On Sun 21 Mar 2021 at 18:27:22 (-0400), Kenneth Parker wrote: > > Later this week, I will be helping a friend install Debian onto a Lenovo > Ideapad Laptop. This will be in a Public Space with, only WiFi available. > > Both his Lenovo, and my HP Laptop have the same WiFi hardware, found via a > "lspci" command: > > > Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8723DE 802.11b/g/n > PCIe Adapter > > So, to ensure that we can complete the Install, I wanted to test, using, > first a Debian Bullseye Netinst CD and, when it failed, a Debian Buster > 10.3 NetInst CD. > > In both cases, I used my favorite, Text / Expert Install (but also tried > Bullseye with the "normal" Text Install). it gets to the step, to find, > and configure the Network, but only finds the Ethernet Port which, for the > purposes of my test, has no Cable attached. So, obviously, the Network > Configuration fails! > > I was ready for it to Find the WiFi, and had, in advance, populated the > /firmware directory of a USB Thumbdrive, but it never gets to the step, > where it is asking for it. > > Any Insights?
The tests I carried out at the end of last month showed that whereas wheezy's installer could find "loose files" of firmware on a USB stick, buster's was unable to. So the choice nowadays seems to be either to copy .deb files of firmware onto a USB stick, or to copy the loose files into the real /lib/firmware directory any time before the "Detect Network Hardware" step. You might have to create /lib/firmware, and any subdirectory that the firmware habitually inhabits, eg /lib/firmware/rtlwifi for rtl8192*. Cheers, David.
