FwupdPluginQuirks

Quirks can be used to modify device behavior. When fwupd is installed in long-term support distros it’s very hard to backport new versions as new hardware is released.

There are several reasons why we can’t just include the mapping and quirk information in the AppStream metadata:

• The extra data is hugely specific to the installed fwupd plugin versions
• The device-id is per-device, and the mapping is usually per-plugin
• Often the information is needed before the FuDevice is created
• There are security implications in allowing plugins to handle new devices

The idea with quirks is that the end user can drop an additional (or replace an existing) file in a .d director with a simple format and the hardware will magically start working. This assumes no new quirks are required, as this would obviously need code changes, but allows us to get most existing devices working in an easy way without the user compiling anything.

Plugins may add support for additional quirks that are relevant only for those plugins, and should be documented in the per-plugin README.md files.

You can add quirk files in /usr/share/fwupd/quirks.d or /var/lib/fwupd/quirks.d/.

Here is an example as seen in the CSR plugin:

[USB\VID_0A12&PID_1337]
Plugin = dfu_csr
Name = H05
Summary = Bluetooth Headphones
Icon = audio-headphones
Vendor = AIAIAI
[USB\VID_0A12&PID_1337&REV_2520]
Version = 1.2

See also: FuDevice, FuPlugin.