Author Topic: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem - SOLVED  (Read 2590 times)

This install of Debian Buster 10.7 is not working properly, gets stuck and hangs during startup.

The problem seems to be the firmware ess/maestro3_assp_kernel.fw

Dmesg | grep maestro gives:
Code: [Select]
snd_maestro3 0000:02:09.0  set amp-gpio for ' '
snd_maestro3 0000:02:09.0  firmware: failed to load ess/maestro3_assp_kernel.fw (-2)
snd_maestro3 0000:02:09.0  Direct firmware load for ess/maestro3_assp_kernel.fw failed with error -2
snd_maestro3: probe of 0000:02:09.0 failed with error -2

I have edited /etc/apt/sources.list to include 'non-free', and then updated apt.
I have used wget to upload the fw file directly to /lib/firmware, then rebooted.

I'm still getting the error message about this firmware file.

The file designation has 'ess/' before the name.  Do I need to create a folder /lib/firmware/ess/ and place the fw file there for it to be detected?

What shall I try next? :-\
 

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #1 on: 28 December, 2020, 05:09:26 pm »
This install of Debian Buster 10.7 is not working properly, gets stuck and hangs during startup.

The problem seems to be the firmware ess/maestro3_assp_kernel.fw

Dmesg | grep maestro gives:
Code: [Select]
snd_maestro3 0000:02:09.0  set amp-gpio for ' '
snd_maestro3 0000:02:09.0  firmware: failed to load ess/maestro3_assp_kernel.fw (-2)
snd_maestro3 0000:02:09.0  Direct firmware load for ess/maestro3_assp_kernel.fw failed with error -2
snd_maestro3: probe of 0000:02:09.0 failed with error -2

I have edited /etc/apt/sources.list to include 'non-free', and then updated apt.
I have used wget to upload the fw file directly to /lib/firmware, then rebooted.

I'm still getting the error message about this firmware file.

The file designation has 'ess/' before the name.  Do I need to create a folder /lib/firmware/ess/ and place the fw file there for it to be detected?

What shall I try next? :-\
 

What does this say:

$ uname -a

I had a lot of issues with this on a recent install, and fixed it by installing a more recent kernel.

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #2 on: 28 December, 2020, 05:15:50 pm »
Hi again!

uname -a gives:

Code: [Select]
root@compaqdebian:~# uname-a
Linux compaqdebian 4.19.0-13-686-pae #1 SMP Debian 4.19.160-2 (2020-11-28) i686 GNU/Linux


Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #3 on: 28 December, 2020, 05:17:59 pm »
ESS maestro is an audio chip, missing firmware is unlikely to cause Debian to fail to boot.

Yes, I believe you do need to put the firmware file in ess/.

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #4 on: 28 December, 2020, 05:21:51 pm »
ESS maestro is an audio chip, missing firmware is unlikely to cause Debian to fail to boot.

Yes, I believe you do need to put the firmware file in ess/.

It could cause things to hang and get grumpy tho.

Make sure that you have the right kernel version and firmware version, that the firmware is in the right place.

Or remove it entirely, and try not to load any sound stuff (depending how critical sound is to you).

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #5 on: 28 December, 2020, 05:33:27 pm »
Error -2 is ENOENT no such file, i.e. the kernel is not finding the file and is already treating it as not present. I'd be surprised if it is the cause of a boot failure.

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #6 on: 28 December, 2020, 05:34:45 pm »
Error -2 is ENOENT no such file, i.e. the kernel is not finding the file and is already treating it as not present. I'd be surprised if it is the cause of a boot failure.

Fair point.

What's the rest of dmesg saying?

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #7 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:06:37 pm »
Thanks for the help so far.

Well. I've created /ess folders in /lib/firmware, and also in /usr/local/lib/firmware, and copied the file to both locations, with no change.  It's still not finding it.

I take the point that this would not prevent the system from booting.

As far as dmesg is concerned, I'm a bit stuck with that.  The boot process hangs just after apparently successfully starting 'GNOME Display Manager', as shown in this view.  (Can't get the picture clearer, I'm afraid).  I don't know how to get to display dmesg when it's hanging like this.

I can, of course, reboot in recovery mode and then access dmesg, but surely that would be showing the trail of that reboot into Recovery Mode, and not the normal boot process?  Shall I access that anyway?

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #8 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:08:26 pm »
If it's that far on in the boot process, I'd expect it to be writing to /var/log/syslog.  Have a look at that.

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #9 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:09:36 pm »
If it's that far on in the boot process, I'd expect it to be writing to /var/log/syslog.  Have a look at that.

Got to get into Recovery Mode to do that.  Is that OK?

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware?
« Reply #10 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:11:49 pm »
If it's that far on in the boot process, I'd expect it to be writing to /var/log/syslog.  Have a look at that.

Got to get into Recovery Mode to do that.  Is that OK?

Can't remember if /var is mounted automatically in recovery mode, but if necessary you ought to be able to mount it to have a look...

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #11 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:21:30 pm »
That's got well beyond booting and is into userspace. When it hangs you could try pressing the key combination Alt + F2 (or perhaps Ctrl+Alt+F2) to get another terminal with a login prompt. You should be able to log in and look at /var/log/syslog or perhaps run journalctl.

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #12 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:23:53 pm »
OK, /var/log/syslog seems to be cumulative, as has entries from several days' trying.

Can I delete it, reboot, and get entries just for one boot process?  Will the system automatically recreate syslog?

From the last entries, system seems to be going to sleep and 'Starting Suspend...'

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #13 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:25:39 pm »
That's got well beyond booting and is into userspace. When it hangs you could try pressing the key combination Alt + F2 (or perhaps Ctrl+Alt+F2) to get another terminal with a login prompt. You should be able to log in and look at /var/log/syslog or perhaps run journalctl.

Yep, that's well into the X config error territory.

Do you have any chickens? black candles? Knife with an obsidian blade? Cos X debugging is well into the black magic territory, and you may need to consider live stock sacrifices...

Also, do you have the firmware loaded (if needed) for the video card...

OK, /var/log/syslog seems to be cumulative, as has entries from several days' trying.

Can I delete it, reboot, and get entries just for one boot process?  Will the system automatically recreate syslog?

From the last entries, system seems to be going to sleep and 'Starting Suspend...'

The entries should be time stamped:

Dec 28 18:17:01 Rook CRON[21779]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)

Just check what your system date is,

$ date

So you know where to look.

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #14 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:32:41 pm »
Yes, you can delete, or rename, syslog.

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #15 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:34:22 pm »
System is showing correct date and time.

How do I extract entries from the start of the latest boot record?

Last entry before hanging seems to be:
Dec 28 17:50:05  compaqdebian systemd[1]: Started Cleanup of Temporary Directories

Then there's a 26-minute gap

Then I think the final entries are me stopping the system in order to reboot:
Dec 28 18:16:25  compaqdebian  NetworkManager[372]: <info> [1609179385.0806] manager: sleep: sleep requested (sleeping: no  enabled: yes)

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #16 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:36:38 pm »
System is showing correct date and time.

How do I extract entries from the start of the latest boot record?

Last entry before hanging seems to be:
Dec 28 17:50:05  compaqdebian systemd[1]: Started Cleanup of Temporary Directories

Then there's a 26-minute gap

Then I think the final entries are me stopping the system in order to reboot:
Dec 28 18:16:25  compaqdebian  NetworkManager[372]: <info> [1609179385.0806] manager: sleep: sleep requested (sleeping: no  enabled: yes)

How many entries do you have in there?

# dmesg | less

is likely to contain some useful info.

/var/log/Xorg.0.log

may also have useful stuff

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #17 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:43:09 pm »
It's a laptop, did the installation install loptop-mode-tools? That might be aggressively sending the machine into a power saving mode.

If systemd is triggering the suspend then you might be able to disable it (at least until you work out what is going wrong):

 systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target hybrid-sleep.target

I don't know much about systemd's sleep/suspend, but there is a man page

  man systemd-sleep.conf

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #18 on: 28 December, 2020, 06:46:24 pm »
Deleted syslog and rebooted, so have fresh syslog, but it's still huge.

Last entry:
systemd[551]: Startup finished in 285ms.

Will try other suggestions in a bit, when I've had something to eat!

Afasoas

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #19 on: 28 December, 2020, 07:59:55 pm »
Deleted syslog and rebooted, so have fresh syslog, but it's still huge.

Last entry:
systemd[551]: Startup finished in 285ms.

Will try other suggestions in a bit, when I've had something to eat!

You can try narrowing down the logs by searching for the approximate timestamp at which the system last failed to boot/froze etc.
For example,

Code: [Select]
sudo grep '^Dec 28 19:2' /var/log/syslog

If that is still too shouty, you can start to filter things out. So in this example, I am filtering out anything to do with CRON, NetworkManager, nm-dispatcher:

Code: [Select]
sudo grep '^Dec 28 19:2' /var/log/syslog | grep -vP '(NetworkManager|nm-dispatcher|CRON)'

Afasoas

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #20 on: 28 December, 2020, 08:04:47 pm »
On the missing firmware, what result do you get when you run:

Code: [Select]
lsmod | grep 'maestro3'

?


Also, there is a debian wiki page which is (a) old and (b) talks about downloading source code and compiling drivers. It is step-by-step.
https://wiki.debian.org/snd-maestro3


Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #21 on: 28 December, 2020, 09:36:48 pm »
On the missing firmware, what result do you get when you run:

Code: [Select]
lsmod | grep 'maestro3'

?

Result of lsmod | grep 'maestro3' is:

Code: [Select]
snd_maestro3               24576       0
snd_ac97_codec           98304       1    snd_maestro3
snd_pcm                        81920       2    snd_ac97_codec,snd_maestro3
snd                                 61440       4    snd_ac97,snd_timer,snd_maestro3,snd_pcm


Also, there is a debian wiki page which is (a) old and (b) talks about downloading source code and compiling drivers. It is step-by-step.
https://wiki.debian.org/snd-maestro3

That looks promising for another session!

Afasoas

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #22 on: 28 December, 2020, 09:50:59 pm »
On the missing firmware, what result do you get when you run:

Code: [Select]
lsmod | grep 'maestro3'

?

Result of lsmod | grep 'maestro3' is:

Code: [Select]
snd_maestro3               24576       0
snd_ac97_codec           98304       1    snd_maestro3
snd_pcm                        81920       2    snd_ac97_codec,snd_maestro3
snd                                 61440       4    snd_ac97,snd_timer,snd_maestro3,snd_pcm


Also, there is a debian wiki page which is (a) old and (b) talks about downloading source code and compiling drivers. It is step-by-step.
https://wiki.debian.org/snd-maestro3

That looks promising for another session!

hmmm... looking at that lsmod output, it looks like you have the modules loaded. ???

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #23 on: 28 December, 2020, 10:05:44 pm »
I've just noticed that you are using a 32-bit installation, i386 rather than amd64. Was that a deliberate decision? Is this an old laptop that doesn't support 64-bits? If the hardware supports 64-bits then a 64-bit installation is more likely to work, the 32-bit code gets less testing these days.

Re: Debian Direct Load of Non-free Firmware? Also boot problem
« Reply #24 on: 28 December, 2020, 10:35:31 pm »
I've just noticed that you are using a 32-bit installation, i386 rather than amd64. Was that a deliberate decision? Is this an old laptop that doesn't support 64-bits? If the hardware supports 64-bits then a 64-bit installation is more likely to work, the 32-bit code gets less testing these days.

Yes, I'm trying to get an old machine going.