Driver in the installer

Ask Fedora
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1

I want to install fedora 39 but I need to install a wifi driver, Is it posible to install the driver in the installer and install it via wireless or do I need to install via ethernet and then install the driver in the fresh install?

2

you can start the live media, install the wifi driver, then install the system, however, the installer does not need to be online for installation, so could also install the wifi driver after.

note that you need an ethernet connection to download the wifi driver

whats your realtek chipset? Is it not supported by the kernel?

3

Are you trying to use the network installer or the Fedora Live Linux installer? I assume you have realtek wifi but your installer isn’t using it. It would be helpful to mention your hardware details for the benefit of others with similar hardware. The Live installer doesn’t need a network connection.
Over the years, Linux wifi support has been erratic, so it can be useful to have a cheap USB WiFi dongle that supports linux while sorting out problems with the build-in WiFi.

4

I’m using the net installer

5

We need to know what hardware you have before further help can be offered.

6

Put the driver on a second storage device. The filesystem label should be OEMDRV. This easy method is nice as the netinstall iso does not get modified and will still pass the integrity check.

RHEL has these instructions which will likely need adjustment:
updating drivers during installation

From anaconda documentation:
driverdisc

7

From another thread, @damianmg needs a driver for RTL8822CE. That thread provides a link to github project with a FTBS issue for 6.5.3. Building from source won’t work with the net installer, so Damian’s best option may be a USB WiFi dongle.

8

Having another network interface is a fine solution. Using hardware that is not supported in linux by the manufacturer is tough. It is quite a thing that so much of this type of hardware can be made to work in spite of it.

There are various methods to build the driver without installing f39 first. Once a driver is built against the kernel version used in the fedora installer, package it as an rpm and then use of the driver update disk method should be valid.