rtl88x2bu.tcz is deprecated, firmware-rtlwifi.tcz needs fixing

[GNUser]

Hello forum. Just a heads-up that the rtl88x2bu.tcz extension should be removed from the TCL16 repos. The relevant wifi devices are now supported by the rtw88 driver, which is in-kernel (woo-hoo!) and provided by wireless-KERNEL.tcz.

On a related note, firmware-rtlwifi.tcz needs a small fix. The new rtw88 driver seems hardwired to look for firmware inside /lib/firmware/rtw88. If firmware is inside /usr/local/lib/firmware/rtw88, the driver cannot find it:

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$ dmesg | grep firmware
...
[   39.660222] rtw_8822bu 3-2:1.0: Direct firmware load for rtw88/rtw8822b_fw.bin failed with error -2
[  100.387244] rtw_8822bu 3-2:1.0: failed to request firmware
[  100.387278] rtw_8822bu 3-2:1.0: failed to load firmware
[  338.528686] rtw_8822bu 3-2:1.0: Direct firmware load for rtw88/rtw8822b_fw.bin failed with error -2If I move the /usr/local/lib/firmware/rtw88 directory in firmware-rtlwifi.tcz to /lib/firmware/rtw88 then the firmware is found and my device works as expected. Please make this small fix to firmware-rtlwifi.tcz.

P.S. firmware-rtlwifi.tcz contains a second firmware directory, namely /usr/local/lib/firmware/rtlwifi. I don't have any devices that use those, so cannot test whether that directory can stay where it is or whether it also needs to be moved (to /lib/firmware/rtlwifi).

[Rich]

Hi GNUser
rtl88x2bu.tcz removed from TC16.

[GNUser]

Thanks, Rich. Can you also please move the /usr/local/lib/firmware/rtw88 directory in firmware-rtlwifi.tcz to /lib/firmware/rtw88?

[Rich]

Hi GNUser

... The new rtw88 driver seems hardwired to look for firmware inside /lib/firmware/rtw88. ...

I don't think so. I ran this against the TC16 kernel source package:

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grep -rs "lib\/firmware" Kernel16.x/linux-6.12.11/*There wasn't a  "usr/local"  to be found anywhere.
I ran the same search against the TC10 kernel source with the same results.
The kernel config files don't list a firmware directory either.

I did find this in /lib/udev/firmware.sh:

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FIRMWARE_DIRS="/lib/firmware /usr/local/lib/firmware"
/lib/udev/firmware.sh gets called by /etc/udev/rules.d/50-firmware.rules.

I think these 2 files are used to load firmware from extensions.

Are you loading  firmware-rtlwifi.tcz  before  wireless-KERNEL.tcz?

[GNUser]

Are you loading  firmware-rtlwifi.tcz  before  wireless-KERNEL.tcz?

Yes.

When testing  firmware-rtlwifi.tcz  as it currently exists in repo (i.e., with firmware in /usr/local/lib/firmware/rtw88/) I get "firmware load failed" errors in dmesg and device doesn't work. I tried loading  firmware-rtlwifi.tcz  before  wireless-KERNEL.tcz  as well as after  wireless-KERNEL.tcz  with same result.

My "/lib/firmware mod" of  firmware-rtlwifi.tcz  can be loaded before or after  wireless-KERNEL.tcz  . Either way, there are no "firmware load failed" errors in dmesg and device works perfectly.

Oh, well. I just wanted to report this in hope of helping other users. I'm all set with this.