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Mattscreative edited this page Dec 5, 2025 · 2 revisions

Linux Firmware Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to firmware on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including firmware installation, updates, and hardware firmware management.

Table of Contents

  1. Understanding Firmware
  2. Installing Firmware
  3. CPU Microcode
  4. Firmware Updates
  5. Hardware-Specific Firmware
  6. Troubleshooting

Understanding Firmware

What is Firmware?

Firmware is low-level software for hardware devices.

Types:

  • CPU microcode: CPU firmware updates
  • GPU firmware: Graphics card firmware
  • Network card firmware: Network adapter firmware
  • Storage firmware: Disk controller firmware

Why it matters:

  • Security: Fixes security vulnerabilities
  • Performance: Improves performance
  • Stability: Fixes bugs
  • Compatibility: Ensures hardware compatibility

Installing Firmware

Install Base Firmware

Install firmware:

# Arch/CachyOS
sudo pacman -S linux-firmware

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install linux-firmware

# Fedora
sudo dnf install linux-firmware

What this includes:

  • Most hardware firmware
  • GPU firmware
  • Network card firmware
  • Storage firmware

CPU Microcode

Install Microcode

Intel microcode:

# Arch/CachyOS
sudo pacman -S intel-ucode

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install intel-microcode

# Fedora
sudo dnf install microcode_ctl

AMD microcode:

# Arch/CachyOS
sudo pacman -S amd-ucode

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install amd64-microcode

# Fedora
sudo dnf install microcode_ctl

Update Bootloader

After installing microcode:

# GRUB
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

# systemd-boot
sudo bootctl update

Firmware Updates

Update Firmware

Update packages:

# Arch/CachyOS
sudo pacman -Syu linux-firmware

# Update microcode
sudo pacman -Syu intel-ucode
# Or
sudo pacman -Syu amd-ucode

Check Firmware Version

Check versions:

# Check loaded microcode
dmesg | grep microcode

# Check firmware package
pacman -Q linux-firmware

Hardware-Specific Firmware

GPU Firmware

GPU firmware is usually included in linux-firmware.

Check GPU:

# Check GPU
lspci | grep VGA

# Check firmware
ls /lib/firmware/ | grep -i gpu

Network Firmware

Network firmware is usually included in linux-firmware.

Check network:

# Check network card
lspci | grep -i network

# Check firmware
ls /lib/firmware/ | grep -i network

Troubleshooting

Firmware Not Loading

Check kernel messages:

# Check dmesg
dmesg | grep -i firmware

# Check logs
journalctl -k | grep -i firmware

Missing Firmware

Install specific firmware:

# Check what's missing
dmesg | grep -i "firmware"

# Install from AUR if needed
yay -S firmware-package

Summary

This guide covered firmware for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions, including installation, CPU microcode, and firmware updates.

Next Steps

This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.

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