SlackwareThis Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Distribution: Slackware 15.0 x64, Slackware Live 15.0 x64
Posts: 618
Rep:
Quick question about kernel stuff...
Hey gang,
Bear with me, I know I'm a PITA about this kernel stuff, heh.
When installing a new kernel, the 'kernel-firmware'...can I do a simple 'upgradepkg' with that one and not worry about the 'initrd' stuff and such with it or is there something special to do with that also?
Thanks again for any help with this and putting up with my constant kernel questions. I don't know why I can't wrap my head around the whole 'kernel' installation thing, it's worse than writers block because I seem to have permanent 'big-dummy-can't-figure-it-out-block'
Let's take a look. Examining /var/lib/pkgtools/packages/kernel-firmware-20220124_eb8ea1b-noarch-1 we see that it only installs files to /lib/firmware (and /usr/doc).
Now if you save your initrd trees (which I do) then we can take a look if there is anything in /lib/firmware:
Code:
# cd /boot/initrd-tree-5.15.27/lib/firmware
# ls -la
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 14 14:17 ./
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Mar 9 07:25 ../
Nothing there! So it looks like to me, no, you do not need to rebuild your initrd after upgrading kernel-firmware (and I never have).
I'm not sure, however, if some special hardware does copy files from /lib/firmware to the initrd during initrd creation. You may want to check yourself.
When you build an initrd, the script /sbin/mkinitrd includes in it the firmware files needed (if any) by the modules it also includes, found in /lib/firmware at time of building. As long as your system boots with the existing initrd, there is no need to update these files in it, so no need to rebuild it.
Rebuilding an initrd is mandatory if you upgrade the kernel-generic and the associated (at the same version) kernel-modules packages, then boot using the new kernel. Again, the initrd will include (if need be) files found in /lib/firmware, coming from the most recently installed kernel-firmware package.
Last edited by Didier Spaier; 04-15-2022 at 08:59 AM.
Adding a small note here, i recently noted that some devices may require a full shutdown and power up in order to load the new firmware, as rebooting is not enough.
The Intel AX200 wifi/bluetooth card in my laptop had problems with frequent disconnects on bluetooth audio.
The new firmware was supposed to fix the issue, but even after upgrading it the problem was still present.
Since rebooting didn't power off the device, at boot time the kernel would notice that a firmware was already loaded on the device, and skip loading the new firmware:
LQ wouldn't let me credit you for the excellent Q so here goes: Excellent Q, FTIO !
And a great answer by drumz !
Thanks to all'Y'all !
-- kj
You can also click on the scale icon below their profile (by the icons showing what OS/distro they're using and their online status). It will also let you send them a message.
You can also click on the scale icon below their profile (by the icons showing what OS/distro they're using and their online status). It will also let you send them a message.
Yes, that's the one I tried ( the Scales ) but LQ told me to spread around the love before giving FITO an LQ AttaBoy
Adding a small note here, i recently noted that some devices may require a full shutdown and power up in order to load the new firmware, as rebooting is not enough.
The Intel AX200 wifi/bluetooth card in my laptop had problems with frequent disconnects on bluetooth audio.
The new firmware was supposed to fix the issue, but even after upgrading it the problem was still present.
Since rebooting didn't power off the device, at boot time the kernel would notice that a firmware was already loaded on the device, and skip loading the new firmware:
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.
