slower Debian 11 after upgrade from 10

[L Dimov]

I am having slower performance on Debian 11 with software only from the "main" repositories after upgrade from 10.

It is on a decently powerful Dell laptop with 16 GB memory, 1 TB SSD, 7 processors Intel Core i5-8350U CPU @ 1.70GHz

Based on the recommendation in this post https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2021/09/msg00549.html to run:

dmesg | grep -i firmware

I get this output :

dmesg | grep -i firmware
[    2.072553] i915 0000:00:02.0: firmware: failed to load i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin (-2)
[    2.072556] firmware_class: See https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware for information about missing firmware
[    2.072558] i915 0000:00:02.0: Direct firmware load for i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin failed with error -2
[    2.072559] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Failed to load DMC firmware i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin. Disabling runtime power management.
[    2.072560] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] DMC firmware homepage: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/tree/i915
[   22.385187] platform regulatory.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db
[   22.385337] platform regulatory.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db.p7s
[   22.678761] usb 1-7: firmware: failed to load ar3k/AthrBT_0x31010000.dfu (-2)
[   22.678807] usb 1-7: Direct firmware load for ar3k/AthrBT_0x31010000.dfu failed with error -2
[ 5025.133068] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db
[ 5025.133106] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db.p7s
[ 6537.815319] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db
[ 6537.815329] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db.p7s
[ 8190.353783] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db
[ 8190.353794] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db.p7s
[12454.914080] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db
[12454.914095] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db.p7s
[17749.614612] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db
[17749.614627] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db.p7s
[17757.164491] r8152 2-1.2:1.0: firmware: failed to load rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw (-2)
[17757.164494] r8152 2-1.2:1.0: Direct firmware load for rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw failed with error -2
[17757.164496] r8152 2-1.2:1.0: unable to load firmware patch rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw (-2)
[20639.334014] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db
[20639.334092] (NULL device *): firmware: direct-loading firmware regulatory.db.p7s

So as far as I can tell, I need i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin, ar3k/AthrBT_0x31010000.dfu, rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw, and rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw. Is that true? And if yes, how do go about getting them?

Thank you for your help.

Luben

[Greg Wooledge]

On Tue, Oct 05, 2021 at 03:10:50AM +0000, L Dimov wrote:
> I am having slower performance on Debian 11 [...]

I'm guessing you mean slow video performance.

> dmesg | grep -i firmware
> [    2.072553] i915 0000:00:02.0: firmware: failed to load i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin (-2)
> [    2.072556] firmware_class: See https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware for information about missing firmware
> [    2.072558] i915 0000:00:02.0: Direct firmware load for i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin failed with error -2
> [    2.072559] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Failed to load DMC firmware i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin. Disabling runtime power management.

[...]

> So as far as I can tell, I need i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin, ar3k/AthrBT_0x31010000.dfu, rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw, and rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw. Is that true? And if yes, how do go about getting them?

In general, you can search for the specific filenames on
http://packages.debian.org/ to see which packages you need, and then
install those packages.

You'll either need to download the packages manually (not recommended),
or add contrib and non-free to your sources.list. Doing the latter allows
you to receive upgrades to these packages in the future, so it's the
recommended way.

See <https://wiki.debian.org/SourcesList#Example_sources.list> for
specific syntax.

After editing sources.list, "apt update" and then "apt install pkgnames".

Here are two of them:

unicorn:~$ dpkg -S i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin
firmware-misc-nonfree: /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin
unicorn:~$ dpkg -S rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw
firmware-realtek: /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw

You can use packages.debian.org, or apt-file, to get the names of the rest.

[L Dimov]

On Monday, October 4, 2021, 11:25:22 PM EDT, Greg Wooledge <gr...@wooledge.org> wrote:

You'll either need to download the packages manually (not recommended),
or add contrib and non-free to your sources.list.  Doing the latter allows
you to receive upgrades to these packages in the future, so it's the
recommended way.

Greg, I do not want any non-free and contrib software, so I can't do that. Are there any other options? Wait for updates, switch to Debian Teasting (which I'd rather not do), anything else? And I'd rather not go back to Debian 10 just because I worry I may mess up the process as I have never done that.

Thanks!

Luben

[David Christensen]

On 10/4/21 20:10, L Dimov wrote:
> I am having slower performance on Debian 11 with software only from

> the "main" repositories after upgrade from 10.It is on a decently

> powerful Dell laptop with 16 GB memory, 1 TB SSD, 7 processors Intel
> Core i5-8350U CPU @ 1.70GHz

The Intel Core i5-8550U processor has 4 cores with Hyper-Threading (8
threads):

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/124969/intel-core-i58350u-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-60-ghz.html

On 10/4/21 20:33, L Dimov wrote:
> I do not want any non-free and contrib software, so I can't do that.
> Are there any other options? Wait for updates, switch to Debian
> Teasting (which I'd rather not do), anything else? And I'd rather
> not go back to Debian 10 just because I worry I may mess up the
> process as I have never done that. Thanks!Luben

If your laptop has hardware that requires proprietary firmware, I very
much doubt that the firmware in question will ever be open-sourced.
Without the proprietary firmware, the best case is reduced
functionality using reverse-engineered drivers -- e.g. NVIDIA and
Nouveau. Wi-Fi adapters requiring proprietary firmware tend to be
non-functional without such.


Either keep your laptop and install the proprietary firmware, or sell it
and get something with hardware that does not require proprietary firmware.


David

[David Christensen]

On 10/4/21 22:58, David Christensen wrote:

> The Intel Core i5-8550U

correction: i5-8350u


David

[Andrew M.A. Cater]

On Tue, Oct 05, 2021 at 03:10:50AM +0000, L Dimov wrote:

> I am having slower performance on Debian 11 with software only from the "main" repositories after upgrade from 10.It is on a decently powerful Dell laptop with 16 GB memory, 1 TB SSD, 7 processors Intel Core i5-8350U CPU @ 1.70GHz

> Based on the recommendation in this post https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2021/09/msg00549.html to run:dmesg | grep -i firmware
> I get this output :
>
> dmesg | grep -i firmware
>

> So as far as I can tell, I need i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin, ar3k/AthrBT_0x31010000.dfu, rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw, and rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw. Is that true? And if yes, how do go about getting them?
> Thank you for your help.Luben

Hi Luben,

You hae no wifi firmware / video firmware / Ethernet firmware installed.
You've said in other messages in the thread that you don't want to use
contrib or non-free firmware but I do not think you will succeed.

Your Ethernet card may not actually need the Realtek driver but may work
slightly better if itt is available.

Debian puts firmware in non-free because very often we don't have source
code for it. Most often, we can distribute it but cannot modify it. For
one or two packages, the script extracts the firmware from another form.

The firmware is received form people like Intel or Realtek - it's packaged
by Debian developers but it's in non-free (which is separate from Debian)
because of the issues of maintenance. If it was fully free - it would be
in Debian main.

In your case: I would add the contrib and non-free parts to the
/etc/apt/sources.list as suggested.

Do an apt upgrade.

Install firmware-linux-nonfree firmware-misc-nonfree and that should sort
out the video. Firmware-realtek should sort out the Ethernet.

Hope this helps, with every good wish,

Andy Cater

[Anssi Saari]

"Andrew M.A. Cater" <amac...@einval.com> writes:

> In your case: I would add the contrib and non-free parts to the
> /etc/apt/sources.list as suggested.

But these firmware packages were in non-free also in Debian 10 so just
upgrading to Debian 11 shouldn't have changed anything. Unless Luben
changed his stance on non-free software when upgrading?

It would be interesting to know for sure. The official upgrade procedure
from Debian release notes advices the user to save a list of installed
packages before upgrading. That could provide some information on
whether these firmware packages were actually installed before the
upgrade or not?

Other than that, I think Luben might have to provide a little more
information about the issues he's having.

[Greg Wooledge]

On Tue, Oct 05, 2021 at 03:18:55PM +0300, Anssi Saari wrote:
> "Andrew M.A. Cater" <amac...@einval.com> writes:
>
> > In your case: I would add the contrib and non-free parts to the
> > /etc/apt/sources.list as suggested.
>
> But these firmware packages were in non-free also in Debian 10 so just
> upgrading to Debian 11 shouldn't have changed anything. Unless Luben
> changed his stance on non-free software when upgrading?

Things change. The kernel changes. Drivers change.

Sometimes an older kernel does better than a newer kernel, in the absence
of proper firmware. Sometimes it doesn't.

Stop worrying about it. Install the firmware.

[Stefan Monnier]

> Sometimes an older kernel does better than a newer kernel, in the absence
> of proper firmware. Sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes a blob is moved from `main` to `contrib` or `non-free` because
it was in `main` by mistake (tho I can't remember that happening
between Debian 10 and Debian 11).


Stefan

[George Shuklin]

On 05/10/2021 06:10, L Dimov wrote:

I am having slower performance on Debian 11 with software only from the "main" repositories after upgrade from 10.

It is on a decently powerful Dell laptop with 16 GB memory, 1 TB SSD, 7 processors Intel Core i5-8350U CPU @ 1.70GHz

How much is slowdown? If it's in the range of 10-15%, that's expected given the fixes for Spectre/Meltdown. There are knobs to turn them off (search for 'make linux fast again'), but they make you machine insecure.

[L Dimov]

On Tuesday, October 5, 2021, 6:43:28 AM EDT, Andrew M.A. Cater <amac...@einval.com> wrote:

Hi Luben,

You hae no wifi firmware / video firmware / Ethernet firmware installed.
You've said in other messages in the thread that you don't want to use
contrib or non-free firmware but I do not think you will succeed.

       Andy, I don't know if the output I sent is telling you that, but if it is, it is not true - my wifi video and ethernet have been working fine and still do. And I had the wifi card replace with one from thinkpenguin that supports free software. Tho our computer guy had to do some extra tweaking since the Dell (bios?) wasn't wanting it.

Your Ethernet card may not actually need the Realtek driver but may work
slightly better if itt is available.

Debian puts firmware in non-free because very often we don't have source
code for it. Most often, we can distribute it but cannot modify it. For
one or two packages, the script extracts the firmware from another form.

The firmware is received form people like Intel or Realtek - it's packaged
by Debian developers but it's in non-free (which is separate from Debian)
because of the issues of maintenance. If it was fully free - it would be
in Debian main.

In your case: I would add the contrib and non-free parts to the

/etc/apt/sources.list as suggested.

    I do not want to do that - I started using Debian exclusively almost 2 years ago to avoid proprietary OS and software, so I will do my best to continue with only free software. Until the inconvenience becomes insurmountable (at which point I might move to a typewriter or a papirus!)

[L Dimov]

On Tuesday, October 5, 2021, 1:59:21 AM EDT, David Christensen <dpch...@holgerdanske.com> wrote:

If your laptop has hardware that requires proprietary firmware, I very
much doubt that the firmware in question will ever be open-sourced.
Without the proprietary firmware, the best case is reduced
functionality using reverse-engineered drivers -- e.g. NVIDIA and
Nouveau.  Wi-Fi adapters requiring proprietary firmware tend to be
non-functional without such.


Either keep your laptop and install the proprietary firmware, or sell it
and get something with hardware that does not require proprietary firmware.

It is a work laptop, so I am definitely not selling it:) Plus, it is only 2-3 years old.

What bugs me is that it worked fine with Debian 10. I even had bought a wifi card from thinkpenguin since the original wouldn't work with free software.

[David Christensen]

I am curious about your arrangement with your employer -- few allow
employees to install an OS of their choosing on company hardware (and
retain administrator access).


Does your employer have IT support? Have you requested assistance?


Have you requested assistance from ThinkPenguin?


As other readers have pointed, out, Debian 11 may very well be slower
than Debian 10 on the same hardware; even after firmware issues are
resolved.


As for the firmware -- what about running an older Debian (or Windows 10
Pro) on the hardware, installing a hypervisor, and running Debian 11 in
a VM? For a year or more, my Debian daily driver was a VirtualBox
virtual machine on a mid-2015 MacBook Pro 15 Retina. Debian thought it
was running on a stock x86 personal computer with full hardware support
OOTB. Performance was surprisingly good, graphics were beautiful,
networking and was easily controlled from the Virtual Box manager. Only
down-side was keyboard integration -- I seem to recall conflicts with
certain key combinations.


David

[piorunz]

On 05/10/2021 04:10, L Dimov wrote:
>
> So as far as I can tell, I need i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin,
> ar3k/AthrBT_0x31010000.dfu, rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw, and
> rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw. Is that true? And if yes, how do go about getting
> them?

Just to tackle this, for you or other interested people:

Easiest way to find out which package contains xxx file, is to install
apt-file.
sudo apt install apt-file
apt-file update (to update it's database)

then you search for a file:
~$ apt-file search i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin
firmware-misc-nonfree: /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin

Other packages are firmware-atheros and firmware-realtek.

Also, to check what non-free or contrib packages you have installed:
sudo apt install vrms

$ vrms
Non-free packages installed on x

amd64-microcode Processor microcode firmware for AMD
CPUs
firmware-amd-graphics Binary firmware for AMD/ATI graphics
chips
firmware-linux-nonfree Binary firmware for various drivers
in the Linux kerne
firmware-misc-nonfree Binary firmware for various drivers
in the Linux kerne
firmware-realtek Binary firmware for Realtek
wired/wifi/BT adapters
steam Valve's Steam digital software
delivery system
steam-devices Device support for Steam-related
hardware

Contrib packages installed on x

lutris open source gaming platform
ttf-mscorefonts-installer Installer for Microsoft TrueType
core fonts
winetricks simple tool to work around common
problems in Wine

7 non-free packages, 0.2% of 2862 installed packages.
3 contrib packages, 0.1% of 2862 installed packages.


--
With kindest regards, Piotr.

⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀
⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian - The universal operating system
⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋⠀ https://www.debian.org
⠈⠳⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀

[L Dimov]

On Tuesday, October 5, 2021, 2:50:15 PM EDT, piorunz <pio...@gmx.com> wrote:

On 05/10/2021 04:10, L Dimov wrote:

>
> So as far as I can tell, I need i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin,
> ar3k/AthrBT_0x31010000.dfu, rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw, and
> rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw. Is that true? And if yes, how do go about getting
> them?

Just to tackle this, for you or other interested people:

Easiest way to find out which package contains xxx file, is to install
apt-file.
sudo apt install apt-file
apt-file update (to update it's database)

then you search for a file:
~$ apt-file search  i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin
firmware-misc-nonfree: /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin

Other packages are firmware-atheros and firmware-realtek.

Also, to check what non-free or contrib packages you have installed:
sudo apt install vrms

$ vrms

              Thanks Piotr, that was handy. Now that I realize these are not free software, I will not be installing them.

          Interestingly, running

$ vrms

told me that while I don't have non-free, I do have a lone contrib package - torbrowser-launcher. Not sure how this ended up this way, since I never enabled contrib (or non-free) in the sources.list