FwUpdate /
Usage
Devices often may need some code to work properly, these are called firmwares.
While device drivers run on the CPU and managed by OS, device firmwares ran on the device itself and OS has no control over it (after loading the firmware).
OpenBSD ships with serval firmware for some devices (such as run
, fxp
or bnx
) in /etc/firmwares
.
However, due to legal concerns, OpenBSD may not include all firmwares in the installation image.
After installation, fw_update
will be ran to install firmwares in /etc/firmwares
.
Important firmwares
there are usually several important firmwares, depending on your hardware:
Device | Description | Firmware(s) |
CPU | CPU microcode updates, to patch security and reliability issues | intel , amd |
VMM | Required for VMM to work | vmm |
USB video | webcams and other cameras | uvideo |
GPU | graphics for GPUs | inteldrm , amdgpu , radeongpu |
Wifi | Wireless networking | iwn , iwx , qwx , etc |
Usage
With no arguments, fw_update
simply will check and find all firmwares your device may need:
$ doas fw_update
to delete a firmware, you may use -d
:
$ doas fw_update -d uvideo