Debian developers announced about testing the new non-free-firmware repository, in which From the Non-Free , packets with firmware. In the second alpha description installer Debian 12 “BookWorm” is given the possibility of a dynamic request for packets With firmware from the Non-Free-Firmware repository. The presence of a separate repository with firmware allows you to provide access to firmware without inclusion in the installation media of the general repository Non-Free.
In accordance with the previously carried out general vote, official images include both free firmware from the Main repository and proprietary firmware, previously available through the Non-Free repository. If there are equipment for which external firmware is required, the necessary proprietary firmware is loaded by default. For users who prefer only free software, at the loading stage, it is possible to disconnect the use of non -free firmware.
The required firmware is determined through the analysis of the kernel logs, which display the failures when loading the firmware (for example, “Failed to Load RTL_NIC/RTL8153A-3.FW”). The analysis of the log is carried out by the CHECK-MISSING-FIRMware script caused by the HW-Detect component. When determining the problems of loading the firmware, the script checks the Contents-Firmware index file, in which the names of firmware and packages are compared in which they can be found. If the index is missing, the firmware is searched through the overkill of the contents of the packages in the /Firmware catalog. If the package with the firmware is found, it is unpacked and the core modules are unpacked and loaded with it, after which the package with the firmware is added to the list of installed packages, and the Non-Free-Firmware repository is activated in the Apt.