How to Add Missing Firmware

The BSP may already include the driver for a module while its firmware file is missing from the image. In this case the driver fails to probe, or the kernel log reports firmware: failed to load.

This guide shows how to add the missing firmware to a Yocto image. It requires the BSP source workspace. If you only have a flashed image, please contact Innodisk for an updated image.

1. Find the Missing File

Check the kernel log for the missing file name:

$ dmesg | grep -i firmware

For example: iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0-83.ucode.

2. Check Whether Upstream Has It

Search for the file name in the upstream linux-firmware repository, then check whether the linux-firmware recipe in your BSP workspace provides it:

$ bitbake -e linux-firmware | grep ^PACKAGES=

• The file is in a linux-firmware-* package: use Option A.
• The file is missing, or the recipe version is too old: use Option B.

Option A: Enable the linux-firmware Package

1. 1
   Add the matching package to your image, in local.conf or the image recipe:

   {{ mc3.fname }}text

   IMAGE_INSTALL:append = " linux-firmware-iwlwifi"

   Replace linux-firmware-iwlwifi with the package that provides your file.
2. 2
   Rebuild the image and flash it.
3. 3
   Boot and run dmesg | grep -i firmware to confirm the error is gone.

Option B: Write a Firmware Recipe

1. 1
   Put the firmware files in the files/ folder of a new recipe, for example recipes-apps/<module>-fw/files/.
2. 2
   Write the recipe. Use recipes-apps/ax210ngw-fw/ax210ngw-fw.bb in meta-innodisk-iq as an example. It does three things: - lists the files in SRC_URI - installs them to ${nonarch_base_libdir}/firmware/ in do_install - lists the installed files in FILES:${PN}
3. 3
   Add the recipe to your image:

   {{ mc4.fname }}text

   IMAGE_INSTALL:append = " <module>-fw"

4. 4
   Rebuild the image and flash it.
5. 5
   Boot and run dmesg | grep -i firmware to confirm the error is gone.