Why did "zypper dup" uninstall kernel-firmware on my desktop?

**MirceaKitsune** · 08-Oct-2019, 03:41

Yesterday I was surprised to find that after a "zypper dup" command, the kernel-firmware package was uninstalled by the updater. It was instead replaced by a series of kernel-firmware-* packages (eg: kernel-firmware-all, kernel-firmware-amdgpu, etc).

I'm sure this is intentional and tested. But since Tumbleweed had a few issues with some snapshots in the past, I feel a little nervous restarting until I ask first. Can anyone else confirm their system boots fine after this change?

I'm further surprised because on my mother's computer (also TW but other packages installed) zypper isn't attempting to do this: It's still keeping just kernel-firmware there. What's different for me?

**arvidjaar** · 08-Oct-2019, 04:01

kernel-firmware was split into several smaller packages because many users complained it was too big. This split allows install only needed parts. For compatibility kernel-firmware-all should pull in all other sub-packages.

**nrickert** · 08-Oct-2019, 05:32

Originally Posted by MirceaKitsune

I'm further surprised because on my mother's computer (also TW but other packages installed) zypper isn't attempting to do this: It's still keeping just kernel-firmware there. What's different for me?

Checking on a system that I updated yesterday, I see that it still has "kernel-firmware". But the newer arrangement (several packages) is visible in the repos. So apparently either way is supported at present. You probably have a package that is specifically requiring the new arrangement.

I expect we will all see this change before long.

**MirceaKitsune** · 08-Oct-2019, 06:41

Did anyone reboot after switching to the split packages to confirm it's safe? But thanks for the confirmation: This actually sounds like a good idea, it should probably be done with more things to reduce the big download size during some updates (especially game data).

**swannema** · 08-Oct-2019, 09:31

No issues on my system with the divided firmware packages.

**keellambert** · 09-Oct-2019, 01:22

Updated 2*pc's and 2*laptops. No issue found rebooting with the multiple firmware packages installed.. It looks like the kernel 5.3 is suited to the new arrangement.