Firmware-update add-on updates

from this topic Connection tracking daemon-Warn - #12 by cfusco

After realizing that there was no issue with conntrackd, for which I am very grateful to cfusco for promptly guiding me on this matter, today I decided to see if I could solve the ACPI warnings and firmware time violation problem. I downloaded the firmware add-on and used the firmware-update command. It seems that this firmware repository only goes up to 2021, while my system indicates that the fix is from 2022. The HP website (the model of the computer acting as a router/firewall/security) indicated that I should look for fixes on this website - https://www.kernel.org/. I always have some concerns about attempting to install software that doesn’t come from the repositories (I’m not even sure if it’s possible), so I would appreciate some help in this process.

After this step, frustrated with still receiving ACPI warnings about time violation in memory, I decided to download the software-meltdown-checker. After completing the download, I checked the system and found one system flaw that concerns me. It indicates a CPU microcode flaw that can also be easily resolved with a software update. Here, I hope to find the solution on the website I mentioned - https://www.kernel.org/.

Concerned about intrusions and attacks, I thought that if someone wanted to compromise a device and there were firmware vulnerabilities, they would attempt to write to the flashrom. So, I searched for the flashrom add-on in pakfire add-ons. Intuitively, I assumed that it wouldn’t already be installed in the system, but eventhough I searched for “flashrom version” and “pakfire info flashrom,” I immediately realized that it was already installed. I removed it, of course. But I wonder, shouldn’t this be indicated as an added service in the pakfire webGui?

Anyway, continuing my previous epic, I had previously installed the wui add-on. It was working correctly, and I could see its functionality in the services tab of the webGui. To my surprise, after a few hours of operation, this add-on no longer appears in the services of the webGui. Is this normal?

Thank you,
G70P

You installed the firmware-update addon and the flashrom program is a dependency for firmware-update.

When you uninstall firmware-update you have to manually uninstall flashrom at the same time.
If you forget, then flashrom will show up in the table on the right hand side which shows all the addon packages that are installed.

I have to presume that you mean the WIO addon. When that is installed it never shows up in the WUI status - services page. It has its own menu page on status - who is online?

1 Like

If I am reading your comments correctly your IPFire system is an HP based system. The firmware-update addon only covers the PC Engines APU based systems.
https://wiki.ipfire.org/addons/firmware-update

3 Likes

It is correct, thank you @bonnietwin for the information. However, I will not mark the topic as resolved because not everyone uses the PC Engines APU-based system. The information on the wiki is unclear, at least from my point of view. I don’t know if it’s just me who didn’t understand that the firmware-update add-on was specific to PC Engines firmware! I apologize for the misunderstanding. Nevertheless, the Linux kernel updates website was recommended by the HP website itself for firmware issue resolution, and I don’t know how to make the appropriate corrections, if there are any, for my system.

this might help:

https://wiki.ipfire.org/addons/firmware-update#community-participation-required

1 Like

An answer to future postings “interesting, but I’m no programmer”.
To build up a repository of firmware updates all kinds of information helps. Knowing the links of the downloads and the usage description allows the devs to integrate it.
One task should be possible to all admins of an IPFire system: testing, testing, testing.

2 Likes