EEL missing dvb firmware

I migrated from Core to EEL sometime ago after much hesitation, including all my jails, and am now very happy. I’m now on v24.10.2

The only app that is not fully working is TvHeadend that I installed using custom docker-compose adapted from the image on linuxserver/docker-tvheadend.

I passed /dev/dvb and one of the adapters worked out-of-the-box, the Astrometa DVB-T2 (15f4:0131), and I’m using it for my recordings.

The other was not working, it’s a Geniatech T230 (0572:c688). Dmesg told me it couldn’t find the firmware. In fact, I looked on https://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Geniatech_T230 and it needs dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw and dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw which are not included in /lib/firmware.

After checking what I had already read, I confirmed that the file system is ro and it’s not possible to copy the files without using /usr/local/libexec/disable-rootfs-protection.

So I read a little about it, namely the manual where I became aware of the constraints I would be subjected to, and the forums where it was advised to setup a VM or a sandbox; then I thought… what? just to copy two files? This feels like using a canon to kill a fly. Moreover, this should be a legit need.

Then I went ahead, applied the disable-root-protection, copied the files downloaded from the trusteful site https://github.com/OpenELEC/dvb-firmware/tree/master/firmware, and it’s fully working.

So, I come to the questions I would appreciate answered, please:

  1. Is there any other way to make this working, of course in a simple way, without a VM or a sandbox?

  2. I know there isn’t a enable-rootfs-protection, like for instance on MacOS where you can use crsutil to enable and disable sip, and MacOs is reputably very safe, so they say. Is there any other way to make the file system ro again? This concerns me more than the other constraints.

  3. When I apply the next update, will the system be root-protection-enabled again? And remove the present constraints, namely the ban from support?

  4. I assume that, on the next updating, the firmware files I copied to /lib/firmware will disappear. Is there any plans to include this commonly needed firmware on future revisions? Or can someone please post a pull request? I’m not lazy, as you can guess if you read this post up to here, but I’m just not used to it.

Thank you in advance.