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Release Notes

Release Notes: sidux 2010-01

Contributed by slh on Jun 13, 2010 - 10:18 PM

Now that KDE 4.4.4 and kernel 2.6.34 have entered the archive, we have the pleasure to announce the immediate availability of the final sidux 2010-01 "Ύπνος" release, shipping in the following flavours:

  • KDE-lite, amd64, en/ de, ≈625 MB.
  • KDE-lite, i686, en/ de, ≈620 MB.
  • KDE-full, amd64+i686, en/ de (bg, da, el, es, fr, hr, hu, it, ja, nl, pt, pt_BR, ro, ru through liveapt) ≈2.2 GB.
  • XFCE, amd64, en/ de, ≈520 MB.
  • XFCE, i686, en/ de, ≈515 MB.

sidux is a full featured Debian sid based live CD with a special focus on hard disk installations, a clean upgrade path within sid and additional hardware and software support. The ISO is completely based on Debian sid, enriched and stabilized with sidux' own packages and scripts.

Release notes for Ύπνος

While waiting for the availability of KDE 4.4.x, "Ύπνος" development concentrated on overhauling the early boot sequence for live- and installed system in regards to concurrent dependency based booting and the integration of kernel 2.6.34. sidux now uses CONCURRENCY=makefile and continues to embrace grub2 on the installed system, with isolinux and an improved gfxboot theme on the live system. KDE based ISOs can now make use of partitionmanager instead of gparted.

While grub2 offers increased flexibility for installations, like supporting new filesystems (ext4) or advanced installation options like LVM2 and improved detection capabilities for other distributions and operating systems, right now it is limited to a textmode menu. A new theming effort is currently under development and will be available in the future. Even though support for plain wallpapers would be already supported by grub2, it is still fragile and prolongs the system boot. Internally the configuration system for grub2 uses scripts snippets under /etc/grub.d/ to create its configuration file "grub.cfg" in a way that allows many self updating features, such as automating fromiso support with the help of "grub2-fll-fromiso" (optional).

With isolinux supporting gfxboot, it is also possible to use isohybrid, which allows writing an ISO directly to USB storage or sd/ sdhc/ mmc memory sticks to make these bootable. isohybrid adds an MBR to the ISO and sets up a partition table with one active entry, the partition containing the ISO. Further partitions can be added to allow access to the unused part of the storage device.

It is also possible to network boot from network block devices (NBD), as well as fromiso/ fromhd systems on LVM2 volumes. Further information about NBD support is available under FAQ.

Kernel 2.6.34 doesn't only improve and stabilise hardware support for newer devices, it also allows enabling KMS (kernel based modesetting) for ATi Radeon and Intel graphic chipset and supports DRI, as well as and basic 3d support for ATi Radeon graphics cards up to the HD4xxx series (r6xx/ r7xx, hints for installing the required firmware are available at non-free sources and drivers). Special attention has been given to wlan support for RaLink rt28x0/ rt30xx, as well as Atheros AR9271 devices, such as several staging wireless drivers.

As usual, a large number of individual functionality enhancements and bugfixes have been applied to the full package line up and sidux' own packages, in order to improve the general distribution infrastructure.

Our special thanks go to the sidux art team and especially all mirror hosters for their efforts regarding sidux. In particularly our thanks go to the Hetzner Online AG for upgrading the server hardware of sidux.com. Following this we would like to welcome the mirror hosted by Cybermirror in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Minimum system requirements:

  • amd64:
    • CPU requirements:
      • AMD64
      • Intel Core2
      • Intel Atom 330
      • any x86-64/ EM64T capable CPU
      newer 64 bit capable AMD Sempron and Intel Pentium 4 CPUs (watch for the "lm" flag in /proc/cpuinfo or use infobash -v3).
    • RAM requirements:
      • KDE: ≥512 MB RAM (≥768 MB RAM recommended), ≥1 GB RAM for liveapt.
      • XFCE: ≥256 MB RAM.
    • VGA graphics card capable of at least 640x480 pixel resolution.
    • optical disk drive or USB media.
    • ≥3 GB HDD space, ≥10 GB recommended.
  • i686:
    • CPU requirements:
      • Intel Pentium pro/ Pentium II
      • AMD K7 Athlon (not K5/ K6)
      • Intel Atom N-270/ 230
      • VIA C3-2 (Nehemiah, not C3 Samuel or Ezra)/ C7
      • any x86-64/ EM64T capable CPU or newer
      the full i686 command set is required.
    • RAM requirements:
      • KDE: ≥384 MB RAM (≥768 MB RAM recommended), ≥1 GB RAM for liveapt.
      • XFCE: ≥192 MB RAM.
    • VGA graphics card capable of at least 640x480 pixel resolution.
    • optical disk drive or USB media.
    • ≥3 GB HDD space, ≥10 GB recommended.

Now to the interesting topics, like what's on the menu for now:

  • Debian sid, as of 2010-06-13.
  • kernel 2.6.34 (smp, hard preemption).
  • X.org 7.5 (xserver-xorg-core 1.7.7).
  • enable KMS support for ATi and Intel based graphics chipsets.
  • DRI (3d) support for ATi Radeon chipsets up to r7xx (refer to non-free sources and Drivers).
  • KDE 4.4.4 (en + de).
  • Iceweasel 3.5.9
  • new, SVG based, art theme created by the sidux art team.
  • offline manual for en + de directly on the disc, online manuals for more languages online at http://manual.sidux.com/ and available via apt; a big thank you goes to the documentation and translation teams!
    Please note that the offline manual is only available on the running live CD or the installed system.
  • many changes for the manual.
  • at76c50x-usb support for 11 MBit/s Atmel wlan cards (at76c503a, at76c505 and at76c505a).
  • ath5k support for 54/ "108" MBit/s Atheros wlan cards (AR2425, AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5213 and AR5414).
  • ath9k support for 802.11n Atheros wlan cards (AR5418+AR5133, AR5416+AR5133, AR5416+AR2133, AR9160, AR9280, AR9281 and AR9285).
  • ath9k_htc support for 802.11n-lite Atheros USB wlan cards (AR9271).
  • ar9170usb support for 802.11n Atheros USB wlan cards (AR9170 "otus").
  • b43/ b43legacy support for Broadcom wlan cards.
    OpenFWWF 5.2 opensource firmware for the following Broadcom AirForce 802.11b/g wireless cards:
    • BCM4306
    • BCM4311 revision 1
    • BCM4318
    • BCM4320
    highly experimental support for LP-PHY, non-free firmware images (firmware-b43-lpphy-installer) required.
  • iwl3945 support (Intel Pro Wireless 3945 chipsets).
  • iwlagn support for IPW 4965 and the IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n part of the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 1000/ 5xxxAGN/ 6000/ 6050 family.
  • iwmc3200wifi support for Intel Wireless Multicomm 802.11.
  • rt2x00 support for RaLink rt2400, rt2500, rt2570, rt61 and rt73 802.11b/g cards.
  • initial support for RaLink rt2770, rt2870 and rt3070 802.11b/g/n USB cards through rt2x00.
  • support for RealTek RTL8180L and RTL8185 PCI/ cardbus wlan cards.
  • support for RealTek RTL8187 and RTL8187B USB wlan cards.
  • memtest86+.
  • OpenJDK 6 as part of the kde-full variant.
  • employ "insserv" to reorder the bootsequence based on LSB headers.
  • support kvm (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) for kde-full; kvm depends on hardware virtualisation support (AMD pacifica virtualisation extensions "svm" or Intel IVT (vanderpool) virtualisation extensions "vmx")
  • access point support for many mac80211 based wlan cards through nl80211 and hostapd (optional).
  • client support for network booting over PXE/ NBD.
  • switch to isolinux+gfxboot/ isohybrid and grub2.
  • support for partitionmanager.
  • dependency based concurrent init.
  • fix of the LVM2 detection.
  • keymap selection has been fixed.
  • work around the I/O scheduler regression since >2.6.32.
  • fixed "toram" functionality.

Frequently asked questions

Installation

It is recommended to set keymaps, locales and timezone before booting the live system to be installed, by selecting them from the boot menu [F2], [F3]. This way, locale settings propagate to all required places for the installed system and don't require cumbersome changes at several places.

Since sidux 2009-04 "Μόρος", it is also possible to write sidux ISOs directly to USB storage devices of sdhc memory cards in addition to the well known possibility of using "install-sidux-to-usb" (install-usb-gui). This option is particularly useful if there is no existing sidux installation available and if an installation medium needs to be created from another distribution or operating system. It is important to note that this method overwrites the whole USB medium and restricts the available storage to the size of the sidux ISO; install-usb-gui is not subject to these limitations and therefore the recommended option in case an existing sidux system is available. 

cat /path/to/sidux-*.iso > /dev/USB_raw_device_node

Further information about the sidux install is available from the sidux manual at Installation options.

Network booting sidux

Starting with sidux 2009-04 "Μόρος", network booting over PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) and NBD (Network Block Device) is supported, the required settings can be configured from within the boot menu [F4]. Instructions about how to set up an example PXE+NBD boot server can be obtained at sidux netboot introduction.

Localisation

A special feature of kde-full releases is the ability to select all other languages than German or US English from the grub menu (F4), which automatically installs localisations for the desktop and many applications while booting. This ensures they are also present after installing sidux, while only installing the required languages for the given system. The amount of memory required for this feature depends on the language and sidux may refuse to install the given language packs automatically with insufficient RAM and the boot sequence will be continued in english language but with the desired locales-settings (currency, date/ time format, keyboard charsets). 1 GB memory or more is supposed to be safe for all supported languages, which are:

  • Bulgarian
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • English (GB, AU)
  • Greek
  • French
  • Hungarian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Croatian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese (BR and PT)
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • the language selection depends on the availability of sidux-manual translations, get involved to add your language.

Hints for hardware with non-free needs:

sidux contains only dfsg free software, so you'll probably want to add contrib/ non-free to your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list and ensure internet access. 

# See sources.list(5) for more information, especially
# Remember that you can only use http, ftp or file URIs
# CDROMs are managed through the apt-cdrom tool.
# The /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory provides a way to add sources.list
# entries in separate files that end with sources.list file.

# unstable
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free

# testing
# deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free

# experimental
# deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free

and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sidux.list: 

# sidux, Germany
deb http://sidux.com/debian/ sid main contrib non-free fix.main fix.contrib fix.non-free
#deb-src http://sidux.com/debian/ sid main contrib non-free fix.main fix.contrib fix.non-free

The required firmware can be determined with the following device/ firmware enumeration or by using the fw-detect script (packaged in sidux-scripts).

802.11
Atheros AR9170 802.11n USB wireless devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
ar9170usb
To install the firmware
visit http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/mcgrof/firmware/ar9170/ar9170.fw
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/ar9170.fw
Atheros AR9271 802.11n-lite USB wireless devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
ath9k_htc
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=blob;f=ar9271.fw;hb=HEAD
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/ar9271.fw
Atmel AT76c50x 11 MBit/s devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
atmel* at76_usb
To install the firmware
apt-get install atmel-firmware
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/atmel_at76c5
Broadcom, b43/ b43legacy devices
The modules using this firmware are
b43 b43legacy
To install the firmware
apt-get install b43-fwcutter
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/b43/b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
  • /lib/firmware/b43/b0g0initvals5.fw
  • /lib/firmware/b43/ucode5.fw
NOTE
While this shouldn't be required for most 802.11b/g wlan cards anymore, the proprietary firmware gets preferred by b43, in case it is installed.
Intel ipw2100 (11 MBit/s) and Intel ipw2200 (54 MBit/s) devices
The modules using this firmware are
ipw2100 ipw2200
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-ipw2x00
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/ipw2100
Intel ipw3945/ iwlwifi, 54 Mbit/s and Intel ipw4965, iwl1000/ iwl5xxx, iwl6000, iwl6050/ iwlagn, draft-n devices
The modules using this firmware are
iwl4965 iwl3945 iwlwifi-* iwlagn
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-iwlwifi
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
  • /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-3945-2.ucode
  • /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-4965-1.ucode
  • /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-4965-2.ucode
  • /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-1.ucode
  • /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-2.ucode
  • /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5150-2.ucode
Intersil prism54 (p54pci/ p54usb), 54 MBit/s devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
p54pci p54usb prism54
To install the firmware
visit http://jbnote.free.fr/prism54usb/
The modules using this firmware are
rt73* rt61* rt28*
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-ralink
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/rt73
Realtek RTL8192E 150/ 300 MBit/s PCI WiFi cards devices
The modules using this firmware are
r8192e_pci
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-realtek
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/RTL8192E/data.img
  • /lib/firmware/RTL8192E/main.img
  • /lib/firmware/RTL8192E/boot.img
Realtek RTL8188S 150/ RTL8191S 300 MBit/s USB WiFi cards devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
r8192s_usb
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-realtek
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/RTL8192SU/rtl8192sfw.bin
ZyDAS zd1201 11 MBit/s devices
The modules using this firmware are
zd1201
To install the firmware
visit http://surfnet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/linux-lc100020/zd1201-0.14-fw.tar.gz
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/zd1201
ZyDAS zd1211 54 MBit/s devices
The modules using this firmware are
zd1211*
To install the firmware
apt-get install zd1211-firmware
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/zd1211/zd1211
audio
Cirrus Logic (Sound Fusion) CS4280/CS461x/CS462x/CS463x devices
The modules using this firmware are
snd-cs46xx
To install the firmware
visit http://bugs.debian.org/464197
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/cs46xx/cs46xx-old.fw
NOTE
follow the howto described in the bugreport carefully, MD5: 6510e1759d85b0627d36367febbb3a6a
EMI 2|6 devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
emi26
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=emi26;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/emi26/ directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/emi26/bitstream.bin
  • /lib/firmware/emi26/firmware.fw
  • /lib/firmware/emi26/loader.fw
EMI 6|2m devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
emi62
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=emi62;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/emi62 directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/emi62/bitstream.bin
  • /lib/firmware/emi62/loader.fw
  • /lib/firmware/emi62/midi.fw
  • /lib/firmware/emi62/spdif.fw
Sound Blaster 16/AWE CSP devices
The modules using this firmware are
sb16
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=sb16;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/sb16 directory
Korg 1212 IO devices
The modules using this firmware are
snd-korg1212
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=korg;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/korg directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/smctr/k1212.dsp
ESS Allegro Maestro3 devices
The modules using this firmware are
snd-maestro3
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=ess;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/ess directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/ess/maestro3_assp_kernel.fw
  • /lib/firmware/ess/maestro3_assp_minisrc.fw
Yamaha YMF724/740/744/754 devices
The modules using this firmware are
snd-ymfpci
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=yamaha;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/yamaha directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/yamaha/ds1_ctrl.fw
  • /lib/firmware/yamaha/ds1_dsp.fw
  • /lib/firmware/yamaha/ds1e_ctrl.fw
bluetooth
Broadcom Blutonium Bluetooth chipset (BCM203x) devices
The modules using this firmware are
bcm203x
To install the firmware
apt-get install bluez-firmware
cpu
Intel devices
To install the firmware
apt-get install intel-microcode
eth
Broadcom NetXtremeII (BCM5706/5708/5709/5716, bnx) devices
The modules using this firmware are
bnx2
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-bnx2
Broadcom NetXtremeII 10Gb (BCM57710/57711/57711E, bnx2x) devices
The modules using this firmware are
bnx2x
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-bnx2x
Chelsio Communications T3 10Gb Ethernet devices
The modules using this firmware are
cxgb3
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=cxgb3
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/cxgb3/ directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/cxgb3/*.bin
Intel e100 (82559 D101M/ D101M, 82551-F, 82551-10), 100 MBit/s devices
The modules using this firmware are
e100
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree
KLSI KL5USB101-based devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
klsi
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree
SMC ISA/MCA Token Ring devices
The modules using this firmware are
smctr
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=blob;f=tr_smctr.bin;hb=HEAD
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/smctr/tr_smctr.bin
SUN Cassini GBit/s devices
The modules using this firmware are
sun
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=sun;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/sun directory
Broadcom Tigon3 (tg3) devices
The modules using this firmware are
tg3
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3.bin
  • /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3_tso5.bin
  • /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3_tso.bin
modem
Atari DSP56k devices
The modules using this firmware are
dsp56k
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=dsp56k;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/dsp56k directory
Eagle ADSL devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
eagle
To install the firmware
visit http://eagle-usb.org/ueagle-atm/non-free/
radio
Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) Receiver devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
dabusb
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dabusb/bitstream.bin
  • /lib/firmware/dabusb/firmware.fw
serial
Computone IntelliPort Plus devices
The modules using this firmware are
computone
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=blob;f=intelliport2.bin;hb=HEAD
Inside Out Edgeport devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
edgeport
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=edgeport;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/edgeport/ directory
Keyspan USA-xxx devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
keyspan
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=keyspan;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/keyspan directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/mpr.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa18x.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa19.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usq19qi.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa19qw.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa19w.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa28.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa28x.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa28xa.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa28xb.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa49w.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa19qw.fw
  • /lib/firmware/keyspan/usa49wlc.fw
Keyspan PDA single-port devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
keyspanda
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=keyspan_pda;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/keyspan_pda directory
TI 3410/5052 devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
ti_usb_3410_5052
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=blob;f=ti_3410.fw;hb=HEAD http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=blob;f=ti_5052.fw;hb=HEAD
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/ti_usb_3410_5052/ti_3410.fw
  • /lib/firmware/ti_usb_3410_5052/ti_5052.fw
ConnectTech WhiteHEAT devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
whiteheat
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=blob;f=whiteheat.fw;hb=HEAD http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=blob;f=whiteheat_loader.fw;hb=HEAD
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/whiteheat/whiteheat.fw
  • /lib/firmware/whiteheat/whiteheat_loader.fw
tv
Afatech AF9005 DVB-T USB1.1 devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
dvb-usb-af9005
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/AF05BDA.sys
Afatech AF9015 DVB-T devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
dvb-usb-af9015
To install the firmware
visit http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/af9015/5.1.0.0/dvb-usb-af9015.fw
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-usb-af9015.fw
av7110 dvb devices
The modules using this firmware are
av7110
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware av7110
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-ttpci-01.fw
bluebird dvb devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
bluebird
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware bluebird
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-usb-bluebird-01.fw
dec2000t dvb devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
dec2000t
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware dec2000t
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-ttusb-dec-dec2000t.fw
dec2500t dvb devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
dec2500t
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware dec2500t
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-ttusb-dec-dec20500t.fw
dec3000t dvb devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
dec3000t
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware dec3000t
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-ttusb-dec-dec3000t.fw
diusb dvb devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
diusb
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware diusb
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-diusb-5.0.0.11.fw
various full featured DVB devices
The modules using this firmware are
dvb
To install the firmware
visit http://www.linuxtv.org/downloads/firmware/
NOTE
most budget cards won't need this
IVTV devices
To install the firmware
visit http://dl.ivtvdriver.org/ivtv/firmware/
Technotrend/Hauppauge Nova devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
nova
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=ttusb-budget;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/ttusb-budget/ directory
or51132_qam devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
or51132_qam
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware or51132_qam
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-fe-or51132_qam.fw
or51132_vsb dvb devices
The modules using this firmware are
or51132_vsb
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware or51132_vsb
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-fe-or51132_vsb.fw
or51211 dvb devices
The modules using this firmware are
or51211
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware or51211
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-fe-or51211.fw
sp8870 dvb devices
The modules using this firmware are
sp8870
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware sp8870
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-fe-sp8870
sp887x dvb devices
The modules using this firmware are
sp887x
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware sp887x
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-fe-sp887x
tda1004x dvb devices
The modules using this firmware are
tda1004x
To install the firmware
get_dvb_firmware tda10046
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/dvb-fe-tda10046.fw
vga
ATi r128 and Radeon r100-r780 devices
The modules using this firmware are
radeon
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree
Matrox MGA 100-450 devices
The modules using this firmware are
matrox
To install the firmware
apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree
nVidia devices
The modules using this firmware are
nv
NOTE
3d acceleration isn't possible with free drivers yet
video
cameras based on Vision's CPiA2 devices
The modules using this firmware are
cpia2
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=cpia2;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/cpia2/ directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/cpia2/stv0672_vp4.bin
3com HomeConnect (aka vicam) devices (including usb)
The modules using this firmware are
vicam
To install the firmware
visit http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=vicam;hb=HEAD
and place the file(s) in the /lib/firmware/vicam/ directory
You can confirm you have installed the firmware by checking for the following files
  • /lib/firmware/vicam/firmware.fw

Hints for Upgraders:

sidux tries hard to provide seamless upgrade path for debian and sidux' own packages, nevertheless a few things remain that could be improved with manual interaction.

crda

The new regulatory domain framework for cfg80211 based wlan cards requires crda to allow access to wireless channels above ch11 (2.4 GHz or their 5 GHz equivalents), without crda only the "world domain" (channel 1-11) is available. Previous hacks using module parameters ("ieee80211_regdom={US,EU,JP}") are no longer available and prevent cfg80211 from loading, please remove possible module-init-tools overrides ("grep -R ieee80211_regdom /etc/modprobe.d/" to find them) manually. 

# apt-get update
apt-get install crda

Timezone settings

Older versions of tzdata (as present in previous sidux versions) didn't record and set the timezone correctly, please reconfirm and select your current timezone – even if it appears to work – through: 

# dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

nouveau

X.org in Debian prefers xserver-xorg-video-nouveau over xserver-xorg-video-nv since xorg 1:7.5+6, which unfortunately can't be supported by sidux until it leaves the staging section and gains a stable ABI between kernel- and userspace. Therefore we recommend users of nvidia graphics cards to purge xserver-xorg-video-nouveau, so xserver-xorg-video-nv — which doesn't suffer from incompatible ABI changes — can take precedence again. 

# apt-get remove --purge xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

We will offer nouveau support as soon as it can be done in a responsible way.

Obsolete packages

As part of the continuing development of sidux, a number of packages have been replaced by better alternatives or become redundant.

  • grub-gfxboot
    Although grub2 is used in place of grub-gfxboot on new installs, grub-gfxboot remains to be actively supported at least until the release of Debian 6.0 "squeeze". Manually switching the bootloader should only be sonsidered by experienced administrators for the time being and it is recommended to test this procedure following the manual inside a virtual machine first. The upgrade from grub-gfxboot to grub2 of existing installs will only be suggested in future releases.

The following command is able to find packages not available from any active apt repository and may hint at obsolete packages, be careful about manually installed packages though. apt-show-versions is a separate package and isn't necessarily preinstalled. 

$ apt-show-versions | awk '/No available version in archive/{print $1}'

Disclaimer:

This is experimental software. Use at your own risk. The sidux project, it's developers and team members (all represented by the sidux e.V.) cannot be held liable under any circumstances for damage to hardware or software, lost data, or other direct or indirect damage resulting from the use of this software. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you are not permitted to use or further distribute this software.

Download URLs, please give the mirrors some time to sync:

Europe

North America

South America

Asia

Africa

Australia

Our thanks go to all mirror hosters for their efforts regarding sidux.

How to get involved

Getting involved in sidux is easy, just join us at our Forum or even better on IRC (irc.oftc.net, port 6667, channel #sidux) and discuss your patches/ proposals or additions.

We will gladly discuss any dfsg-free patches and contributions, especially regarding alternative window managers (gnome, lxde), general janitorial tasks or translations/ localisations.

Roadmap:

Please understand that the following roadmap is a rough estimate regarding our release schedule and is affected by the status of upstream Debian sid, major system components like X.org, KDE, the linux kernel and our own developments and is subject to changes.

  • Κῆρες
  • Ἀπάτη
  • Γῆρας

Special thanks go to the entire sidux team.

Developers:

Joaquim Boura (x-un-i)
Rick Battle (detaos)
David Creedy (klaymen)
Bernard Gray (cleary)
David Kalnischkies (DonKult)
Aedan Kelly (etorix)
Stefan Lippers-Hollmann (slh)
Kel Modderman (kelmo)
Nicolas Poniros (edhunter)
Dinko Sabo (cobra)
Niall Walsh (bfree)
Fabian Wuertz (xadras)

Documentation and Manuals:

Jose Tadeu Barros (ceti)
Alpha Mohamed Diakite (alphad)
Stefan R. Eissens (eislon)
Roland Engert (RoEn)
Alessio Giustini (alessiog75)
Markus Huber (hubi)
Luis_P
Philippe Masson (LjanA)
Mutsumu Nomura (muchan)
Nicolas Poniros (edhunter)
Dorin Vatavu (dorin)
Trevor Walkley (bluewater)
ZenRen

Art Team:

Rick Battle (detaos)
David Creedy (klaymen)
Bernard Gray (cleary)

Web design Team:

azoo
Bernard Gray (cleary)
Chris Hildebrandt (slam)
Stefan Lippers-Hollmann (slh)
Dinko Sabo (cobra)
rieper|net
Daniel-S-P
Ferdi Thommes (devil)

Vital Support:

Chris Hildebrandt (slam)
Ralph Hokanson Jr. (piper)
Aedan Kelly (etorix)
Gerald Prock (raider700)
Ferdi Thommes (devil)
Florian Schneider (ffws)
Torsten Wohlfarth (towo|)
sidux e.V.

Thanks to Hetzner Online AG for sponsoring sidux.com.

On behalf of the sidux team:
        Stefan Lippers-Hollmann (slh)