IWMBTFW(8)

💖 iwmbtfw — bestie's guide to loading Intel Bluetooth firmware 💖

okay so this is iwmbtfw, and it lives in section 8 of the System Manager's Manual (yeah, the sysadmin-y one, no cap). it's the little utility that shoves firmware into your Intel Wireless AC Bluetooth USB thingy so it actually works. iconic behavior honestly 🦋

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

iwmbtfw [-DI] -d device_name [-f firmware_path]
iwmbtfw -h

like, two whole ways to run it. that's it. that's the vibe. 💅

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so the iwmbtfw utility downloads the firmware file you point it at, straight to the ugen(4) device you point it at. match made in heaven fr fr 🫶

heads up though — this only works with Intel Wireless 7260/8260/9260 and newer chip based Bluetooth USB devices, and yes that includes AX and BE series wireless adapters. so if your dongle is ancient, this is not the moment, bestie 😭

the identification is currently based on the USB vendor ID/product ID pair plus the result of HCI queries. so it's doing a lil vibe check on two fronts:

• vendor ID should be 0x8087 (USB_VENDOR_INTEL2)
• product ID should be one of the supported devices

firmware files themselves? those live in the comms/iwmbt-firmware port. go get 'em. 🎀

and here's the cute part — iwmbtfw will query the device to figure out which firmware image and board configuration to load, at runtime. it just knows. main character energy honestly 👑

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💜 OPTIONS 💜

the options are as follows, bestie:

• -I — enable informational debugging. a lil whisper of what's happening ✨
• -D — enable verbose debugging. full-on narration, every detail, no chill 💀
• -d device_name — specify the ugen(4) device name. like, which device are we doing this for 🎯
• -f firmware_path — specify the directory containing the firmware files to search and upload. this is where we go shopping 🛍️
• -h — display the usage message and exit. the "help me help you" flag 🫶
• -p — use only the USB vendor ID/product ID pair for device model identification. no HCI queries, just the IDs, periodt 🌈

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⭐ EXIT STATUS ⭐

• 0 — slayed. success. 🎉
• >0 — something went wrong, an error occurred 😭

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• libusb(3)
• ugen(4)
• devd(8)

go read them, they're literally right there and they're good for you 📚

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

iwmbtfw is based on the ath3kfw(8) utility (used as the firmware downloader template) and on the Linux btintel driver source code. written by Vladimir Kondratyev <wulf@FreeBSD.org>. absolute legend behavior 💖

support for the 7260 card was added by Philippe Michaud-Boudreault <pitwuu@gmail.com>. thank you for your service 🫡

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🙈 BUGS 🙈

most likely. please report if found. 💀

like… that's the whole section. that's the honesty level we're operating at and honestly? respect.

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ngl if you're flashing firmware and something smells off, it's not you, it's the bugs. they're expected. report them and move on 🧚

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! cute lil sign-off for you: this one's from the Debian build, dated April 2, 2026 — so it's fresh, it's current, and it's ready for you. go flash some firmware responsibly 💅✨🍓