Kernel 5.11.x expects i915 firmware versions not in repository

[kaefert]

Other people with the same problem:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... odule-i915

After installing the 5.11.x Kernel, I get warnings when generating it's initramfs:

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W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/bxt_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/glk_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/cml_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/icl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/ehl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/ehl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_huc_7.5.0.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_huc_7.5.0.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/dg1_dmc_ver2_02.bin for module i915

Trying to look for a package that contains those firmware binaries only comes up with older versions:

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# apt-file search skl_guc
linux-firmware: /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_32.0.3.bin
linux-firmware: /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_33.0.0.bin
linux-firmware: /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_ver1.bin
linux-firmware: /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_ver4.bin
linux-firmware: /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_ver6.bin
linux-firmware: /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_ver6_1.bin
linux-firmware: /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_ver9_33.bin

I'm not sure if this bug actually creates any issues besides those warnings (for me), just thought I'll document it here.

[Moonstone Man]

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W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/bxt_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/glk_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/cml_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/icl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/ehl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/ehl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_huc_7.5.0.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_huc_7.5.0.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_guc_49.0.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/dg1_dmc_ver2_02.bin for module i915

I'm not sure if this bug actually creates any issues besides those warnings (for me), just thought I'll document it here.

It isn't a bug, and it certainly is not an issue unless you have an i915 video device.

[kaefert]

How is it not a bug, if a packaged kernel tries to use firmware binaries, that the firmware package only contains older versions of?

That quite clearly is an unintended packaging bug / mistake / however you want to call it. Nobody would intentionally do stuff like that.
Me calling this a bug is not a personal insult to you or anybody else. Mistakes do happen, and the best way to have less of them is by nurturing a culture that doesn't shun but welcomes exposure of such mistakes.

unless you have an i915 video device

thanks for the clarification that this is a video device I most likely don't have.

[Terryphi]

How is it not a bug, if a packaged kernel tries to use firmware binaries, that the firmware package only contains older versions of?

That quite clearly is an unintended packaging bug / mistake / however you want to call it. Nobody would intentionally do stuff like that.
Me calling this a bug is not a personal insult to you or anybody else. Mistakes do happen, and the best way to have less of them is by nurturing a culture that doesn't shun but welcomes exposure of such mistakes.

unless you have an i915 video device

thanks for the clarification that this is a video device I most likely don't have.

Some of us do have an i915 video device so thanks kaefert for pointing this out.

[t42]

How is it not a bug, if a packaged kernel tries to use firmware binaries, that the firmware package only contains older versions of?

That quite clearly is an unintended packaging bug / mistake / however you want to call it. Nobody would intentionally do stuff like that.
Me calling this a bug is not a personal insult to you or anybody else. Mistakes do happen, and the best way to have less of them is by nurturing a culture that doesn't shun but welcomes exposure of such mistakes.

"Possible missing firmware" has obvious denotation of a warning, not an error message. If you think otherwise nothing prevents you from filing a bug in a proper place, you have exactly the same possibilities for that as other users of this forum.

[kaefert]

I really don't understand why there's such a hostile vibe here.

I just observed behavior of my Linux Mint installation that seems unintentional by it's creators. Since I'm thankful to all the open source contributors who make free linux operating systems possible, I try to give back where I can with my limited resources, like documenting such issues.

Since I have no idea on the inner workings of initramfs + kernels + firmware kernel modules and all that stuff I can't even begin to imagine where the proper place to file a formal bug for this might be, so I put it in the forum of the distribution I'm using on the system where I've observed the issue.

Judging from a short Google search, it seems to be an issue that Linux Mint inherited from Debian via Ubuntu.

[Pjotr]

I really don't understand why there's such a hostile vibe here.

Not hostile; some of us have merely pointed out to you that this "bug" is quite harmless. And that posting about it on this Mint user forum is pointless, as the kernel devs won't read it.

In short: much ado about nothing, and good for nothing as well. Waste of time.

General remark: Linux is notoriously verbose, loquacious even, about errors or loose ends, even when they're totally innocent and inconsequential. That's because its developers like it that way; it helps them in the development process. It's just one of those things about Linux that you'll have to get used to.

[Moonstone Man]

General remark: Linux is notoriously verbose, loquacious even

I would have said prolix.

... It's just one of those things about Linux that you'll have to get used to.

Or A) fix it yourself, like all things Linux, except proprietary drivers, B) demand a refund, or C) blame Microsoft for dumbing their OS down to the absolute lowest common denominator and miseducating their user base by doing so.