Arch Linux: linux-firmware 20220119.0c6a7b3-2 requires kernel >=5.3 and package splitting

NewsBot · 21 January 2022 18:03

A new Arch Linux blog post/announcement has been posted!

The linux-firmware package 20220119.0c6a7b3-2 implements kernel firmware compression. Linux kernel from 5.3 on support loading from xz compressed firmware.
CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS kernel option must be enabled. All official Arch Linux kernel support this for a long time. [1]

The linux-firmware package has been split into smaller packages to further reduce required disk space. Some big firmware files of rarely used hardware have been split into separate packages.
This affects firmware for Mellanox Spectrum switches, Marvell devices, Qualcomm SoCs, Cavium LiquidIO server adapters, QLogic devices, Broadcom NetXtreme II 10Gb ethernet adapters.
Make sure to install additional firmware packages if needed. [2]

[1] FS#72899
[2] FS#72559 + https://archlinux.org/news/linux-firmware-202201190c6a7b3-2-requires-kernel-53-and-package-splitting/