[SOLVED] Another Basic Question

General system
1

When EndeavourOS was new, there was some question about the message, during updating when there was a new kernel version, that there was possible missing firmware for modules aic94xx and wd791x.

The explanation was that it just didn’t matter. Since that time I, along with I suspect most of you, have continued to get that same message; I saw it this morning as the new kernel was being installed.

Just for the heck of it, I went into pamac-aur-git to see of those programs are present. They are and, of course, neither are installed on my system.

Here are my questions:

  1. What do these programs actually do?

  2. Would there be any advantage to me if I install one or both of them?

  3. Would there be any disadvantage to me if I install one or both of them?

  4. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to my leaving well-enough alone (not installing them)? Am I missing something? So far, and for the past year, my system has functioned perfectly and I am able to do everything that I need to or want to do. I am also aware of the old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” but I also do not want to “miss out” on anything that might be helpful in improving the performance of the system.

Thanks for any replies.

Lawrence

2

They aren’t programs, they are firmware modules.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mkinitcpio#Possibly_missing_firmware_for_module_XXXX

Not unless you have hardware that needs those specific firmware modules.

No major disadvantages, just extra packages you don’t need.

You aren’t missing anything. It is totally normal. You could make those messages go away but it won’t help you in any way, you just won’t have the messages anymore.

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3

Thank you for this reply. This answers my question. Therefore I am not going to do anything and I shall continue to just ignore the messages as I have been doing for the past year.

Thanks again.

Lawrence

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4

As far as I know, they are related to some very old scsi devices somehow. So not needed nowadays.

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5

Hey! Easy on the VERY old bit, there! I remember when those were cutting edge hardware…

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6

still, wonder what the original reasoning was to leave behind something apparently as useful as our appendix

7

Perhaps Linus Torvalds can answer that? :wink:

8

Linus could probably let us know, but I suspect it is low priority at the moment!

The memory I have is not to be trusted entirely (I couldn’t afford them anyway!) - but what I seem to recall is that they were the ‘standard’ cards (at the time) for implementing RAID arrays. Probably sufficiently standard that they became the instruction set that got emulated for years…

Might explain the longevity to a degree, Certainly the complaints can be ignored - or you can load the stuff, but it’ll never be used!

Edit: If you want to research the backstory, I believe the aic part is Adaptec Interface Card… and the wd is Western Digital… It’s amazing what you can dig up out of the past - if only one could tell what was correct! For instance, to format a new HD on an early PC, start debug, and g=c800:6 I think it was for Adaptecs :grin:

9

Adaptec SCSI drives… yep! :smirk:

10

I was going through my computer stuff the other day… I found my old Adaptec SCSI card, actually… I remember feeling so cool running 15k Seagate Cheetah drives while my friends were running slow IDE drives…

Ah, nerd things. :joy:

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11

I think the firmware in question is only for a specific line of Adaptec SAS controllers.

Most people probably weren’t using those around the house. :nerd_face:

I finally sold all my old scsi stuff about 10 years ago.

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12

I never owned any scsi devices. If I remember correctly price was an issue. That was when I was still paddling my canoe because my ship hadn’t come in yet! :canoe: then :ship: then $

Pudge

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13

Never mind the feelings - you WERE so cool :smile: I only had 10K spinners at the time (the 15K weren’t around) but they sure helped pound through 17 million name databases!

Now - if only I could find a power supply old enough (and strong enough) to fire up my old multi-drive tower - I blush to admit there are still files on it I wish I had. Can’t tell whether adding in a network card to the old box - or a serial card to a newer one would be preferable…

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14

In computer world old memories are easily lost… :wink:

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15

Thinking back, and actually doing some research, I had the 10K drives as well. This would have likely been in the late 90s and I don’t think that the 15ks were out yet… and if they were… they were likely really expensive.

I think I may even still have the drives in storage as well, though I have no way of accessing the data any more. I still have the SCSI card but I’m pretty sure it’s requires an ISA card slot and I’m not sure if any new boards still have ISA slots on them. :confused:

Eh well… I’m pretty sure that I offloaded everything that was important onto Zip disks a while back so they’re sitting on a totally different format of inaccessible media… haha

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16

Between that and the JAZ drives… I guess I have to fire up and old box sometime! Now where is that ISA network card - I mostly accessed the web with a modem!

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