How to select the firmware files for wifi devices?
by Didier Spaier from LinuxQuestions.org on (#6NM66)
Having a huge kernel-firmware package is not an issue in an installed system, not so in the initramfs of an installer.
So far when building the Slackware installer the firmware files needed to get a working wired connection are cherry picked, and I have followed suite for the Slint installer version 14.2.1, so packages newer that those included in the ISO can be fetched and installed instead, case occurring (for Slackware this would be packages in /patches)
However from version 15.0 I have added the possibility to use a wifi connection in the installer, as nowadays many laptop do not have an Ethernet connector any more. This needs the firmware files for the wifi device but not having a list of all of them, for now the installer set up a swap in zram before installing the kernel-firmware, not to trigger an OOM (which will happen if there is not enough RAM to store the package in the initramfs)
This works, but I would prefer include in the iniramfs only the firmware files needed for network connections, both wired and wireless.
I would be grateful for a list of these files, or a safe way to select all of them.
So far when building the Slackware installer the firmware files needed to get a working wired connection are cherry picked, and I have followed suite for the Slint installer version 14.2.1, so packages newer that those included in the ISO can be fetched and installed instead, case occurring (for Slackware this would be packages in /patches)
However from version 15.0 I have added the possibility to use a wifi connection in the installer, as nowadays many laptop do not have an Ethernet connector any more. This needs the firmware files for the wifi device but not having a list of all of them, for now the installer set up a swap in zram before installing the kernel-firmware, not to trigger an OOM (which will happen if there is not enough RAM to store the package in the initramfs)
This works, but I would prefer include in the iniramfs only the firmware files needed for network connections, both wired and wireless.
I would be grateful for a list of these files, or a safe way to select all of them.