Re: How to install wifi firmware with no wired connection

On Sat, 24 Oct 2026, Adrian Chadd wrote:

BCc: Colin (as part of maintaining and doing things for re@)
BCc: Joe (reduced list on bootonly, see below)
so they become aware of this thread (if they have not yet)

> On Sat, 24 Oct 2026 at 11:19, Jordan Hubbard <jordan.hubbard@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Yeah, the picture Lars paints is wacky.  It looks like the different
>> images are simply mastered in a different way and this would be easy to fix.
>>
>> I’d just point an agent at /usr/src and say “hey, fix this!” :-)
>>
>
> It's not that; we know what the various fixes are.
>
> The problem is policy/choice.
>
> srcmgr@ made a call a couple years back that firmware should stop being
> included in base but should instead be put in packages.

core@  It was core@ .


> Which in /theory/ I agree on, but in /practice/ it's an absolute pain in
> the UX.

It's actually not too bad once you get accustomed to it.  Took me 5 releases
and all the tinsy bits to put and plug things together and have them working
by default and imp doing the "load plain firmware files no .ko anymore".
Now I wish someone from ports would work with me to migrate the Makefile.inc 
from wifi-firmware-kmod into a USES thing so that we could more easily just
expand this. But that's for another year.


> * not every image has firmware packages due to image size constraints (real
> or otherwise);

I would highly suggest people get informed before continuing a discussion...


Things kept changing; see (not saying this was the full list) ...

ca0cff79320d49d3f10bd3aa3c472fa450a5c494	Aug 7 2026
 	Revert "release: Ship firmware from kmods repo on DVD"
 	[... no metapackages in kmod repo ...]

bda8028146694ee490543b35e3349e060936fde4	Jan 30 2026
 	release: Ship firmware from kmods repo on DVD

655fcdde1aff164a3a02ad073334611117e20d4c	Jul 18 2025
 	release: Install wireless firmware to bootonly media
 	[... so users can fetch installation files over a wireless connection ...]

7e2996c1f5b4e684cae40c2418b68061df9997d9	Nov 20 2024
 	release: install wireless firmware onto disc1 and dvd



If people check release/Mekfile you will find, if I get it right (in main) but I think Colin kept things in sync:

disc1:
 	wifi-firmware-kmod-release

bootonly:
 	wifi-firmware-iwlwifi-kmod wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod

dvd:
 	wifi-firmware-kmod-release

memstick: is based on disc1

memstick-mini: is based on bootonly


Ignoring the fact that bootonly is a reduced set (for what it was for 655fcdde1aff164a3a02ad073334611117e20d4c) all install media should have wireless packages installed on the release media so that fwget(8) can do its job from the installer to install them in the destination system.

That means no matter what installer media you pick you can start the installer, put in your wireless credentions and run the install firmware step (again ignoring the reduced list on bootonly).

So in theory one should never need another umass to manually copy things over and install.  But if one does, then whatever people will want to put into the handbook will liekly do.  The best chance you may get by just copying /boot/firmware from the release media to your installation I guess and once you are up and running let package fix this.

HTH,
/bz

-- 
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew
great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. [Mat. 24:24-25]