2010
 155 <ul>
 156
 157 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/01/">January (2)</a></li>
 158
 159 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/02/">February (1)</a></li>
 160
 161 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/03/">March (3)</a></li>
 162
 163 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/04/">April (3)</a></li>
 164
 165 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/05/">May (9)</a></li>
 166
 167 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/06/">June (14)</a></li>
 168
 169 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/07/">July (12)</a></li>
 170
 171 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/08/">August (13)</a></li>
 172
 173 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/09/">September (7)</a></li>
 174
 175 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/10/">October (9)</a></li>
 176
 177 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/11/">November (13)</a></li>
 178
 179 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/12/">December (12)</a></li>
 180
 181 </ul></li>
 182
 183 <li>2009
 184 <ul>
 185
 186 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/01/">January (8)</a></li>
 187
 188 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/02/">February (8)</a></li>
 189
 190 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/03/">March (12)</a></li>
 191
 192 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/04/">April (10)</a></li>
 193
 194 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/05/">May (9)</a></li>
 195
 196 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/06/">June (3)</a></li>
 197
 198 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/07/">July (4)</a></li>
 199
 200 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/08/">August (3)</a></li>
 201
 202 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/09/">September (1)</a></li>
 203
 204 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/10/">October (2)</a></li>
 205
 206 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/11/">November (3)</a></li>
 207
 208 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/12/">December (3)</a></li>
 209
 210 </ul></li>
 211
 212 <li>2008
 213 <ul>
 214
 215 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/11/">November (5)</a></li>
 216
 217 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/12/">December (7)</a></li>
 218
 219 </ul></li>
 220
 221 </ul>
 222
 223
 224
 225 <h2>Tags</h2>
 226 <ul>
 227
 228  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer (13)</a></li>
 229
 230  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/amiga">amiga (1)</a></li>
 231
 232  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/aros">aros (1)</a></li>
 233
 234  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bankid">bankid (4)</a></li>
 235
 236  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin (5)</a></li>
 237
 238  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem (12)</a></li>
 239
 240  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bsa">bsa (2)</a></li>
 241
 242  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian (68)</a></li>
 243
 244  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu (118)</a></li>
 245
 246  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan (9)</a></li>
 247
 248  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook (7)</a></li>
 249
 250  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/drivstoffpriser">drivstoffpriser (4)</a></li>
 251
 252  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english (174)</a></li>
 253
 254  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami (21)</a></li>
 255
 256  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling (12)</a></li>
 257
 258  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture (10)</a></li>
 259
 260  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen (9)</a></li>
 261
 262  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju (32)</a></li>
 263
 264  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart (17)</a></li>
 265
 266  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap (8)</a></li>
 267
 268  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker (6)</a></li>
 269
 270  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp (1)</a></li>
 271
 272  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia (25)</a></li>
 273
 274  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk (219)</a></li>
 275
 276  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug (148)</a></li>
 277
 278  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn (6)</a></li>
 279
 280  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311 (2)</a></li>
 281
 282  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett (41)</a></li>
 283
 284  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern (61)</a></li>
 285
 286  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/raid">raid (1)</a></li>
 287
 288  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reprap">reprap (11)</a></li>
 289
 290  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rfid">rfid (2)</a></li>
 291
 292  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot (6)</a></li>
 293
 294  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rss">rss (1)</a></li>
 295
 296  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ruter">ruter (4)</a></li>
 297
 298  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/scraperwiki">scraperwiki (2)</a></li>
 299
 300  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet (28)</a></li>
 301
 302  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary (4)</a></li>
 303
 304  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/skepsis">skepsis (4)</a></li>
 305
 306  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard (39)</a></li>
 307
 308  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stavekontroll">stavekontroll (3)</a></li>
 309
 310  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stortinget">stortinget (5)</a></li>
 311
 312  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance (12)</a></li>
 313
 314  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sysadmin">sysadmin (1)</a></li>
 315
 316  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/valg">valg (7)</a></li>
 317
 318  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video (35)</a></li>
 319
 320  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/vitenskap">vitenskap (4)</a></li>
 321
 322  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web (26)</a></li>
 323
 324 </ul>
 325
 326
 327     </div>
 328     <p style="text-align: right">
 329  Created by <a href="http://steve.org.uk/Software/chronicle">Chronicle v4.4</a>
 330 </p>
 331
 332   </body>
 333 </html>