WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: ***

[Jakobz]

hello everyone,
during some updates i got few warnings about missing firmware, after searching the forum i didn’t see the same modules as mine. i will write them down:

==> Starting build: '6.12.20-2-MANJARO'
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [kms]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'ast'
  -> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla1280'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qed'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'bfa'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla2xxx'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci_renesas'

==> Starting build: '6.1.131-1-MANJARO'
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [kms]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'ast'
  -> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla1280'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qed'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'bfa'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla2xxx'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci'

so the modules are 7, should i worry about them?

[Mirdarthos]

Hi @Jakobz,

Please see:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Mkinitcpio#Possibly_missing_firmware_for_module_XXXX

[Jakobz]

Thank you i will try to install them

[linux-aarhus]

@Jakobz

should i worry about them?

Not unless you know your system needs them … they can safely be ignored.

[Jakobz]

after installing the missing, hope all, firmware, how do i check if i get the same message as during the update? should i try to update again?

[beermad]

I always see similar messages. Purely because I removed some packages that provided modules my hardware doesn’t need. No problems in all the years since I did it.

[Jakobz]

how do i understand if my hardware need it or not? i sometimes even get an error in the bios about something missing… can it be connected?

[Jakobz]

so let me update you:
ive intalled the packeage or arc from the package manager and most of the firmware were there. i’m just still missing 2 but i dont understand how should i install them because when i try to do it it’s giving me a 404 error…
the firmware missing are:
xhci_pci
xhci_pci_renesas

and i’m getting also this message:
=> WARNING: No module containing the symbol ‘drm_privacy_screen_register’ found in: ‘drivers/platform’

[dmt]

@Jakobz

how do i understand if my hardware need it or not?

That information is in the Arch wiki link posted above.

If these messages appear when generating a default initramfs image, then, as the warning says, installing additional firmware may be required.

mkinitcpio makes two initramfs for each kernel, the first is the default and the second is the fallback.

==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux612.preset: 'default'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64 -g /boot/initramfs-6.12-x86_64.img
==> Starting build: '6.12.21-4-MANJARO'
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [autodetect]
  -> Running build hook: [microcode]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [kms]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [keymap]
  -> Running build hook: [consolefont]
==> WARNING: consolefont: no font found in configuration
  -> Running build hook: [block]
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
  -> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating zstd-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-6.12-x86_64.img'
  -> Early uncompressed CPIO image generation successful
==> Initcpio image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux612.preset: 'fallback'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64 -g /boot/initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback.img -S autodetect
==> Starting build: '6.12.21-4-MANJARO'
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [microcode]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [kms]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'ast'
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci_renesas'
  -> Running build hook: [keymap]
  -> Running build hook: [consolefont]
==> WARNING: consolefont: no font found in configuration
  -> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qed'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla2xxx'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla1280'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'bfa'
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
  -> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating zstd-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback.img'
  -> Early uncompressed CPIO image generation successful
==> Initcpio image generation successful

You can see they’re both for the same kernel, and that the warnings only appear in the second one which is the fallback so nothing extra is needed.

@Jakobz

how do i check if i get the same message as during the update

The messages are generated by mkinitcpio.

sudo mkinitcpio -P

@Jakobz

i dont understand how should i install them because when i try to do it it’s giving me a 404 error

The package manager first checks the local database for the package, if it’s not found then you get a “target not found” error, otherwise the package manager requests the filename from the server.

The filename contains the version, so when the version changes the file can’t be found and you get a 404 (file not found) error.

So a 404 error usually means your local package databases are outdated (it could be the mirror that’s out of date, but that’s less common).

sudo pacman -Syu

[Pille]

I see the messages almost every time during a system upgrade. So far i simply ignore them because i don’t have any of the hardware installed in the device i am using.

No problems identified so far.

[Aragorn]

As others have said, the warnings can be ignored, but if they really bother you, then there are two ways of doing away with them.

• The first (and recommended) way is to install the package mkinitcpio-firmware from the AUR. This package will pull in all of the firmware modules reported in the warning that you’re seeing.

• The second way is to disable the creation of a fallback initramfs in the preset(s) for your kernel(s). These presets can be found under /etc/mkinitcpio.d.

The reason why the first option is recommended is that many people have problematic hardware configurations, requiring the fallback initramfs for booting, and it is the generation of this fallback image which searches for the firmware modules that are missing on your system.

Personally I find it a bit weird that the mkinitcpio configuration from Arch upstream throws a warning about potentially missing firmware, while at the same time, the package that suppresses these warnings is not being made available via the official Arch repositories, and must be installed from the AUR instead. And this not a new development either, because those warnings have already been around for several years.

But, it is what it is, and above you can read how to remedy the problem.