> On 9/11/26 06:40, Juerg Haefliger via ubuntu-devel wrote: > > All, > > > > Now that the linux-firmware split has landed in Noble, I'd like to tackle > > the next firmware issue: HWE backports. > > > > The problem at the moment is that backporting firmware to LTS releases for > > their respective HWE kernels often negatively impacts users running the GA > > kernel. Old kernel with new firmware is not a combination that firmware > > vendors typically test. Firmware updates between Ubuntu releases have > > grown significantly in recent years, resulting in larger backports and a > > higher chance of regressions. This approach to firmware backports has > > long been a thorn in the side of the SRU team, and rightly so. Just the > > recent backports to Noble for the 7.0 HWE kernel introduced at least two > > AMD regressions for 6.9 kernel users :-( > > > > To address this, I’d like to propose introducing linux-firmware-hwe (along > > with HWE variants for all subpackages). HWE kernels would depend on > > linux-firmware-hwe, which in turn would provide and break linux-firmware > > so only one set of packages can be installed at a time. > > > > This will prevent regressions for GA-only users. For systems that have > > both GA and HWE kernels installed, all kernels will load the HWE > > firmwares, meaning users might still encounter firmware-related issues > > when booting the GA kernel. The only complete workaround for that > > scenario would be installing both GA and HWE firmwares side-by-side in > > separate directories and pointing the respective kernels to load from > > their own paths. However, that introduces a whole new set of non-trivial > > challenges so I'm not considering this at this moment. > > > > I’d like to introduce this in Stonking first and then backport it to > > Resolute before the first HWE kernel lands there. > > > > I'd love to hear your feedback, suggestions, questions, comments, ... > > > > Thanks > > ..Juerg > > > > > > IIRC the kernel will look at /lib/firmware/`uname -r` before /lib/firmware/. > > So how about a symlink building system? Bear with me. > > * linux-firmware-hwe could put everything in /lib/firmware/hwe. > * linux-firmware-oem could put everything in /lib/firmware/oem. > * Then every HWE kernel package could ship a symlink for > /lib/firmware/`uname -r` -> /lib/firmware/hwe. > * Every OEM kernel package could ship a symlink for /lib/firmware/`uname > -r` -> /lib/firmware/oem. > > "Generic" firmware would still be in the "regular" /lib/firmware/ directory. > I fear there are many tools that have the firmware path hard-coded to {/usr,}/lib/firmware. We'd have to find and check all those to make sure they do the right thing for any given kernel they're working on. - dracut? - initramfs-tools? - kernel snap build scripts - flash-kernel - rpiboot - ... ...Juerg
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