The following issue is based on the discussion I created on https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=159027 where you can find attached the content of /var/log/installer/syslog which was generated on a virtual machine with virt-manager when installing debian-live-12.5.0-amd64-lxqt.iso with the firmware=never parameter (the problem was also present on my real computer when I tested with a previous version debian-live-12.0.0-amd64-lxqt.iso). I also attached the result of the vrms command after using firmware=never parameter. To compare, you can also find attached another installer syslog without using firmware=never parameter, which also contains the line "hw-detect: skipping check-missing-firmware as requested by the caller" and looks like a bug.

The firmware=never parameter did not work at all when using the LXQt ISO file (maybe the problem also happens on ISO files with other desktop environments), the non-free firmware packages were installed. And with the LXQt ISO file, the graphical expert install as well as the text expert install did not ask me if I want the non-free firmware packages, they were installed automatically.
I noticed the firmware=never parameter only worked with the netinst ISO file.
For the automatic detection of needed non-free firmware packages, it only worked with the netinst ISO file as well (the LXQt ISO file installed all non-free firmware packages). But even with netinst ISO file, it seems it is only guessing the non-free firmware packages needed since several were not needed to make my laptop work correctly (firmware-realtek, firmware-sof-signed) when installed on my real computer instead of a virtual machine.
Can these issues be fixed?

It would also be useful to have the firmware=never parameter added in a menu in the normal graphical installation (for people who don't want the complexity of the expert installation), since it is more convenient to have it in a menu and also avoids mistakes when typing firmware=never (I accidentally typed firmzare due to my AZERTY keyboard and the QWERTY input). It would be a good idea to warn the user if the entered parameter / value does not exist, to avoid unwanted results like installing non-free firmware.

Hi,

Thanks for the report but wow, that's way too many topics.

baptx <baptx.is@gmail.com> (2024-04-27):

vrms is irrelevant.

No, it's not. See check on CHECK_MISSING_FIRMWARE in hw-detect.

That would be a bug in debian-live then, not in debian-installer. Cc-ing
accordingly.

Well, that's been added for use by debian-installer. What debian-live
does or doesn't do with it is outside our control.

The lookup is based on what devices are seen during the installation
process. If the relevant kernel modules list firmware files, we try to
match them to firmware packages, and queue their installation. Unless
firmware=never was used of course. That doesn't mean they are absolutely
required for those devices to work. There is just no way to know for
sure.

Menu maintenance (esp. across architectures, BIOS vs. UEFI, etc.) is a
huge mess already, it might happen but I'm not holding my breath here.

There's no absolute list to check against, so that cannot be done.


Cheers,

Hello, on https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=798356#p798356, it was
mentioned that we should use the parameter live-installer/enable=false on a
Debian Live ISO in order to recognize the firmware=never parameter.
Ideally, if the parameter firmware=never is not recognized, it should
include the parameter live-installer/enable=false or the installation
should ask the user if they want proprietary firmware.
On https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=799106#p799106, it was
confirmed that free firmware is also skipped when using the firmware=never
parameter.
It would be useful to have a parameter like firmware=free to include only
free firmware or make firmware=never include free firmware.
Let me know if I should create a new bug report or if it can be handled in
this report also.