Q:

"Tigon" ethernet firmware: error message though working

This time I did not install firmware-linux-nonfree.  I opted to avoid it and found that everything is working fine (well, my wireless indicator light doesn't work, but the adaptor does, so it's cool).  Anyway, the last call to update-initramfs produced this error:
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3_tso5.bin for module tg3
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3_tso.bin for module tg3
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3.bin for module tg3

It is apparently the firmware for my ethernet adaptor.  That is working fine, same as last install.  How do I suppress this warning or fix the problem.  I don't want the nonfree fw package as it conflicts with my AMD gf fw. 

A:

This isn't an error, just a warning.  The tg3 module drives many Broadcom chipsets, and needs these firmware files only for BCM5705 TSO, BCM5703/BCM5704 TSO and BCM5701A0.  If you include a currently loaded module in your initramfs, but not all possible firmware files it can theoretically request, update-initramfs gives you these warnings.  These tell you that the generated initramfs file isn't quite as general as it could be.  You can only hack around this, for example by creating dummy firmware files.