Re: git: cf94672363d6 - main - rtw88/rtw89: remove local firmware.

On Wed, 6 Sep 2023, John Baldwin wrote:

> On 9/5/23 2:16 PM, Bjoern A. Zeeb wrote:
>> The branch main has been updated by bz:
>> 
>> URL: 
>> https://cgit.FreeBSD.org/src/commit/?id=cf94672363d6638b7268c05b4628b62bbfc8dbe5
>> 
>> commit cf94672363d6638b7268c05b4628b62bbfc8dbe5
>> Author:     Bjoern A. Zeeb <bz@FreeBSD.org>
>> AuthorDate: 2023-06-08 21:35:09 +0000
>> Commit:     Bjoern A. Zeeb <bz@FreeBSD.org>
>> CommitDate: 2023-09-05 21:13:18 +0000
>>
>>      rtw88/rtw89: remove local firmware.
>>           Remove firmware from src/ in favor of the ports/packages and 
>> fwget(8).
>>      This will allow us to shrink the size of src (and installed modules).
>>      Update the rtw88 man page to reflect the change.
>
> How does this interfact with doing an install to a machine over one of these 
> interfaces?

That's nothing we support.  At least we do not support netboot over wifi
currently, so you'll always need another install media.

How's the "bootstrapping" going to work if wireless is the only network
option?

> Will the install media need to have the suitable firmare packages 
> pre-installed in the image?

Yes.  Basically for all supported chipsets as if we'd ship them from
src (*).  But you'd likely only do this on the memstick image.

(*) and then we'll one day face the problem that we may not be able to
and need yet another way, but that for then.

And then as a 2nd part, bsdinstall (with networking avail) needs to go
and fwget from inside the installed system.  All kind-of ugly incl. pkg
bootstrapping, but the only way unless one wants to bring in packages
on a physical install media as well.


> I'm not sure that's something we do today in our install images?

No, we do not.

And 14.0 will not provide all of that.  That's the reason I've done this
in 15 after the branch and left 14/13 open as an X-MFC question.
That's also the reason iwlwifi firmware is still in the tree.

I've slowly been discussing some of the issues with core@, re@ and
others over the last ... hmm.. 18? months -- basically since I was asked
if we can stop shipping an extra ~140MB++ of wifi firmware in src and
things are slowly moving in the right directions.

/bz

-- 
Bjoern A. Zeeb                                                     r15:7