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Diffstat (limited to 'en/hardware/hardware-supported.xml')
| -rw-r--r-- | en/hardware/hardware-supported.xml | 31 |
1 files changed, 31 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/en/hardware/hardware-supported.xml b/en/hardware/hardware-supported.xml index 027c6bb79..1853dfc33 100644 --- a/en/hardware/hardware-supported.xml +++ b/en/hardware/hardware-supported.xml @@ -401,3 +401,34 @@ system. &supported-peripherals.xml; </sect1> + + <sect1 arch="not-s390" id="hardware-firmware"> + <title>Devices Requiring Firmware</title> +<para> + +Besides the availability of a device driver, some hardware also requires +so-called <firstterm>firmware</firstterm> or <firstterm>microcode</firstterm> +to be loaded into the device before it can become operational. This is most +common for network interface cards (especially wireless NICs), but for example +some USB devices and even some hard disk controllers also require firmware. + +</para><para> + +In most cases firmware is non-free according to the criteria used by the +&debian; project and thus cannot be included in the main distribution +or in the installation system. If the device driver itself is included in +the distribution and if &debian; legally can distribute the firmware, +it will often be available as a separate package from the non-free section +of the archive. + +</para><para> + +However, this does not mean that such hardware cannot be used during an +installation. Starting with &debian; 5.0, &d-i; supports loading +firmware files or packages containing firmware from a removable medium, +such as a floppy disk or USB stick. +See <xref linkend="loading-firmware"/> for detailed information on how to +load firmware files or packages during the installation. + +</para> + </sect1> |