Dev1 Galaxy Forum / [Solved] ascii - unneeded firmware

Re: [Solved] ascii - unneeded firmware

dummy@example.com (Altoid) — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 10:42:27 +0000

Hello:

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

... a convenience ...

OK.

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

See for yourself:

apt --simulate --autoremove purge firmware-amd-graphics

[root@devuan ~]# apt --simulate --autoremove purge firmware-amd-graphics
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  amd64-microcode* firmware-amd-graphics* firmware-linux* firmware-linux-nonfree* intel-microcode* iucode-tool*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 6 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Purg amd64-microcode [3.20160316.3]
Purg firmware-linux [20190114-2~deb9u1]
Purg firmware-linux-nonfree [20190114-2~deb9u1]
Purg firmware-amd-graphics [20190114-2~deb9u1]
Purg intel-microcode [3.20200616.1~deb9u1]
Purg iucode-tool [2.1.1-1]

[root@devuan ~]# apt install amd64-microcode
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
amd64-microcode is already the newest version (3.20160316.3).
amd64-microcode set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
[root@devuan ~]# apt install intel-microcode
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
intel-microcode is already the newest version (3.20200616.1~deb9u1).
intel-microcode set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
[root@devuan ~]# apt install iucode-tool
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
iucode-tool is already the newest version (2.1.1-1).
iucode-tool set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
[root@devuan ~]#

[root@devuan ~]# apt --simulate --autoremove purge firmware-amd-graphics
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  firmware-amd-graphics* firmware-linux* firmware-linux-nonfree*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 3 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Purg firmware-linux [20190114-2~deb9u1]
Purg firmware-linux-nonfree [20190114-2~deb9u1]
Purg firmware-amd-graphics [20190114-2~deb9u1]
[root@devuan ~]#

[root@devuan ~]# apt --autoremove purge firmware-amd-graphics
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  firmware-amd-graphics* firmware-linux* firmware-linux-nonfree*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 3 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 31.0 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] 
(Reading database ... 140831 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing firmware-linux (20190114-2~deb9u1) ...
Removing firmware-linux-nonfree (20190114-2~deb9u1) ...
Removing firmware-amd-graphics (20190114-2~deb9u1) ...
[root@devuan ~]#

That should do it. =-)
I'll come back if I hit a snag.

Edit: package amd64-microcode also removed without ill effects as I run on Intel hardware.

Thanks a lot for your input.

Cheers,

Re: [Solved] ascii - unneeded firmware

dummy@example.com (Head_on_a_Stick) — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 06:35:17 +0000

Altoid wrote:

According to Synaptic, both Removal and Complete removal will drag along the firmware-linux and firmware-linux-nonfree, both of which are meta-packages.

The firmware-linux metapackage has firmware-linux-nonfree as a dependency and that has firmware-amd-graphics as a dependency so you can't remove firmware-amd-graphics without removing the other metapackages because their dependencies won't be satisfied after it's removal.

Altoid wrote:

what for?

Metapackages are a convenience, that's all. There's no harm in having unneeded firmware packages on the system because they won't be loaded if the hardware that needs them isn't present.

Altoid wrote:

I think the only hardware that would need firmware would be Intel chipset with integrated e1000 and the Atheros wireless dongle which I am not using.

Confirm this theory with

# dmesg | grep firmware

^ That will show any firmware loaded by the kernel, you can then use this to find the packages that supply those files (replace $file with the actual filename(s) listed in dmesg):

dpkg -S $file

Altoid wrote:

Could I remove these three packages without wreaking havok?

See for yourself:

apt --simulate --autoremove purge firmware-amd-graphics

If any firmware packages that you need are removed by that (simulated) command then install them explicitly at the same time as removing the AMD graphics firmware (replace $package with the actual name(s) of the firmware package(s) you need):

# apt install --autoremove firmware-amd-graphics- intel-microcode $package

EDIT: you will need the Intel CPU µcode package (I presume you have an Intel processor).

[Solved] ascii - unneeded firmware

dummy@example.com (Altoid) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 23:42:16 +0000

Hello:

While running/checking updates today, I have seen that my installation contains a 31MB firmware-amd-graphics package.

But ...
I do not have any AMD hardware in my box and don't plan to get any.
My hardware may be dated but it works perfectly well. 8^° !

According to Synaptic, both Removal and Complete removal will drag along the firmware-linux and firmware-linux-nonfree, both of which are meta-packages.

Between the three of these packages, it's roughly 83MB.
No big deal, but what for?

I think the only hardware that would need firmware would be Intel chipset with integrated e1000 and the Atheros wireless dongle which I am not using.

Could I remove these three packages without wreaking havok?

TIA,