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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,
A.
Last edited by Altoid (2020-10-13 16:03:50)
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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.
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.
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
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).
Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2020-10-13 06:39:39)
Brianna Ghey — Rest In Power
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Hello:
... a convenience ...
OK.
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,
A.
Last edited by Altoid (2020-10-13 16:03:18)
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