BookwormPup64 10.0.8

[JusGellin]

@bigpup
Thanks

[JusGellin]

Driver loaded (and currently in use): vesa

Xorg was unable to find a proper driver for your new hardware and reverted to vesa graphics mode. You need a newer Puppy.

@rcrsn51 @bigpup
What kind of things can do in the meantime?
Right now when BookwormPup64_10.0.8 is installed, the only setting is 1920x1200 and 77hz refresh rate.
That's pretty tiny text and icons.
Am I stuck with this or is there any other option I could use in spite of this?

Thanks for your help.

[gychang]

@rcrsn51 @bigpup
What kind of things can do in the meantime?
Right now when BookwormPup64_10.0.8 is installed, the only setting is 1920x1200 and 77hz refresh rate.
That's pretty tiny text and icons.
Am I stuck with this or is there any other option I could use in spite of this?

Worth trying increasing the number in .Xresouces, mine is set 144?

! Optimum sharpness/font size http://dpi.lv/ (?x24)
Xft.dpi: 144

after saving xrdb -merge .Xresources to reset.

[peebee]

What kind of things can do in the meantime?

the Bookworm kernel is 6.1.x which is probably too old for your hardware. Needs 6.6 +

You could try the Trixie kernel which is 6.11.x from:
https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... 1622444108 (Github login required to download)

[JusGellin]

It looks like I really goofed!

I saw this really good laptop that I thought would really meet my needs for a long time.
I thought I would splurge on one I was looking at that was from this year and had a great discount.
This is a Dell Inspiron 14 7440 2-in1 laptop.
Just a beautiful little laptop and powerful.
But I wanted to only use it with Linux and not the Win11 it came with.
I didn't think it would have any problems converting over to Linux -- sigh!

But it's looking like it is yet too new for Linux.
I'm not sure what I am going to do with this now.
I sure don't want to run windows.
I don't know enough how to do much more than just install existing Linux.

Thanks

[bigpup]

Give it some time.
Linux takes a little time to adapt to the very newest hardware.

changing to a newer kernel is what you need.

I see you are using version 10.0.7 of BookwormPup64.

Try using bookwormPup64 10.0.8

It is using a slightly newer kernel than 10.0.7

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For small size stuff on the desktop issue.

Menu ->Desktop ->JWMDesk ->Screen Font

Try making font bigger in size.

For the setting change to be used, you need to restart graphical server.
menu ->Leave ->Restart Graphical Server

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To try to get a lower resolution setting.

menu ->Leave ->Exit to prompt

Run xorgwizard
Choose vesa driver
Set resolution to what you want
Set color depth to 24
Close Xorgwizard.

Enter xwin to get back to the desktop.

[JusGellin]

@bigpup
Thanks for those suggestions.
I'll give them a try

I really appreciate everyone's help.

[wizard]

@JusGellin

Have an old 14" converted Acer Chromebook that is more stable at 1920x1080. As you noted, that default desktop is to small (certainly for my eyes) on a 14" screen. Manipulated the following and was able to improve it greatly:

-gtk theme switcher font
-Conky font
-jwm global font
-jwm tray geometry
-Rox options

wizard

Original Desktop

1920orig.jpg (20.85 KiB) Viewed 1869 times

Modified Desktop

1920.jpg (36.58 KiB) Viewed 1869 times

[JusGellin]

@wizard
Thanks, I'll play around with them.

[Clarity]

Hi @JusGellin

I wouldn't be discouraged in your purchase. As the members are sharing good information on some changes that will address your problem; both now and into the LInux future
.

I going to go out on a limb and offer a solution, "I think".

Further, I think you already have everything to make a quick check : namely your Ventoy USB and your testing with KL distros from the forum. Add the following to your Ventoy USB in its "BOOTISOS" folder and boot:
KLA-KDE ( stable release ) from this forum location

You will find much joy in, not just the ease operations on your PC but, the performance.

Enjoy

[JusGellin]

Hi @JusGellin

I wouldn't be discouraged in your purchase. As the members are sharing good information on some changes that will address your problem; both now and into the LInux future
. JusGellin wrote -> Yes, it's been great for this help. I'm getting new things to try. I think I'm making progress. Thanks for the encouragement..
I going to go out on a limb and offer a solution, "I think".

Further, I think you already have everything to make a quick check : namely your Ventoy USB and your testing with KL distros from the forum. Add the following to your Ventoy USB in its "BOOTISOS" folder and boot:
KLA-KDE ( stable release ) from this forum location

You will find much joy in, not just the ease operations on your PC but, the performance.
JusGellin wrote -> I like trying things like this. Thanks as always for your help.

Enjoy

[JusGellin]

I should mention that I also was working on KLV-vmHost-rc4 on this same laptop.
It wouldn't boot initially until that part was resolved.

Re: Testing KLV-vmHost, Designed for Hosting VM's
viewtopic.php?p=134916#p134916

Once it booted, it could access different display resolutions like it should for the laptop even though BookwormPup can't.

Now, I'm having problems making wifi work on it. - but that works for BookwormPup!

[JusGellin]

Hi @JusGellin

I wouldn't be discouraged in your purchase. As the members are sharing good information on some changes that will address your problem; both now and into the LInux future
. JusGellin wrote -> Yes, it's been great for this help. I'm getting new things to try. I think I'm making progress. Thanks for the encouragement..
I going to go out on a limb and offer a solution, "I think".

Further, I think you already have everything to make a quick check : namely your Ventoy USB and your testing with KL distros from the forum. Add the following to your Ventoy USB in its "BOOTISOS" folder and boot:
KLA-KDE ( stable release ) from this forum location

You will find much joy in, not just the ease operations on your PC but, the performance.
JusGellin wrote -> I like trying things like this. Thanks as always for your help.

Enjoy

I tried this from Ventoy.
Using normal boot mode - It acts like since I have KLV-vmHost-rc4 installed on the internal drive, it goes to that one to boot.
Using SG2D mode - It boots the KLA-KDE but hangs up before it gets fully booted. It stops at where it says:

Reached target Network is Online.
Starting Run mycommand at shutdown...
Finished Run mycommand at shutdown.

Then just a flashing cursor - it doesn't take any typing.

[l0wt3ch]

Nice distro!

Good job you guys

[JusGellin]

How can I install the correct display driver to get 1920x1200 resolution?
The graphics is Intel Raptor Lake-U [Intel Graphics] [8086:a7ac]
When I boot to this computer, the only resolution it lists is 800x600 75Hz - nothing else

Thanks

This is a follow up on the above having a problem with only getting one resolution on a new computer.
Look what happens when I install BW10.0.8 as a virtual machine - It gives all the resolutions.

Here's when a frugal install of BW10.0.8 on the internal drive:
BookwormPup64_10.0.8 Won't change resolutions

Code: Select all

# inxi -Fxxxz
System:    Host: puppypc29543 Kernel: 6.1.106 x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: JWM 2.4.3 dm: N/A
           Distro: BookwormPup64 10.0.8
Machine:   Device: un-determined System: Dell product: Inspiron 14 7440 2-in-1 Chassis: type: 31
           Mobo: Dell model: 02D62P v: A00 UEFI: Dell v: 1.7.0 date: 07/03/2024
Battery    BAT0: charge: 41.3 Wh 100.0% condition: 41.3/41.3 Wh (100%) volts: 17.4/15.2
           model: BYD DELL JGCCT45 Li-poly serial: 194 status: Not charging cycles: 8
CPU:       Deca core Intel Core 7 150U (-MCP-) cache: 12288 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 52224
           clock speeds: min/max: 400/5400 MHz 1: 1129 MHz 2: 400 MHz 3: 693 MHz 4: 400 MHz 5: 932 MHz
           6: 400 MHz 7: 400 MHz 8: 708 MHz 9: 400 MHz 10: 400 MHz 11: 400 MHz 12: 400 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Raptor Lake-U [Intel Graphics] bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:a7ac
           Display Server: X.org 1.21.1.7 drivers: fbdev,vesa (unloaded: modesetting)
           tty size: 237x65 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card Intel Raptor Lake-P/U/H cAVS driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:51ca
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k6.1.106
Network:   Card: Intel Raptor Lake PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:51f1
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: NA (-)
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 model: N/A size: 1024.2GB serial: N/A
Partition: ID-1: / size: 13G used: 740M (6%) fs: overlay dev: N/A
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 16.05GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:   None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info:      Processes: 205 Uptime: 14 min Memory: 658.9/15669.1MB
           Init: SysVinit v: N/A runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 12.2.0
           Client: Shell (bash 5.2.151 running in lxterminal) inxi: 2.3.8 

Code: Select all

# xrandr
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 1920 x 1200, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 1920 x 1200
default connected 1920x1200+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   1920x1200     77.00* 

===============================================================================================================
Here's how it works properly on the same laptop:
New Dell Laptop as vm

Code: Select all

# inxi -Fxxxz
System:    Host: puppypc8351 Kernel: 6.1.106 x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: JWM 2.4.3 dm: N/A
           Distro: BookwormPup64 10.0.8
Machine:   Device: qemu-or-kvm System: QEMU product: Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9 2009) v: pc-q35-9.1
           Mobo: N/A model: N/A BIOS: SeaBIOS v: rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org date: 04/01/2014
           Chassis: type: 1 v: pc-q35-9.1
CPU(s):    2 Single core Intel Core 7 150Us (-HT-SMP-) cache: 32768 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 10444
           clock speeds: max: 2611 MHz 1: 2611 MHz 2: 2611 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Red Hat Virtio 1.0 GPU bus-ID: 00:01.0 chip-ID: 1af4:1050
           Display Server: X.org 1.21.1.7 drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           tty size: 131x30 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card Intel 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:293e
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k6.1.106
Network:   Card: Red Hat Virtio 1.0 network device driver: virtio-pci v: 1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1af4:1041
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: -1 duplex: unknown mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 134.7GB (35.5% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: QEMU_HARDDISK size: 10.7GB serial: QM00003
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: USB_3.2.1_FD size: 124.0GB serial: 071C272F2F137A97-0:0
Partition: ID-1: / size: 2.2G used: 724M (34%) fs: overlay dev: N/A
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.01GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:   None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info:      Processes: 141 Uptime: 22 min Memory: 366.0/1958.1MB
           Init: SysVinit v: N/A runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 12.2.0
           Client: Shell (bash 5.2.151 running in lxterminal) inxi: 2.3.8 

Code: Select all

# xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 8192 x 8192
Virtual-1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 325mm x 203mm
   1280x800      74.99 +
   5120x2160     50.00  
   4096x2160     50.00  
   3840x2160     60.00    50.00    59.94  
   1920x1440     60.00  
   2560x1080     50.00  
   1856x1392     60.00  
   1792x1344     60.00  
   2048x1152     60.00  
   1920x1200     59.88  
   1920x1080     60.00*   50.00  
   1600x1200     60.00  
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1400x1050     59.98  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1360x768      60.02  
   1280x768      59.87  
   1024x768      60.00  
   800x600       60.32  
   640x480       60.00    59.94

It's intriguing to me that the virtual machine works properly.
It makes me think that there has to be a graphic driver that should work when this is installed hard metal on this new laptop.
I just couldn't find what I need anywhere.

[JusGellin]

@bigpup :-

Would you not achieve the same effect by simply swapping the adrv, bdrv, fdrv, base Puppy SFS and the initrd.gz? No need to touch the zdrv, vmlinuz or kbuild SFS; if the kernel's functioning OK with your hardware, why bother upgrading just for the sake of a few 'point release' numbers? This IS an LTS kernel, after all....

Mike.

This is in reference to the above post I made about a new laptop that could only get one resolution with BW10.0.8.

If I were to do what you said, where would I get adrv, bdrv, fdrv, base Puppy SFS and the initrd.gz to do this?
That sounds intriguing to me as well.

Thanks

[mikeslr]

T'other Mike may be on to something. But I doubt swapping adrv, bdrv are necessary. Adrv only contains the web-browser and bdrv apt/synaptic and their dependencies. zdrv holds hardware drivers and BookwormPup64 10.0.8 works to some extent with your graphic card or you wouldn't have any graphic display. Hopefully, then, the problem is not having the proper firmware. fdrv holds firmware.

Ozsouth posted links to some new fdrvs here https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 35#p121635, including his 28oct24 med (65mb) USRMERGE, downloadable from https://www.mediafire.com/file/cxdv3gla ... m.sfs/file. As he noted "ALL MUST BE RENAMED TO SUIT PUPPY TO BE USED IN". For BookwormPup64 10.0.8 that would be fdrv_dpupbw64_10.0.8.sfs.

If that doesn't work, my first two posts on this thread, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=5374 have links to fdrv repos. One leads to gyrog's rather complete (452 Mb) set updated 20240903, https://www.mediafire.com/folder/k2j223jzddy9x/firmware. I'm guessing that the 2nd downloadable with the designation 'usr' in its name is appropriate for a 'user-merged' Puppy like Bookworm.

[JusGellin]

T'other Mike may be on to something. But I doubt swapping adrv, bdrv are necessary. Adrv only contains the web-browser and bdrv apt/synaptic and their dependencies. zdrv holds hardware drivers and BookwormPup64 10.0.8 works to some extent with your graphic card or you wouldn't have any graphic display. Hopefully, then, the problem is not having the proper firmware. fdrv holds firmware.

Ozsouth posted links to some new fdrvs here https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 35#p121635, including his 28oct24 med (65mb) USRMERGE, downloadable from https://www.mediafire.com/file/cxdv3gla ... m.sfs/file. As he noted "ALL MUST BE RENAMED TO SUIT PUPPY TO BE USED IN". For BookwormPup64 10.0.8 that would be fdrv_dpupbw64_10.0.8.sfs.

If that doesn't work, my first two posts on this thread, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=5374 have links to fdrv repos. One leads to gyrog's rather complete (452 Mb) set updated 20240903, https://www.mediafire.com/folder/k2j223jzddy9x/firmware. I'm guessing that the 2nd downloadable with the designation 'usr' in its name is appropriate for a 'user-merged' Puppy like Bookworm.

I've tried all of the above with my new laptop with no success for the graphics display being able to change to different resolutions when using BookwormPup64_10.0.8

I've tried Linux Mint 22 and Linux Lite 7.2 which use kernel 6.8 that works fine. So the least I could tell, kernel 6.8 works properly.

So can I change BookwormPup64.10.0.8 from its kernel of 6.1.106 to at least kernel 6.8.8?
If so, I'll need help to accomplish that. I would like to learn how to do this and where to find at least that kernel.

Thanks

[bert07]

@JusGellin

You might try editing the xorg.conf and set de resolution to 1440x900

If you have no xorg.conf file, you can create one, and edit it. For ease of use you can just copy mine, alter it to your needs, save it and make it exicutable. Don't forget the latter!

Code: Select all

# eudev
# pre-constructed xorg.conf, for use by /usr/sbin/xorgwizard-automatic
#
# - special xorg.conf template to be used with udev
# - udev adds input devices that are used by the xorg evdev driver
# - however the xorg gui/cli will still be functional to change
#   screen resolution, bit depth, etc..

# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this  section  is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************
#
Section "Module"

	# This loads the DBE extension module.
	Load        "dbe"  	# Double buffer extension

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Files section.  This allows default font paths to be set
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"

	# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed
	FontPath   "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc/"
	FontPath   "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1/"
	FontPath   "/usr/share/X11/fonts/TTF/"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerFlags"

	# Enables mode switching with xrandr
	Option "RandR" "on"

	# With this, Xorg talks to udev to add evdev devices
	Option "AutoAddDevices" "true"

	# Xorg 7.4, Ubuntu Jaunty, CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE is disabled by default...
	Option "DontZap" "false"

EndSection

# ===============================================================

Section "InputClass"
	Identifier "keyboard-all"
	MatchIsKeyboard "on"
	MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
	Driver      "evdev"
	Option      "XkbRules" "evdev"
	Option      "XkbModel" "pc105" #xkbmodel0
	Option      "XkbLayout" "be-latin1" #xkeymap0
	#Option      "XkbVariant" "" #xkbvariant0
	Option      "XkbOptions" "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp" #xkboptions0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor0"
	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
#	HorizSync    35-81
#	VertRefresh  59-76
	#UseModes     "Modes0" #monitor0usemodes
#	Option      "PreferredMode" "1024x768" #monitor0prefmode
	EndSection
	
Section "Modes"
	Identifier "Modes0"
	#modes0modeline0
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Card0"
#	Driver      "vesa" #card0driver
#	VendorName  "Unknown Vendor"
#	BoardName   "Unknown Board"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
#	DefaultDepth 24
	#Option         "metamodes" "1280x800_60 +0+0" #METAMODES_0
	Subsection "Display"
#		Depth       24 #screen0depth
		Modes       "1440x900" #screen0modes
	EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "X.org config"
	Screen         "Screen0"
#	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
#	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Perhaps this does the trick.
Good luck!

[bert07]

@JusGellin

You have a 1920x1200 screen which is a 16:10 screen.
1440x900 is also 16:10 but better readable.
I use a font dpi of 102 and the DejaVu Sans font.

I have also a 1920x screen, and I'll attach a screenshot for how it looks here as 1440x900.

---+---

[JusGellin]

@bert07
Your display for 1440x900 looks to be a good font and icon size and very clear.

I tried setting the xorg.conf to that resolution, but it doesn't work.
That's the problem I have - I can't set any other resolution than the default 1920x1200.

I'm hoping a newer kernel can help me.
Booting other linux distros with newer kernels allow me to change the resolution.

Thanks for your information.

[Jasper]

Hey

Conpile the kernel yourself, with your hardware it will not take long.

Ask for assistance if needed.

What boot stanza are you using gor Qemu?

Are you usng a generic display driver within the command?

[JusGellin]

@Jasper
I really need help to do this. Thanks
This will be on bare metal install of frugal BookwormPup64.10.0.8

I tried a few distros to see what kernel may work for my new laptop pc.
KLV-vmHost-rc4 with kernel 6.10.10 loads a graphic driver that works
Linux Mint 22 and Linux Lite 7.2 both have kernels 6.8.0 that work for the graphics.

BookwormPup64.10.0.8 has kernel 6.1.106 that doesn't work.
So from this I figure I need a kernel of at least 6.8.0

The following is my grub.cfg for a frugal install of BookwormPup64_10.0.8:

Code: Select all

#
set default=0
set timeout=5

set menu_color_normal='yellow/blue'
set menu_color_highlight='black/cyan'

loadfont /boot/grub/fonts/DejaVuSansMono18.pf2
set gfxmode=auto
terminal_output gfxterm

menuentry "Puppy dpupbw64 10.0.8" {
  insmod ext2
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 126502cc-26df-494c-be67-f5e4d809974f
  echo "Loading vmlinuz"
  linux /BookwormPup64_10.0.8/vmlinuz net.ifnames=0 pmedia=ataflash pdrv=126502cc-26df-494c-be67-f5e4d809974f psubdir=/BookwormPup64_10.0.8 pfix=fsck,fsckp,trim TZ=MST7MDT,M3.2.0,M11.1.0
  if [ -e /BookwormPup64_10.0.8/local-initrd.gz ]; then
    set local_rd=/BookwormPup64_10.0.8/local-initrd.gz
  else
    set local_rd=
  fi
  if [ -e /BookwormPup64_10.0.8/ucode.cpio ]; then
    set ucode_rd=/BookwormPup64_10.0.8/ucode.cpio
    echo "Loading ucode.cpio and initrd.gz"
  else
    set ucode_rd=
    echo "Loading initrd.gz"
  fi
  initrd $ucode_rd /BookwormPup64_10.0.8/initrd.gz $local_rd
}
if [ $grub_platform = 'efi' ]; then
  menuentry "System BIOS setup" {
    fwsetup
  }
fi
menuentry "Shutdown computer" {
  halt
}
menuentry "Reboot computer" {
  reboot
}

[peebee]

kernel-kit-output-usrmerge-debian-trixie-x86_64

is k6.11.10

https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... 2101025848

you will need to be logged on to Github to download

[JusGellin]

kernel-kit-output-usrmerge-debian-trixie-x86_64

is k6.11.10

https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... 2101025848

you will need to be logged on to Github to download

I'm sorry. I'm not sure what I am supposed to do here.

I didn't see any download when I clicked on kernel-kit-output-usrmerge-debian-trixie-x86_64 Edit: I found the download and downloaded it.
Do I need to make a Github account to see the download?

Thanks

[JusGellin]

kernel-kit-output-usrmerge-debian-trixie-x86_64

is k6.11.10

https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... 2101025848

you will need to be logged on to Github to download

Great!
I figured out how how to install this kernel using change_kernels.
Now the graphic driver loads but I now lost wifi which Bookworm originally worked.
So I'm looking into that part now.

Thanks for helping me change the kernel.

[Jasper]

Kernel 6.11 firmware rolldown (fallback) issue

I found that, unlike 6.10 & earlier kernels, 6.11 seems to require exact firmware versions, whereas previously the system would rolldown several versions to find one that works. i.e. my Lenovo Ideadpad Slim 1i, with wifi6-ax, in s15pup64-240717, uses
iwlwifi-QuZ-a0-hr-b0-77.ucode
but in pre-6.11, any version would work, down to about
iwlwifi-QuZ-a0-hr-b0-48.ucode (I have v59 in my fdrv)
dmesg | grep iwlwifi
would show all the failed attempts till success. With 6.11, only v77 will work.

viewtopic.php?t=13098

So, if this is correct, you will need to identify the correct device and compile 'kernel specific' firmware for your WiFi.

[ozsouth]

@Jasper - firmware is posted on various sites (this one is good: https://github.com/endlessm/linux-firmware).
It is usually provided by equipment manufacturers. Recent iwlwifi is definitely an issue; other firmware may be.
Prior to kernel 6.11, if the exact firmware was not found, systems would search for a working earlier version, maybe trying a dozen or so. Now that doesn't happen. I have no idea if this is limited to a few wifi adaptors or is more general.

[JusGellin]

@Jasper @ozsouth

This was really interesting.
The problem that the graphics driver was not being loaded seemed to get resolved by using kernels 6.8 through this latest 6.11.10.
I could only tell these versions worked by using other linux distros to try out and see them working for that range.
I guess the graphics fix came directly from the kernel. But I was only able to test this for Bookworm64_10.0.8 using kernel 6.11.10 because I just learned how to load that kernel.

But the wifi seems to use the firmware from /user/lib/firmware according to what I could see happening from the dmesg logs.
Bookworm64_10.0.8 was originally able to connect to wifi using its default installed version for kernel 6.1.106 (but graphics didn't work).
It required these two files to make wifi work (from the dmesg logs):

Code: Select all

/usr/lib/firmware iwlwifi-so-a0-gf-a0.72.ucode
/usr/lib/firmware iwlwifi-so-a0-gf-a0.pnvm

When I replaced the kernel for BW to 6.11.10, wifi didn't work. The dmesg log looked for iwlwifi-so-a0-gf-a0.89.ucode through iwlwifi-so-a0-gf-a0.77.ucode.
It didn't look any further and and failed to make wifi work.

I also was able to run KLV-vmHost-rc4 which has a kernel of 6.10.10 and found that it successfully loaded /usr/lib/firmware iwlwifi-so-a0-gf-a0.89.ucode, but
required also /usr/lib/firmware iwlwifi-so-a0-gf-a0.pnvm (which it originally doesn't have) to make its wifi work. I just figured that it may need the second file since the original BW used it so
just copied it over to it's /usr/lib/firmware - and it worked.

So I did the same thing for BW with the new kernel 6.11.10 so it now has:

Code: Select all

/usr/lib/firmware iwlwifi-so-a0-gf-a0.89.ucode
/usr/lib/firmware iwlwifi-so-a0-gf-a0.pnvm

Which makes its wifi work.

Next I plan on trying this BW with kernel 6.11.10 on some of my older laptops to see what they do.

[ozsouth]

@JusGellin - this is getting crazier by the day. The link I posted 2 posts up has all the firmware you need, including pnvm files (and all I need too). Interesting that the 6.11 kernel you used tried to fallback. Would you please post the config? If not in /boot, should be in /proc (as config.gz).