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{SOLVED} Missing firmware for module r8169?

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Xeno Idaltu
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{SOLVED} Missing firmware for module r8169?

#1 Post by Xeno Idaltu »

Debian Stable (Buster)

I recently installed the latest Linux Kernel from the Backport repo and received this message:

Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 5.4.0-0.bpo.3-amd64 (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/nvidia-legacy-390xx/390.116/build/make.log for more information.
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools:

W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8125a-3.fw for module r8169
Last edited by Xeno Idaltu on 2020-10-28 22:33, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#2 Post by sunrat »

Your Nvidia graphics driver failed to build for your kernel. Did you install the matching kernel headers from backports?
The firmware message is unrelated and most likely benign if your network is working.
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#3 Post by Xeno Idaltu »

1) Since I already had Backport on all I did was:
sudo apt install linux-image-5.4.0-0.bpo.3-amd64 linux-headers-5.4.0-0.bpo.3-amd64

I think there might be another step I need to take because I always get the TTY Terminal instead of the Display Manager. Whenever I try to run the command startx I get an error telling me that the command can not be found.

2) According to a very old post I saw online (circa Debian Jessie) I need to tell Xorg to use my graphics card.
By making file /etc/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf

Inside file 20-nvidia.conf:
Section "Device"
Identifier "GPU"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection


3) Do you recommend me doing this or is an obsolete tweak?
Also why does /etc/X11 appear as a file when using Kernel-5.4 but appears as a directory when using Kernel-4.19?

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#4 Post by sunrat »

So you have the headers. Maybe they just won't build for that kernel. There is no backport available for that driver so you may just have to stick with kernel 4.19 for now. No amount of tweaking is going to make it work until you get the driver module to build and that conf file is usually unnecessary once modules are built.
It helps to provide info about your hardware when asking hardware questions. inxi is very useful for that, graphics info is easily found with

Code: Select all

inxi -G
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#5 Post by Xeno Idaltu »

I have an Nvidia 500M series that has no Vulkan suport and hence why this graphic card will forever use the 390xx-Legacy Version.

If the problem is Nvidia then that means I need to purge it and use Nouveau instead right?

Is there a way to make Kernel 5.4 to only use Nouveau?
I don't want to purge Nvidia yet.

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#6 Post by sunrat »

Xeno Idaltu wrote:If the problem is Nvidia then that means I need to purge it and use Nouveau instead right?
Is there a way to make Kernel 5.4 to only use Nouveau?
I don't want to purge Nvidia yet.
The problem is nvidia is not building for that kernel. Is there a reason you need that rather than the default 4.19 kernel (presuming you use Buster, you didn't say)? 4.19/Nouveau works well here on a system with GTX560.

Last time I wanted to replace nvidia with nouveau I just removed all the nvidia packages and nouveau started automatically. I don't know how to force nouveau without removing nvidia but vaguely recall a thread about that somewhere recently. Maybe just remove the blacklist file.
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#7 Post by stevepusser »

The version in Bullseye is easily backported, and has been tested and confirmed to build on 5.4 kernels.

IDK why backports hasn't added it to support their kernels. I think that they should.
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#8 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

sunrat wrote:how to force nouveau without removing nvidia
Remove the blacklist file (or just comment out the nouveau line) and use an X.Org configuration file.

Something like

Code: Select all

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nouveau.conf
Section "Device"
   Identifier "Nvidia card"
   Driver "nouveau"
EndSection
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#9 Post by Xeno Idaltu »

Sorry for late reply.

The reason I tried upgrading the kernel was because my third party PS4 controller had no rumble support. I thought maybe if I upgraded I could make it work. I tried it on other distros with a more recent kernel and still doesn't work.

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#10 Post by Bloom »

I can't help you with the NVidia hardware as I don't use anything of NVidia, but I can help with the warning regarding the Realtek firmware.
It is about this warning:

Code: Select all

W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8125a-3.fw for module r8169
Solution:

Code: Select all

$ sudo -i
# cd /lib/firmware/rtl_nic
# wget https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/plain/rtl_nic/rtl8125a-3.fw
# update-initramfs -u

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#11 Post by Penaut Butter »

Bloom wrote:I can't help you with the NVidia hardware as I don't use anything of NVidia, but I can help with the warning regarding the Realtek firmware.
It is about this warning:

Code: Select all

W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8125a-3.fw for module r8169
Solution:

Code: Select all

$ sudo -i
# cd /lib/firmware/rtl_nic
# wget https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/plain/rtl_nic/rtl8125a-3.fw
# update-initramfs -u

Hello, I hope replying to a fairly old post ain't against the rules.
I was wondering if simply grabbing the firmware from kernel's git like you just mention, is the correct way of getting the latest firmware for debian. Is it OK to do it in terms of stability and security?

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#12 Post by Bloom »

Replying to a message of two months ago isn't a problem, I think.

This missing firmware problem only occurs with kernel 5.3+, so not with a standard Stable. You can get the warning with Testing or with Sid, or with Stable if you enabled backports and upgraded the kernel.
The extra Realtek firmware modules will find their way into the firmware-realtek package and then this won't be necessary.
Including the Realtek firmwares into your system by grabbing them from the kernel source location just serves to make the warnings disappear. It adds no problems for later on if you want to upgrade. In fact, each upgrade will overwrite the firmware directory tree and thus remove the grabbed Realtek firmwares, so you would get the warning again. Simply repeat the download commands after an upgrade.

If you'd rather not do this, that's fine also. The network card seems to work just fine without the firmware and the warning can be ignored.

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#13 Post by Penaut Butter »

Bloom wrote:Replying to a message of two months ago isn't a problem, I think.

This missing firmware problem only occurs with kernel 5.3+, so not with a standard Stable. You can get the warning with Testing or with Sid, or with Stable if you enabled backports and upgraded the kernel.
The extra Realtek firmware modules will find their way into the firmware-realtek package and then this won't be necessary.
Including the Realtek firmwares into your system by grabbing them from the kernel source location just serves to make the warnings disappear. It adds no problems for later on if you want to upgrade. In fact, each upgrade will overwrite the firmware directory tree and thus remove the grabbed Realtek firmwares, so you would get the warning again. Simply repeat the download commands after an upgrade.

If you'd rather not do this, that's fine also. The network card seems to work just fine without the firmware and the warning can be ignored.
I just wonder what the difference between git and debian backports would be, since I need lots of firmware (wifi, gpu, etc) that is not available atm from backports. And grabbing them all from git seems a bit FrankenDebian to me. But it may be totally ok.

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#14 Post by Bloom »

Backport contains complete Debian packages properly prepared for Stable. Git contains (in this case only) new firmware files lacking in the Debian packages.
The latter doesn't lead to a so-called FrankenDebian. A FrankenDebian is a version of Debian where older or newer releases or even neighboring systems like SolydXK or Linux Mint Debian Edition are used to add packages not available or without the newest version in the current Debian version's repositories.

If you need firmware, try the Debian non-free repositories with non-free and/or closed-source firmware packages first.

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#15 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Firmware files are fine to grab with git, Debian seem to have lost interest in updating their firmware packages so it's the simplest solution at the moment.

Alternatively MX Linux have ported Ubuntu's firmware to a Debian buster base, you can use their .deb package: http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/pool/ahs/l/li ... +1_all.deb
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#16 Post by Penaut Butter »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:Firmware files are fine to grab with git, Debian seem to have lost interest in updating their firmware packages so it's the simplest solution at the moment.

Alternatively MX Linux have ported Ubuntu's firmware to a Debian buster base, you can use their .deb package: http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/pool/ahs/l/li ... +1_all.deb
It's frustrating to see that there is no official workaround for new hardware+debian, from debian. But thank you for this interesting workaround.
Bloom wrote: If you need firmware, try the Debian non-free repositories with non-free and/or closed-source firmware packages first.
I already did, but there's still lots of things missing, from firmware fixes, to firmware binaries themselves. Debian sid's firmware package is almost a year old (20190717), so its understandable why new wifi/bt hardware is not going to work at all, or why some laptops will run hot, or some graphics are going to be glitchy.

I already tried grabbing firmware from git, and it works as expected, correctly, I was just wondering if it was let say an approved practice for daily use in a main machine. At the moment I think I'm going to wait a bit before I replace Fedora with Debian Stable + backported kernel/firmware. Since I know there's going to be a lot of fixes/features I need coming to kernel 5.8 and perhaps 5.9, 5.10...

Thank you bros.

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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#17 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Penaut Butter wrote:It's frustrating to see that there is no official workaround for new hardware+debian, from debian.
Non-free packages are not part of the official Debian release and are provided only as a convenience.

It's your own fault for buying hardware that requires blobs. Heathen :mrgreen:
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#18 Post by LE_746F6D617A7A69 »

Penaut Butter wrote:Debian sid's firmware package is almost a year old (20190717) ...
... ehm?
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /20200608/

..and the previous versions:
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /20200601/
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /20200525/
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /20200519/

Basically, the firmware is updated every week ... :mrgreen:
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#19 Post by sunrat »

LE_746F6D617A7A69 wrote:
Penaut Butter wrote:Debian sid's firmware package is almost a year old (20190717) ...
... ehm?
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /20200608/

..and the previous versions:
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /20200601/
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /20200525/
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /20200519/

Basically, the firmware is updated every week ... :mrgreen:
Maybe the installer is updated every week, but the firmware is not. Here is the list from just upgraded siduction which comes with all sid firmware and maybe even the kitchen sink:

Code: Select all

$ apt list --installed firmware*
Listing... Done
firmware-amd-graphics/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-atheros/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-b43-installer/unstable,now 1:019-6 all [installed]
firmware-b43legacy-installer/unstable,now 1:019-6 all [installed]
firmware-bnx2/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-bnx2x/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-brcm80211/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-crystalhd/now 0.0~git20120110.fdd2f19-1 all [installed,local]
firmware-intelwimax/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-iwlwifi/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-libertas/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-linux-free/unstable,now 20200122-1 all [installed]
firmware-linux-nonfree/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-misc-nonfree/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-myricom/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-netxen/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-qlogic/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-realtek/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-ti-connectivity/unstable,now 20190717-2 all [installed]
firmware-zd1211/unstable,now 1:1.5-7 all [installed]
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Re: Missing firmware for module r8169?

#20 Post by LE_746F6D617A7A69 »

sunrat wrote:Maybe the installer is updated every week, but the firmware is not.
Nope, it is updated.
Don't believe in the package names and dates of files -> f.e. most of the Realtek firmware files from MX repos are exactly the same as in Sid, only the date is "newer".

Besides, just like in case of any software, firmware has bugs and regressions, so: newer firmware != better firmware
Updating firmware without having a reason is like switching from Debian stable to testing, or in some cases to experimental ;)

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