[Solved] firmware issues on new N100 NUC?

[jfabernathy]

I just received a new GMKtec G3 N100 NUC Box. I'm currently testing a bunch of distros to see what works and what doesn't. I removed the include nvme SSD with Win11 and filed it away. So on a new nvme ssd I installed Debian 12 xfce4 using the expert method in order to be able to use btrfs with my choice of subvolumes.

After booting I check dmesg to see if things were broken and found some firmware issues. On an earlier test I found Bluetooth was not connecting so I went back start over so I could collect data before trying the whole connect process.

I found this in the dmesg log:

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[    3.751144] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: examining hci_ver=0b hci_rev=000b lmp_ver=0b lmp_subver=8852
[    3.753608] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: rom_version status=0 version=1
[    3.753612] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: loading rtl_bt/rtl8852bu_fw.bin
[    3.753636] bluetooth hci0: firmware: failed to load rtl_bt/rtl8852bu_fw.bin (-2)
[    3.753638] firmware_class: See https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware for information about missing firmware
[    3.753645] bluetooth hci0: firmware: failed to load rtl_bt/rtl8852bu_fw.bin (-2)
[    3.753646] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for rtl_bt/rtl8852bu_fw.bin failed with error -2
[    3.753649] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: firmware file rtl_bt/rtl8852bu_fw.bin not found

I included non-free firmware and software during install.

Some inxi info:

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jim@jim-nucboxg3:~$ inxi -Fxxx
System:
  Host: jim-nucboxg3 Kernel: 6.1.0-22-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64
    compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.36
    info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.18.0 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.26.0
    Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: N/A System: GMKtec product: NucBox G3 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: GMKtec model: GMKtec serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American
    Megatrends LLC. v: GMK_G3 date: 10/21/2023
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech MX Keys Wireless Keyboard
    serial: eb-a9-59-08 charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes
    status: discharging
  Device-2: hidpp_battery_1 model: Logitech M570 serial: 0d-67-d9-20
    charge: 100% rechargeable: yes status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel N100 bits: 64 type: MCP smt: <unsupported>
    arch: Alder Lake rev: 0 cache: L1: 384 KiB L2: 2 MiB L3: 6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 719 high: 754 min/max: 700/3400 cores: 1: 700 2: 706
    3: 718 4: 754 bogomips: 6451
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics] driver: i915 v: kernel
    arch: Gen-12.2 ports: active: HDMI-A-2 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:46d1 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.18.0 driver:
    X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x286mm (20.00x11.26")
    s-diag: 583mm (22.95")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-2 mapped: HDMI-2 model: Sony TV 30 serial: 16843009
    res: 1920x1080 hz: 120 dpi: 34 size: 1439x809mm (56.65x31.85")
    diag: 1651mm (65") modes: max: 3840x2160 min: 640x480
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (ADL-N)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-N PCH High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 1-6:6 chip-ID: 0573:1573 class-ID: 0300
    serial: A34004801402
  Device-2: Zoran Personal Media Division (Nogatech) USB Audio and HID
    type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-22-amd64 status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8852BE PCIe 802.11ax Wireless Network driver: N/A pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:b852
    class-ID: 0280
  Device-2: Intel Ethernet I226-V driver: igc v: kernel pcie: speed: 5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:125c class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: e0:51:d8:13:36:69
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-8:8 chip-ID: 0bda:b85b class-ID: e001 serial: 00e04c000001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: not found
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: no address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 2.03 GiB (0.2%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WD Blue SN580 1TB
    size: 931.51 GiB speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: 24153L801363
    rev: 281010WD temp: 52.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 465.66 GiB used: 2.02 GiB (0.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 486 MiB used: 12 MiB (2.5%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
  ID-3: /home size: 465.66 GiB used: 2.02 GiB (0.4%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-4: /var/log size: 465.66 GiB used: 2.02 GiB (0.4%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-5: /var/tmp size: 465.66 GiB used: 2.02 GiB (0.4%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 190 Uptime: 17m wakeups: 5 Memory: 7.51 GiB
  used: 2.54 GiB (33.9%) Init: systemd v: 252 target: graphical (5)
  default: graphical Compilers: N/A Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 1310 Shell: Bash
  v: 5.2.15 running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.26

What is the next step to get this working?

[wizard10000]

This is a supported chipset, did you enable non-free firmware when you installed Debian?

The package you need is called "firmware-realtek" and is in Bookworm's repository.

You might want to check /etc/apt/sources.list to ensure that non-free firmware is enabled so your firmware will get upgrades when available. See here - scroll down to the part that says "If you need the contrib, non-free and non-free-firmware components

https://wiki.debian.org/SourcesList#Exa ... urces.list

Make the changes to /etc/apt/sources.list (you'll need to be root to do this), then run apt update and install firmware-realtek. Reboot the machine and wifi should work.

Good luck -

[jfabernathy]

Thanks for your reply. I did install with non-free firmware and software enabled.

I just tried:

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sudo apt install firmware-realtek

That fixed the firmware error in dmesg, but I still have some issue with bluetooth audio. however I can see I'm on the right path.

Not sure why the firmware was not picked up automatically, but at least I know where to get it.

[wizard10000]

My bluetooth skills are fairly weak but I think the next thing I'd do is install rfkill and see if bluetooth is blocked. Just install rfkill and run it as root in a terminal window.

[jfabernathy]

I think I have bigger problems. I just found out I have RTK WiFi as well as BT. The kernel is not new enough to support the N100 shipped with the Realtek WiFi/BT mini card.

[RedGreen925]

I think I have bigger problems. I just found out I have RTK WiFi as well as BT. The kernel is not new enough to support the N100 shipped with the Realtek WiFi/BT mini card.

Then enable the bookworm-backports repository in your /etc/apt/sources.list and install the latest kernel from there.
The command would be sudo apt install -t bookworm-backports linux-image-amd64 after the enabling of it and an apt update. Looks like a 6.7 kernel is in there if that is new enough for the support.


https://packages.debian.org/search?suit ... mage-amd64

[jfabernathy]

So that's what backports are for. Yes I'm a Debian newbie. That worked for me I have the new kernel and realtek firmware and now my BT and WiFi are working.

[RedGreen925]

So that's what backports are for. Yes I'm a Debian newbie. That worked for me I have the new kernel and realtek firmware and now my BT and WiFi are working.

Yes it is for the newer software built for the stable distribution using it libraries. Good to read you get it done.