How-to use bcm43xx-fwcutter on Fedora7

[scotta3234]

*These instructions currently work with a new installation of Fedora7 and my Broadcom 1390 mini-pci card. These instructions should also work for other Bcm43xx devices. DO NOT try and use bcm43xx installation methods you may have seen for FC5 and FC6. Fedora7 requires firmware version 4 or higher (4.x).

-Edited June 18 to include a link to different firmware which should work better for broadcom 4318 users.

-Edited June 20th to include a link for how to use the older Softmac driver in place of the new mac_80211.

-Edited October 8 to suggest using the b43-fwcutter package in place of the bcm43xx-fwcutter for use with the b43 driver.

1. Install the b43-fwcutter package. Open a terminal and do: yum -y install b43-fwcutter

2. Create a folder on your desktop and name it bcm43xx. (In actuality you can call it whatever you like but for the sake of installing just make it the same.)

3. Download the broadcom firmware from here: *Note- Fedora7 uses the bcm43xx_mac80211 driver so you will need a firmware version 4 or higher, (4.x).
http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2, and move it into the bcm43xx folder you created on your desktop. Then, Extract the files wl_apsta.o and wl_apsta_mimo.o (located in the kmod folder in the archive you just downloaded),so that they reside inside the bcm43xx folder(screenshot1).

4. Open a terminal and become root, Then go into the bcm43xx directory on your desktop: cd /home/"your-home-directory-here-without-quotes"/Desktop/bcm43xx (screenshot 2)

5. Issue the command to cut the firmware: /usr/bin/b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta.o

6. Make sure NetworkManager is enabled: Go to, System/Administration/Services and check the box for network manager. Save your changes and reboot. (screenshot 3)


-Upon booting your system your wireless light should come on and everything should be working fine. :D

-If using WPA, make sure you have WPA_Supplicant daemon running under System/Administration/Services.

For those of you having trouble with the 4318 you could try using the older Softmac driver instead of the mac_80211 driver. Although from all of the bugzilla posts I have read your cards should be supported and work with the new driver: https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2007-June/msg01009.html

[kvendler]

You mentioned that this should work with all 43xx devices, but I was curious if anyone tried it with the Broadcom 4318 "Airforce One" WLAN and verified that it works. If not, I'm sure I'll find out for myself ;-)

[gcwxj]

I am wondering could my "Broadcom 4318" work using your method. Thanks

[charlie_D]

I know the Broadcom 4306 (rev 3) works via this method, I ran through nearly the same outline this afternoon.

[gamesandglory]

I know the Broadcom 4306 (rev 3) works via this method, I ran through nearly the same outline this afternoon.

can you link the driver you used? I have the same card but the driver in the original post doesnt seem to work
it is giving the error SIOCSIFFLAGS: Operation not supported

[charlie_D]

Sure, my steps were slightly different; I blacklisted bcm43xx and loaded the bcm43xx_mac80211 instead, one second and I'll find what I followed for you...

Downloaded the 4.0 firmware to ~fedora (Obviously, I needed an
ethernet connection at this point).

http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2

Then:
yum install bcm43xx-fwcutter
bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware ~fedora/wl_apsta.o
echo 'blacklist bcm43xx' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
modprobe -r bcm43xx
modprobe -r ieee80211softmac
modprobe -r ieee80211_crypt
modprobe -r ieee80211
modprobe -r bcm43xx_mac80211
modprobe bcm43xx_mac80211

Then I plugged along and enabled NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher

That info up there is pulled from somewhere, I'm not sure of the original source right now; I had that saved to a text file on my USB key ;)

EDIT: Found it, here's the original link, post #114
http://fcp.surfsite.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=36661&forum=11&post_id=166437

Charlie

[bogatron]

Does anyone have a link to the 64-bit version of the 4.0 firmware?

[gamesandglory]

Sure, my steps were slightly different; I blacklisted bcm43xx and loaded the bcm43xx_mac80211 instead, one second and I'll find what I followed for you...

Downloaded the 4.0 firmware to ~fedora (Obviously, I needed an
ethernet connection at this point).

http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2

Then:
yum install bcm43xx-fwcutter
bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware ~fedora/wl_apsta.o
echo 'blacklist bcm43xx' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
modprobe -r bcm43xx
modprobe -r ieee80211softmac
modprobe -r ieee80211_crypt
modprobe -r ieee80211
modprobe -r bcm43xx_mac80211
modprobe bcm43xx_mac80211

Then I plugged along and enabled NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher

That info up there is pulled from somewhere, I'm not sure of the original source right now; I had that saved to a text file on my USB key ;)

EDIT: Found it, here's the original link, post #114
http://fcp.surfsite.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=36661&forum=11&post_id=166437

Charlie


thanks Charlie that worked like a charm :)

[charlie_D]

np, glad it's working :)

[kvendler]

I'm having some difficulties getting this to work for my Broadcom 4318 Airforce One (rev 2) WLAN. The firmware link provided only contains one of the two files (wl_apsta.o but not wl_apsta.mimo.o). I went ahead and followed the rest of procedure to no success. Any ideas?

[bogatron]

I found the 64-bit firmware v4 for my 4318, but it would still not work, I could see available networks, but could not connect to anything. I then tried ndiswrapper and got nothing. Ndiswrapper has worked great for me in Core 5 and 6. Has anybody got this to work?

Broadcom 4318 with Fedora 7 x86_64 is what I'm working with.

[scotta3234]

I'm having some difficulties getting this to work for my Broadcom 4318 Airforce One (rev 2) WLAN. The firmware link provided only contains one of the two files (wl_apsta.o but not wl_apsta.mimo.o). I went ahead and followed the rest of procedure to no success. Any ideas?


You might need to blacklist the old bcm43xx driver as described here: echo 'blacklist bcm43xx' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
modprobe -r bcm43xx
modprobe -r ieee80211softmac
modprobe -r ieee80211_crypt
modprobe -r ieee80211
modprobe -r bcm43xx_mac80211
modprobe bcm43xx_mac80211

[spk037]

I'm having some difficulties getting this to work for my Broadcom 4318 Airforce One (rev 2) WLAN. The firmware link provided only contains one of the two files (wl_apsta.o but not wl_apsta.mimo.o). I went ahead and followed the rest of procedure to no success. Any ideas?
I'm also having a problem with that card. I can see the network, it attempts to connect but no go. I've turned all encryption off but get the same. /var/log/messages shows it attempting a dhcpdiscover but it times out without getting an ip.

[Skyriver]

Thanks scotta3234 and Charlie_D!! I used scotta3234 instruction with the file Charile_D provided with my 4306 chip and it worked. Just make sure you have "NetworkManager", "NetworkManagerDispatch" and if you are using wpa encription you should also make sure "wpa_supplication" are all started in Service Configuration, just like scotta3234 explains.

Spk037:Are you using wpa encription? If you are you may check in services to make sure wpa_supplication is started.

Thanks for this tutorial.

[bogatron]

Is there way to remove bcm43xx-mac80211 from the kernel? I deleted all ,ko modules and blacklisted bcm43xx and bcm43xx-mac80211 and yet kudzu still lists bcm43xx-mac80211 as the driver for my Broadcom bcm4318 card.

I have ndiswrapper installed and ready, but cannot connect to any of the networks that it sees...

[gcwxj]

Thanks a lot for your valuable information indeed.

I just have a brand new installation of Fedora 7 on my laptop. I have tried both scotta3234 and Charlie_D's method and turn on "NetworkManager", "NetworkManagerDispatch" and "wpa_supplication" services. I still could not bring my Broadcom 4318 wireless card to work and the light of the card have never lighted. Could you give me some suggestions on how to trouble shooting the problem. Thanks a lot again.

[kvendler]

My previous post was a bit premature. I found out that the link I originally downloaded the firmware was the wrong one and found the right bzipped archive. Once I found the archive that included both *.o files, I was able to enable wireless with one caveat: attempts at connecting to encrypted networks result in failure.

BTW I am currently posting this on Fedora 7 :-D

[asun]

I'm having the same issue with Broadcom BCM431 [AirForce One 54g]. Previously, it worked with ndiswrapper on FC5. Now with F7, I can't get it to work.

I've tried fwcutter method above, both bcm43xx and bcm43xx_mac80211 won't even bring up the wlan0 interface.

Moving to ndiswrapper, I can see the AP around me, but connecting any AP even the ones without encryption won't work. I've tried this using both wpa_supplicant (wpa_gui) and NetworkManager. With wpa_gui, I got up to 4way_handshake step and nada. From /var/log/messages, it looks like the association stage failed.

Has anyone have the same experience? Any remedy?

[nbecker]

Doesn't work on BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g]. x86_64

bcm43xx_mac80211: YOUR FIRMWARE IS TOO OLD. Firmware from binary drivers older than version 4.x is unsupported. You must upgrade your firmware files

Anyone know where to find new firmware for 64-bit?

[Ippy98]

I am also trying to use the BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g], I tried the method above, and it does not bring up the card at all. I get error "wd device eth1 does not seem to be present, delaying initilization"

I also get a similar message if I try to activate the card from the network manager.

[bogatron]

Doesn't work on BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g]. x86_64

bcm43xx_mac80211: YOUR FIRMWARE IS TOO OLD. Firmware from binary drivers older than version 4.x is unsupported. You must upgrade your firmware files

Anyone know where to find new firmware for 64-bit?

http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R151517.EXE

After you download that executable, just run:
unzip R151517.EXE

The 4.0 64-bit firmware is there, I tried it and it wasn't working for me...hopefully you have better luck.

[KKJensen]

bogatron: modprobe -r bcm43xx-mac80211 is what would remove it. As far as I know, at this point, if it's been blacklisted it shouldn't show up anymore...especially if you've moved or erased all the .ko files.

Now on to my problem
I've followed the procedure (except that I also blacklisted the other ieee stuff...basically everything that was "modprobe -r"ed except for the last one that is obviously re-inserted.

I have a laptop with a realtek 8139 ethernet adapter and the same broadcom 4318 that everyone else is having trouble with. I found that after the whole bcm43xx-fwcutter procedure I get the broadcom device showing up as eth0 (which is what the 8139 is supposed to be). I think this might be part of my problem but I don't know how to correct it.

In /etc/modprobe.conf I've added to [hopefully] get the realtek onto eth1 and then point wlan0 at eth0...

alias eth1 8139too
alias wlan0 eth0

This was a bit of a shot in the wind since an alias doesn't get rid of the original. HOW do I make the broadcom ONLY be wlan0 OR the realtek 8139 ONLY be eth1? Even if my network manager (after the above aliases) does show the realtek on eth1, broadcom on eth0, and wlan on wlan0 I still get the same failure to get an ip address and when I plug into wired network and right click on the NetworkManager icon and hit 'Connection Information' I see "Interface: Wired Ethernet (eth0)" Both connections seem to be eth0 and my aliases are just that...aliases.

SUMMARY: If BOTH my realtek ethernet adapter AND my Broadcom are showing up as eth0, HOW DO I CHANGE ONE OF THEM???

I can post dmesg or /var/log/messages data if needed but won't now so I'm not hogging the thread unnecessarily.

[spk037]

Spk037:Are you using wpa encription? If you are you may check in services to make sure wpa_supplication is started.

Thanks for this tutorial.

i turned off all encrytion on the AP. i would launch knetwork manager and connection status would reach 57%. i could see in messages that wlan0 would come up, radio on and att dhcpdiscover on the AP. it would eventually time out and fail to connect. knetwork manager could see the AP properties, ie: encryption on or off, ssid, sig strength, etc. it just wouldnt connect. I tried running fwcutter on the bcmwl5.sys driver from dell with similiar results.

[KKJensen]

i could see in messages that wlan0 would come up, radio on and att dhcpdiscover on the AP. it would eventually time out and fail to connect.

This is exactly where mine fails. You don't by chance have your wireless and regular (wired) conflicting? On my laptop I open the network config window and select "devices" here I only see my bcm4318 wireless card showing up as eth0. BUT if I plug in a wire Network manager's "connection information" reports the driver 8139too (wired) and eth0.

[nbecker]

My bcm4318 fails on dhcpdiscover timeout. Using WEP.

I have a cardbus atheos plugged in (using madwifi), and that works.

I don't have the issue with bcm4318 being eth0. I believe it is wlan0.

[gooniefly]

i couldn't get to work my wireless card with bcm43xx-fwcutter, but i could with ndiswrapper you can read what i did in this thead, post #28:

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=156435&page=2&pp=15

i hope this is of little help.

[KKJensen]

ndiswrapper (from livna) with the .inf file from acer got mine working. NetworkManager has some problem with wpa-applicant so it didn't work. I ended up using wlassistant in the mean time.

Not the best solution for a laptop since wlassistant only does wireless and NetworkManager does both so right now I have to open wlassistant for wireless and NetworkManager for wired.



FYI: I'm on a 32bit machine
ndiswrapper is precompiled from the livna repository (not compiled on my machine)
drivers came from the acer website for my aspire 3610 laptop.

[leflores80]

I've tried that and ndiswrapper and it isn't working anymore!!

[bogatron]

I couldn't get ndiswrapper or the native drivers working in F7 x86_64 on my Broadcom 4318. This weekend I tried the i386 version of F7, the x86_64 and i386 version of Debian Etch and the the i386 and x86_64 versions of Arch Linux. I was able to get my wifi connected in some of these instances but the speed was horrible. Luckily I had a backup of FC6 that used ndiswrapper and it was the only situation where I was getting amazing wireless speeds. Not sure why though, I've never been able to reproduce it in new installations.

[MitrA]

Hello,
sorry for my english first...

I used solution from this thread and I have same problem like many people here. My BCM4306 rev. 3 looks functional, but I cant connect my home AP. I have used WEP. This problem is when a try to use NetworkManager.

So, I downloaded wlassist and tryed connect my AP by this client, and it was succesfull!

heh...

[KKJensen]

A few other threads talk about the problem with Network Manager. If you run # tail -F /var/log/messages and then try to connect with it you'll see it get to a point where it's trying to use wpa-supplicant and it stalls and then times out and shuts down the wireless. I always got the same effect even when I had stopped or started the wpa-supplicant service.

wlassistant works but, I suppose, I won't be able to connect to a WPA AP.

[WFlynn]

Hi,
I have a Broadcom BCM4318 card and have been having the same problems as everybody else with that card, but I just downloaded the newest update for NetworkManager and my wireless is working fine now.

[bogatron]

Hi,
I have a Broadcom BCM4318 card and have been having the same problems as everybody else with that card, but I just downloaded the newest update for NetworkManager and my wireless is working fine now.

Are you using x86 or x86_64 and are you using the native drivers or ndiswrapper?

[WFlynn]

I'm using i386 and the native drivers

[bogatron]

I'm using i386 and the native drivers

Do you find that Network Manager returns the individual strengths of the available networks while using the native drivers? I have had the native drivers working on my BCM4318 previously, but it showed all available networks as 100% in strength, whereas the ndiswrapper setup provides the relative strengths of the available networks (as of the 2.6.20 kernel release).

[scotta3234]

The native drivers and my 1390 returns the correct signal strength.... not sure about other cards (although I believe they should, as i previously had your problem that you describe).

[WFlynn]

I was actually wondering about that, I noticed that the signal for all the available networks, even my neighbor's network, is always at 100%, so the answer to your question is no; I can't see the individual signal strengths. Something else that has been bothering me is that under the connection information I can't see the speed, it just says "unknown".

[mikntwd]

You mention using FWcutter.

However, you didnt mention if we need to use things like dhcpcd, ndiswrapper?

Or what about using the terminal commands like iwconfig & ifconfig?

What did your network adapter appear as; eth0, eth1 or Wlan0?

Thanks,

mikntwd :confused:

[WFlynn]

I didn't use ndiswrapper or dhcpd, all I did was follow the instructions in post #1, but using this adress for the files (from post #6)

http://downloads.openwrt.org/source...80.53.0.tar.bz2

then there was an update available in the package updater for network manager and that got it working.

if I use system-config-network my wireless card does not appear as a device however under connection information it appears as Wlan0.

[scotta3234]

Fwcutter=native bcm43xx (broadcom support) all you need to do is "Cut" the firmware in order to make it work.
Ndiswrapper= "Wraps up" a windows driver to get things working

So you're using one or the other. This how-to is for using the native drivers.

[Avix]

ok, tried all this, again it's the Broadcom 4318 Airforce on a acer. after turning off firewalls and SELinux and security at the AP, I still can't connect. the light comes on, it does try. but the wifi hardware does not show up in the network hardware listing nor in the modprobe.conf.

help?

[Ratty]

I have my Broadcomm card showing in F7 now but I cannot connect to any WPA networks. I'm not willing to open up my home network and not able to open up the work one. So is wlassistant the only way to connect to a WPA network? or is the wpa-supplicant service broken beyond repair.

Rat

[tktim]

http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2007-June/msg01009.html

Post from fedora-list redhat com saying not to use ndiswrapper -harmful. Recommends how to make bcm43xx work.

[covand]

Then:
yum install bcm43xx-fwcutter
bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware ~fedora/wl_apsta.o
echo 'blacklist bcm43xx' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
modprobe -r bcm43xx
modprobe -r ieee80211softmac
modprobe -r ieee80211_crypt
modprobe -r ieee80211
modprobe -r bcm43xx_mac80211
modprobe bcm43xx_mac80211

Then I plugged along and enabled NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher

Charlie

Card wasn't even being noticed by FC7 when I began a few hours ago - I've spent all afternoon trying to set up this card, and finally started getting closer and closer, but couldn't get it to work. Decided to backtrack, delete all my work and follow this post. Thanks, my wireless is set up now, and had no issues with finishing off the security.

[mlager]

Hi,

I followed the little how-to in this thread in the hope of getting my wireless going on my laptop. However, I'm running into some small problems. In the NetworkManager I can see the networks in range, but it doesn't allow me to connect to any of them. In wlassistant my home network doesn't even show up for some obscure reason.

Anyways, dmesg gives me the following, it seems to indicate something's not right.

bcm43xx_mac80211: Adding Interface type 2
ssb: Switching to PCI-E core, index 3
ssb: Switching to IEEE 802.11 core, index 1
bcm43xx_mac80211: Loading firmware version 351.126 (2006-07-29 05:54:02)
ssb: Switching to ChipCommon core, index 0
ssb: Switching to IEEE 802.11 core, index 1
bcm43xx_mac80211: Radio turned on
bcm43xx_mac80211: Radio enabled by hardware
bcm43xx_mac80211: !WARNING! Idle-TSSI phy->cur_idle_tssi measuring failed. (cur=27, tgt=62). Disabling TX power adjustment.
bcm43xx_mac80211: Chip initialized
bcm43xx_mac80211: 32-bit DMA initialized
bcm43xx_mac80211: Wireless interface started
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

I used the firmware link provide by charlie_D, and as you may have guessed running Fedora 7.
My laptop's an Acer 9413ZWSMi, according to lspci it has one of those dreaded broadcom wifi chipsets:

05:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-PCI Card (rev 01)

If some on can help me out and shed some light on this darkness it would be most appreciated.

Regards,

Mark

[ramasees]

guys i dont know if this will help you but i have 2 acer laptopts and i believe this is the same for other makes as well not all but most

the physical switch for turning wireless on and off is really a software switch and can only be turned on in windows, once ts on it will always stay on until you either press the switch or lose power then the default is off and will only be turned on in windows again, the light means nothing, on some of the older acer laptops there is a hack but its not maintained anymore, this is the only reason i keep windows hope this was some help and saved you some more hedaches

[mlager]

I just booted into Windows and tested it. On my laptop the switch doesn't do anything, not in Windows or Fedora. The automatically goes on after going through the bios and stays on. Either it is broken, or it's something native to this laptop. So far it doesn't seem to be making any difference.

[SirTwist]

I am using a HP Omnibook 6000, and a Linksys wireless card. I have the fwcutter, but I maybe misunderstanding something, or even not getting something right, as I can't get it to work right, I think. I don't have a wired connection, most of the time, at the library. I do, however, have a flash drive and I can copy information into it. I can't, however, do too much with it, as it's not that big. Please help.

[bruce64]

Sure, my steps were slightly different; I blacklisted bcm43xx and loaded the bcm43xx_mac80211 instead, one second and I'll find what I followed for you...

Downloaded the 4.0 firmware to ~fedora (Obviously, I needed an
ethernet connection at this point).

http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2

Then:
yum install bcm43xx-fwcutter
bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware ~fedora/wl_apsta.o
echo 'blacklist bcm43xx' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
modprobe -r bcm43xx
modprobe -r ieee80211softmac
modprobe -r ieee80211_crypt
modprobe -r ieee80211
modprobe -r bcm43xx_mac80211
modprobe bcm43xx_mac80211

Then I plugged along and enabled NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher

That info up there is pulled from somewhere, I'm not sure of the original source right now; I had that saved to a text file on my USB key ;)

EDIT: Found it, here's the original link, post #114
http://fcp.surfsite.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=36661&forum=11&post_id=166437

Charlie

The step above brought me to almost 99% of the way there. The wireless light is on, I can see the area networks available to me, I even did a ifconfig wlan0 and that is fine. However, broadcom does not show up when trying to configure network manager. I am also not able to connect to any wireless. Using FC7, what other info do you need?

[PhillipGreen]

If you ever figure this problem out please let me know. Not only do I have this same problem (installed bcm43xx-cutter in F7 following the above steps, can see wireless networks, but card is not in network manager, nor can I connect via wireless to any of the listed networks), but I have seen several posts describing the same thing. I have the 4318 chipset which apparently does not always work with bcm43xx-cutter (which sucks), although it work in F6.

Good luck.

Phillip

[SirTwist]

Ok, I found out that I did get it installed. I also found wifi-radar. That may help, as well. It'll tell you all the possible wireless connections in your area.

[scotta3234]

For those of you having trouble with the 4318 you could try using the older Softmac driver instead of the mac_80211 driver. Although from all of the bugzilla posts I have read your cards should be supported and work with the new driver: https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2007-June/msg01009.html<--- this has already been linked in this forum once but thought that it could be mentioned again.

[lafrad]

Sure, my steps were slightly different; I blacklisted bcm43xx and loaded the bcm43xx_mac80211 instead, one second and I'll find what I followed for you...

Downloaded the 4.0 firmware to ~fedora (Obviously, I needed an
ethernet connection at this point).

http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2

Then:
yum install bcm43xx-fwcutter
bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware ~fedora/wl_apsta.o
echo 'blacklist bcm43xx' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
modprobe -r bcm43xx
modprobe -r ieee80211softmac
modprobe -r ieee80211_crypt
modprobe -r ieee80211
modprobe -r bcm43xx_mac80211
modprobe bcm43xx_mac80211

Then I plugged along and enabled NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher

That info up there is pulled from somewhere, I'm not sure of the original source right now; I had that saved to a text file on my USB key ;)

EDIT: Found it, here's the original link, post #114
http://fcp.surfsite.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=36661&forum=11&post_id=166437

Charlie

I've tried to go down this route, but have ended up with a problem:

I need a microcode file that doesn't exist in that download.

I am getting messages in my logs:

firmware_helper[5194]: Loading of /lib/firmware/bcm43xx_microcode2.fw for bcm43xx driver failed: No such file or directory
kernel: bcm43xx: Error: Microcode "bcm43xx_microcode2.fw" not available or load failed.

Does anyone have info on where I can get that microcode? I am running a Dell Truemobile 1180 802.11b card... (yea, its pretty old... newest drivers on Dell's site date from 2004 or something like that...

[djag13]

i've done this. my wireless light is on, but i cannot see any wireless networks and of course cannot obtain an ip. here's my story (from a thread i posted yesterday) (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=158977) . can anyone shed some light on my situationn. thanks in advance.


bruce64, to get your adapter to show up in the network configuration utility, add the following line to /etc/modprobe.conf

alias wlan0 bcm43xx_mac80211

[bruce64]

Hi djag13, I did add the line to my modprobe and it shows up as wlan0 as opposed to broadcom airforce one .... I save and reboot but to no avail. The wireless tries to connect because I get one light as the network manager tries to connect but then it ultimately times out. Are there any error messages I should be on the lookout for besides the obvious "not connected check cable"?

[bruce64]

Hey Phillip - I ended up doing a fresh install and then used ndiswrapper and the instructions from this - How to ndiswrapper 1.47 [FC7] BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] header - worked like a charm!!

[PhillipGreen]

Thanks bruce64!! Following that thread worked like charm. I have wifi.

Peace,
Phillip

[SirTwist]

There is a slightly faster way of getting wireless cards up and running. Go to the manufacturer's website, under support, find your card's drivers, and download them. Ok, I simplified that, a bit. Most of them do not have linux drivers, but rather Windows. Now, you can download the Windows drivers, no problem, as long as it's not the 2k or above. You'll have to unpackage it, find the driver itself, and put it where you need to. Anyway, that's my two cents.

[glhere]

Hi,

Hope responding to this will get attention (if I should start a new thread, pls advise, thanks)

Hope this might be a quick fix...I am responding the post re installing the bcm43xx cutter on FC7

Panasonic CF-50 with nic and WLAN (bcm4306 rev 3); FC7 installed

I followed directions in the post for getting the Broadcom wireless to work explicitly, but after re-boot some bad news things started


1. If I bootup with the wired connection attached, boot sometimes hangs -- it hangs at the network manager

If bootup proceeds, a wired connection is reported by the network manager, but not only is the browser unable to connect to the internet, the usb ports become dysfunctional (devices are not even detected), and other network services go defunct (ftp, etc). More info upon request.

2. If I bootup with no wire (internet) connection, bootup is fine, and if I plug in the internet cable, I can get on the internet. I will be trying/testing the wireless connection as soon as I finish sending this post.

I have >unchecked< the network manager (one of the last steps in the process listed above) to see if I can bootup wired with no problem, but if anyone has had such experiences, knows what to do, I would appreciate hearing, yes :]

Thanks in advance for any info

[glhere]

addenda to the previous post on troubles with network manager after installing bcm4306 network card cutter etc

disabling the network manager cured ills mentioned.

However, the broadcom card is still not recognized as even existing...

How do I access it and try to use it? (I am familiar with command lines, but would like to use some gui for this. Btw, tho it is a real pain, the gui in FC5 I used (yes, I did this in FC5 and it worked) is listed under System->Administration->Network. This app does NOT recognize the card -- that is, whether or not the network manager is enabled, this network app shows only eth0; the bcm4306 is not on its hardware list, so I don't know how to add it as a wireless device...

know I had similar problem before, but can't find a trail of it now...anyone with advice, thanks for info

[thelight]

I have been trying to get my pci card with broadcom bcm4318 chipset on all day. After following the various instructions in this thread I have eventually got to the point where my card is detected, is apparently activated during boot up, and connects when in gnome using Network Manager.

It doesnt quite seem to be working properly though. Although it tells me that wlan0 is being brough up during boot, and gives a green OK, when I actually log into the desktop, Network Manager automatically connects me to the wired lan and not the wireless network. When I manually connect to the wireless network using Network Manager, it asks for my keyring password, is there any way to stop this?

The other problem I have is that Network Manager appears to be telling me that the wireless speed never goes above 1mb/s, and trying to browse the web using the wireless connection certainly feels like that. even though it is sitting right next to the wireless router. iwconfig reports that the connection is actually 11mb/s. Either way, we have windows PCs sitting in other rooms getting 54mb connections with no problem, so i can only assume it is the fedora drivers that are at fault. Anyone else experienced that?

Relevant sections from bootup dmesg:

bcm43xx-phy0: Broadcom 4318 WLAN found
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Found PHY: Analog 3, Type 2, Revision 7
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Found Radio: Manuf 0x17F, Version 0x2050, Revision 8
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Radio turned off
wmaster0: Selected rate control algorithm 'simple'
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Adding Interface type 2
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Loading firmware version 351.126 (2006-07-29 05:54:02)
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Radio turned on
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Radio enabled by hardware
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: bbatt(11) >= size of LO array
[<f8a56ebe>] bcm43xx_get_lo_g_ctl+0x63/0xa1 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f8a56f2e>] bcm43xx_lo_g_ctl_current+0x32/0x35 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f8a57014>] bcm43xx_lo_g_adjust+0x8/0x12 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f8a51a5b>] bcm43xx_phy_init_pctl+0x2ed/0x603 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f8a4c53b>] bcm43xx_phy_write+0x5f/0x67 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f8a54adb>] bcm43xx_phy_initg+0xbdd/0xc3f [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<c042eb6a>] msleep+0xd/0x12
[<f8a55268>] bcm43xx_phy_init+0x518/0x53c [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f8a499e4>] bcm43xx_chip_init+0x64f/0x92e [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f8a49edd>] bcm43xx_wireless_core_init+0x21a/0x6a0 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f8a4aeb9>] bcm43xx_add_interface+0x5a/0xe5 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<f89fc0e2>] ieee80211_open+0x1fe/0x306 [mac80211]
[<c05ab5e5>] dev_open+0x2e/0x68
[<c05aa0b7>] dev_change_flags+0x4c/0xfa
[<c05e799a>] devinet_ioctl+0x250/0x56e
[<c04c4410>] inode_has_perm+0x66/0x6e
[<c05a085b>] sock_ioctl+0x19f/0x1be
[<c05a06bc>] sock_ioctl+0x0/0x1be
[<c0483381>] do_ioctl+0x21/0xa0
[<c0483637>] vfs_ioctl+0x237/0x249
[<c0483695>] sys_ioctl+0x4c/0x67
[<c0404f8e>] syscall_call+0x7/0xb
=======================
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Chip initialized
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: 32-bit DMA initialized
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Wireless interface started
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

and when I enabled the wireless from gnome is says:

wlan0: Initial auth_alg=0
wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:16:01:46:59:12
wlan0: RX authentication from 00:16:01:46:59:12 (alg=0 transaction=2 status=0)
wlan0: authenticated
wlan0: associate with AP 00:16:01:46:59:12
wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:16:01:46:59:12 (capab=0x471 status=0 aid=1)
wlan0: associated
wlan0: switched to short barker preamble (BSSID=00:16:01:46:59:12)
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
wlan0: duplicate address detected!


LSPCI output for my card is:

01:09.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)

[scotta3234]

Are you using the most recent kernel? And have you updated network manager? I had this problem of it trying to connect using a wired connection for wireless before I did some updates.. It would cut out.. and then re-connect to a wireless network. Broadcom devices (at least for me on my 1390) seem to be picky about what kernel they're running, since there seem to be many changes even in between different versions of the .22 kernel. Currently I'm using 2.6.22.1-27, as I feel it's the most stable for MY particular environment, but it's something to take into account. The .23 kernel should hopefully take care of many broadcom issues.

As for your keyring problem this is quite normal. When a user logs onto the system it will always prompt you for the keyring. There is however, a way to automate this. I haven't used it, but you can probably find some information on it here: http://fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=156314&highlight=keyring+manager

Your speed issue concerns me. Using the native broadcom drivers should give you speeds of 11mbps. From what I've read, users of the 4306 and 1390 (the 1390 apparently uses the 4306 chipset) are the only people that should be having speed related issues, although they should be fixed in the newer .23 kernel. You can probably check out bugzilla.redhat.com for some more on this. Keep in mind, the native driver wont work above 11mbps. This shouldn't matter unless your internet connection is faster than this (T3+, FIOS, etc) So the computers in the other room running at 54mbps really aren't taking advantage of it. However, I understand you might want faster speeds for sharing files between computers.

I hope some of this information helps.

[Gandurash]

I have tried the method in this thread.

All went well accept that I can't see the wireless device in the network configuration, therefore I can't make a new wireless connection.

And even though the network manager can see and connect to unprotected wireless network, but can not connect to the protected wireless network.

What should I do to be able to make a new wireless connection and to be able to connect to my WPA 128-bit protected wireless network.

Thank you. :)

[thelight]

I believe I am using the latest kernel, 2.6.22.1-41, yum is telling me there are no updates so i assume I am, and because of this I assume im also using the latest version of Network Manager. Ive also noticed that if selinux is turned on, it blocks Network Manager from communicating with wap-supplicant and the gnome keyring when trying to connect to a wpa network, disabling it lets it work.

Keyring problem is fixed though, cheers.

I just did a quick speed test downloading a file from the internet. A windows based system with the same wireless card in managed to achieve around 300kb/s downloading the same file, at most the fedora machine manages 20kb/s, often under 5kb/s, and it regularly just freezes for about 20 seconds then starts off again, so, something amiss.

Before I bugzilla this, what is the best category to post this under, bmc43xx-fwcutter, or the kernel where the driver is stored? Also, is it work reporting the selinux problem to bugzilla also?

thanks.

[mrsurf]

Does this work with Broadcom 4311 WLAN ??

[scotta3234]

Yes it should work with a 4311 should work as it is the same chipset as my 1390. I made a mistake in my last post about the 1390 being the same as a 4306.

[glhere]

mebbe the network manager problem is separate from the >which bcm43xx driver to choose< issue? The manager freezes my system no matter what driver I use...have seen bug reports on NetworkManager that don't mention any driver issue...

Still, to continue on this thread, if anyone knows:
For the bcm4306 ver3, when using the the bcm43xx.v3 driver, the network configuration tool (system-config-network) will recognize the device (finally).

Unfortunately, the device still cannot be activated (thru the network config tool or thru command line.


Wonder if this is some clash between the eth1 of network config tool and some wlan0 setup along the way? Or???


Any hints or advice will be appreciated -- thanks in advance

[mrsurf]

Hey ! My wirless button turnned blue but why does it says mac80211???
How to set up in System===administration== Network. Whats it s name ????

How to enable Network manager as Services menu is not shown in my menu as you told


Thanks for nice tutorial and useful help. Please sort out these queries also......


[<e02deebe>] bcm43xx_get_lo_g_ctl+0x63/0xa1 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02def2e>] bcm43xx_lo_g_ctl_current+0x32/0x35 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02df014>] bcm43xx_lo_g_adjust+0x8/0x12 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02d9a5b>] bcm43xx_phy_init_pctl+0x2ed/0x603 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02d453b>] bcm43xx_phy_write+0x5f/0x67 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02dcadb>] bcm43xx_phy_initg+0xbdd/0xc3f [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02dd268>] bcm43xx_phy_init+0x518/0x53c [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02d19e4>] bcm43xx_chip_init+0x64f/0x92e [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02d1edd>] bcm43xx_wireless_core_init+0x21a/0x6a0 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
[<e02d2eb9>] bcm43xx_add_interface+0x5a/0xe5 [bcm43xx_mac80211]
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Chip initialized
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: 32-bit DMA initialized
bcm43xx-phy0 debug: Wireless interface started

[almostjesus]

May I ask how you managed to get this to work:

yum install bcm43xx-fwcutter

when you have no internet? I tried that and it says "could not retrieve mirror list' blah blah blah because I have no connection.

[arcticanos]

I had a same kind of problem with this wireless card like many people have; I saw all the wireless networks in NetworkManager (?), but I couldn't get connection to them. I solved this problem by switching off Wpa_supplicant (I had my Network_Manager on) and then my computer automatically get me to the wlan.

I don't know if this was the point what enabled me to use this wireless network, but this is how it happened to me :cool:

I hope this helps somebody with the same problem...

[Gnafu the Great]

When I follow the steps in posts #1 and #6, I don't seem to be getting anywhere on reboot. Also, when doing to fwcutter command, the output throws up some errors before looking like it's working (this output is attached). I haven't tried the steps to use the old firmware yet (though I'm about to). I have a Dell 1390 (4311) in a Compaq F572US. I'd like to use the latest firmware, if possible.

EDIT: And I get the following output from dmesg when I do "modprobe bcm43xx_mac80211":

b43-phy0: Broadcom 4311 WLAN found
WARNING: at drivers/ssb/main.c:853 ssb_tmslow_reject_bitmask() (Tainted: P )

Call Trace:
[<ffffffff881827fa>] :ssb:ssb_tmslow_reject_bitmask+0x52/0x5b
[<ffffffff881828d0>] :ssb:ssb_device_disable+0x25/0xb9
[<ffffffff88182f80>] :ssb:ssb_device_enable+0x10/0xbb
[<ffffffff8818f186>] :b43:b43_wireless_core_reset+0x1d/0xee
[<ffffffff8818fcec>] :b43:b43_probe+0x3b7/0x9b1
[<ffffffff810d6025>] sysfs_make_dirent+0x29/0x38
[<ffffffff810d6f98>] sysfs_create_link+0x128/0x140
[<ffffffff88182f1f>] :ssb:ssb_device_probe+0x3d/0x55
[<ffffffff81186b56>] driver_probe_device+0xff/0x17c
[<ffffffff81186d1b>] __driver_attach+0x90/0xcc
[<ffffffff81186c8b>] __driver_attach+0x0/0xcc
[<ffffffff81186c8b>] __driver_attach+0x0/0xcc
[<ffffffff81185ee4>] bus_for_each_dev+0x43/0x6e
[<ffffffff8118625c>] bus_add_driver+0x7b/0x19d
[<ffffffff88138036>] :b43:b43_init+0x36/0x56
[<ffffffff8104f57a>] sys_init_module+0x163f/0x17a1
[<ffffffff81060a06>] audit_syscall_entry+0x141/0x174
[<ffffffff81009cd5>] tracesys+0xd5/0xda

b43-phy0 ERROR: FOUND UNSUPPORTED PHY (Analog 4, Type 2, Revision 9)
b43: probe of ssb0:0 failed with error -95

EDIT 2: The link used in the old firmware instructions is broken. I don't want to use ndiswrapper if I can avoid it. Is the speed problem still present with this method as well? If I can only get 54Mbps with ndiswrapper, then I'll take that route. I plan on moving files over my network a lot :p.

EDIT 3: Also, I'm running x86_64 F7 with the latest kernel.

EDIT 4: Meh, ndiswrapper is working great and easily, so I'm gonna go with that. I'll keep my eye out for this method to improve ;).

[gadgetwiz]

Greetings, I'm trying to help someone install a Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02) PC Card in Fedora 7. I followed the steps in the 1st post and everything looks fine until the attempt to connect.

When trying to connect in KNetwork Manager, it hangs on 57% until it times out.

Any suggestions on how to proceed or debug this problem? Anyone had success with this card (rev 02)?

For those of you having trouble with the 4318 you could try using the older Softmac driver instead of the mac_80211 driver. https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2007-June/msg01009.html
I'm not sure what you mean by trying the older Softmac driver? Where can this be found? Do you mean an older version of wl_apsta.o?

I followed the above link and the URL following BCM43XX_V3_FW= gives a 500 Servlet Exception.

[glhere]

hi --
Just an update:

i have had some success with the older driver (the one written before kernel modules changed in FC7) -- I still don't keep the network manager on -- i restart it each time I log in, but after using the cutter as supplied in the url below, running the script for rev3 cards (see below), adding the line: alias bcm43xx to /etc/modprobe.conf, and after updating the kernel and kernel-devels, using the network manager service, I can (finally, after trying the other 2 drivers) connect wirelessly.

note: the script included in this note, and provided by J Linville, looks like it is specific for bcm4306 rev3 mini-pic cards in FC7. Also, note, I had tried the FC7 softMAC and the newer bcm43xx-mac80211 drivers -- it may be necessary to go thru all that to get the script below to work...

directions
use the cutter instructions on https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2007-June/msg01009.html (this url still works)
:
save the script below as bcm43xx-old-config and runthru the directions below

add: alias eth1 bcm43xx to /etc/modprobe.conf

update kernel (and kernel-devel) to 2.6.22.4-65.fc7

Tho the message when trying to activate wireless using system-config-network is : failed, I get somewhat decent wireless connections starting the network manager service and activating the wireless from there.

cheers to all and many thanks to JL for all his helpful hints/efforts



(NOTE: I have decided to start the network manager service each time I log in as leaving the network manager on during bootup caused difficulties -- this may or may not be the case with other installations/kernels, so my advice is to experiment around with network manager)

For other older cards, for those who have tried the presently available softMAC and bcm43xx-mac80211 drivers, there is a script that is perhaps more generic and directions on https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2007-June/msg01009.html (this url still works)

Directions for running the script
Note: if not familiar with info, might wanna cut and paste commands to the command line: in any case, don't forget the dash after >su< below :P

1. save the (below) script somewhere as bcm43xx-old-config
2. in a terminal window (don't forget the dash), type:
su -

3. now type the root password when prompted

4. presuming the bcm43xx-old-config is in /tmp/ (you can put it anywhere, but back up a directory before running the lines) and type

chmod 755 /tmp/bcm43xx-old-config

5. now run the script by typing:
/tmp/bcm43xx-old-config

6. you can now exit the terminal window by typing:
exit

Again, the script lines include the version 3 references -- try the script included in the download from redhat (see url above)


Script for rev3 mini-pic nics -- copy and paste naming the file bcm43xx-old-config
#!/bin/sh

BCM43XX_V3_FW="http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o"

wget $BCM43XX_V3_FW

bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware -p .v3 wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o
echo 'blacklist bcm43xx-mac80211' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
echo 'options bcm43xx fwpostfix=.v3' >> /etc/modprobe.conf

modprobe -r bcm43xx-mac80211 # remove the new driver

echo 'modprobe bcm43xx' >> /etc/rc.local

BCM43XX_PCI_ID=`lspci -n | awk '$2 ~ "^0280" && $3 ~ "^14e4:43" { print $3 }' | sed -e 's/:/ /'`
echo 'echo "'$BCM43XX_PCI_ID'" > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/bcm43xx/new_id' \
>> /etc/rc.local

/etc/rc.local

[scotta3234]

Glad to know your wireless is up and running one way or another using the native method. There are some positives for using the newer b43 (mac_80211 got renamed to b43), specifically for the speed increase. Just to let you know there is a lot of development going on right (from talking with developers and reading the dev mailing list) now with the newer driver so we should see issues clearing up and better support very soon.

[Gnafu the Great]

Glad to know your wireless is up and running one way or another using the native method. There are some positives for using the newer b43 (mac_80211 got renamed to b43), specifically for the speed increase. Just to let you know there is a lot of development going on right (from talking with developers and reading the dev mailing list) now with the newer driver so we should see issues clearing up and better support very soon.

Until it supports 54Mbps, I'm sticking with ndiswrapper :p.

[glhere]

I hear that b43 will be good -- but that older cards (such as mine) will have to use the legacy drivers.

Am just crossing fingers that when updating kernel that what I have now will not be cut off -- and that if so, that re-doing the install will work - no one can predict...will be time for a new(er) card then, I guess.

Thanks for your support -- appreciate

[scotta3234]

You do realize that if you're using the mac_80211 driver (which became the standard in F7) and haven't run a script to use the old driver or blacklisted the new one instead, then you're already using the b43 driver. b43 IS mac_80211.

[hoistyler]

I have followed this post and still no luck with wireless..

My card is :
lspci | grep Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-PCI Card (rev 01)

In network manager icon on the taskbar, I can see the list of the wireless networks but they are all showing 100% signal strength (which is impossible here). If I try to connect to my network (WEP passphrase) it will pop up the windows asking for the passphrase, but it does not connect to the network.

Anyone had this problem B4?

I have followed this post after a fresh FC7 installation and "yum install kernel ".

Also are you not supposed to see the broadcom card detected in the Network manager after the steps in this post? or do people see their card in the list in Network manager?

Could someone please help me..

[scotta3234]

@hoistyler- As we have the same card, your wireless should be working with my posted method. Two things though. First, usually I would receive very poor indications of signal strength when using the wrong firmware. Are you sure you're using the firmware supplied in this thread? Second, you say you're on a fresh installation of f7, I would suggest getting the updates as I know there has been at least one major update to NetworkManager.

@Alphosebrown- From what I've been reading and from what I've learned talking to developers of the native driver, the 4318 seems to be working using the older broadcom legacy drivers b43legacy or aka bcm43xx softmac driver. You might try switching to this, just follow the supplied information at the beginning of this thread.

[alphonsebrown]

Scotta let me note that I deleted my message because it worked. I find this ridiculous...

I did what not, collected info from the entire thread here as well as some other threads and finally the final step was wassistant is not provided with a normal icon but instead it stated: unknown error when you try to lauch it from the menu. It was fixed by adding kdesu infront of the command line... I don't know what is the kdesu for gnome, if someone can tell me that will be really appreciated.

Also wpa service breaks everything and for now it's fine but after a few months I'll move to encrypted network in another location and I need the wpa service working, no idea what's the issue here..

Something else to note is that Network Manager definitely doesn't work with wireless....

[hoistyler]

oh I forgot to mention that I did update the network manager after doing the steps in this post.

I will try to install FC7 again and follow the post.

[glhere]

I will probably leave a great deal out, but in the hopes such a simplification will help someone:
Administrators can delete if this is too errant a post...In any case, please feel free to edit this to help those in need of advice :)

hoistyler and others using broadcom cards, hope this helps -- below are some notes re choosing broadcom drivers and links to pages that have good directions -- remember to update FC7 kernel in any case


In this thread and others that users of FC7 have undoubtedly read when trying to install their broadcom cards there are mentioned at least 3 drivers.


1. bcm43xx (softMAC) is native to FC7 modules and is said to be for for rev4 (or greater) cards. Not to slight anyone, from what I have read, it may be for only rev4 cards -- some later cards may yet need the next broadcom driver (see number 2).


2. bcm43xx-mac80211 (as mentioned above) typically works for later broadcom cards (but typically does Not work for bcm43xx cards rev3 or earlier cards). This driver requires latest updates to the FC7 kernel to work. See info/directions on:
http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=156282&page=4 -- see bruce64 posting


3. There is a script on https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2007-June/msg01009.html that says it is for older drivers/older cards -- Both cutter and directions are available at the redhat url.

For bcm4306rev3 cards, the driver/method/script in number 4 below is a good choice

4. bcm43xx-old-config is an updated script used with the older driver available at https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2007-June/msg01009.html (same as in number 3 above). Note: follow the directions per getting the bcm43xx-cutter and setting up the driver, then use the script as written on http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=156282&page=5&pp=15. Whatever it is or isn't, using this script worked where no other script worked (and I tried them all; i have a bcm4306rev3).


5. bcm43 or b43. This may (or may not) be available for current FC7 kernels, but is supposedly going to be available for FC8. This driver is supposed to work with >all< except the bcm43xx rev3 or earlier cards. The legacy drivers (see number 3/4 above) will supposedly have to be used/adapted. Again, please (feel free to) correct this notation as necessary. I have only just read of the b43, and it may be the same as in number 4 above, but I just can't say. Please, and again, edit this to help those in need of advice :)
url: ?


Notes:
1. FC7 installs have to be updated (use yum to update kernel) unless you are using the native FC7 driver (the number of cards that driver works with seems limited(???) and it is mostly best to update first anyway :])

2. the proper bcm43xx-cutter has to be used to get the proper driver -- there are a million posts that give directions for that process, including in the urls listed above

3. the scripts to install the driver and set up the files to nix (blacklist) pre-installed or lately added drivers should be run as noted

4. check to make sure /etc/modprobe.conf includes the proper alias (EX: alias bcm43xx)

5. the system-config-network tool will recognize the device and hardware (usually), but currently cannot be used to activate the wireless connection

6. tho you may or may not want to keep the network manager on during bootup, the network manager will activate the wireless

[hoistyler]

Thanks for your replies!

Just one quick question tho,

What are you supposed to see in System->Admin->Network ?

After following scotta's method, I don't see anything if I go New->wireless,

if I add "alias wlan0 bcm43xx-mac80211" to modprobe.conf, I see bcm43xx-mac80211(wlan0)

I still couldn't get wireless connection, but I think its a good starting point..

What do you see in your Network scotta?

EDIT: My wireless device is a built-in PCI-E card, if that makes difference..

[scotta3234]

First... I think this deserves it's own post as people can't seem to understand what they're posting. I'm not trying to be rude, It's just getting a little frustrating trying to clear all of the confusion up for people who might be reading this. I've been getting tons of emails that aren't too friendly and frankly don't feel I deserve it for just trying to write a how-to to help people. If you need to email me for help, go right ahead... just please be nice. From what I've understood with talking to the *developers*, The 1390 (which is really a 4311) and 4306 are working great for most people with the b43 driver. Some users of 4318 aren't doing so well.... which is why I posted the link to using the older softmac driver. I don't or ever will (or maybe just flat out refuse to) use ndiswrapper so I can't help anyone trying to use that, but certainly don't want to hinder anyone from using it if it works great for you. Any users of Broadcom N cards..... development hasn't even begun for you... sorry. Just thought I'd give you the heads up.


1. B43=MAC_80211 (it just got renamed)

2. B43 is what's used in F7 out the gate NOT the older b43legacy/bcm43xx/orwhateveryouwanttocallit, broadcom developers want b43 to work for ALL cards but currently it doesn't, which is why some people have to revert back to the older driver. There is no list for what card works on what as of right now...according to the developers themselves.

[scotta3234]

Hoistyler- We have the exact same card so I really don't know why things aren't working for you. I don't even bother with System/Administration/network anymore as NetworkManager can start the driver upon boot and I just take it from there. Do you have network manager turned on? Can you see any networks with NetworkManager turned on? Does your wireless card have a light on or anything that would indicate if it was on?

Also, what Type of router or access point are you trying to reach. I had MAJOR issues with an older WirelessB only linksys router.

[hoistyler]

scotta - I do have the network manager turned on, and I see the light turning on. It also detects the wireless networks in range, and if I try to connect to the one i want, it asks for a passphrase. Then, the network manager icon will change to two circles, and sometimes i see the bottom circle turning green before failing ( the other circle does not turn green) and other times not even the bottom circle will turn green before failing.

when I type dmesg, it will say something about IPv6 then fail. I'm sorry I can't paste the exact messages from dmesg since I am at work but hope this gives you some clear indication to my problem.

Thanks for helping me out scotta :) Please let me know if I need to post more info.

[scotta3234]

The IPv6 I believe is a non issue as it says that in my dmesg as well. What type of access point or router are you trying to associate with.. wirelessb wireless b/g and what type of encryption if any? Andy also what kernel are you running?

[hoistyler]

I have updated my kernel and Network Manager to the latest. The encryption is WEP passphrase and I'll have to go and check the router type as soon as I get home. Its my sharemates router and I believe it is b/g. I will double check after work Thanks.

[hoistyler]

OMG, I was an idiot.
I tought the encryption was WEP passphrase, but it was ASCII ...

I am now gonna kill my self.. ;(

Your how-to works perfectly scotta!

Also many thanks to people who helped me out

[scotta3234]

Awesome! Glad to know things are working for you now. It's always important to check the little things.

[alphonsebrown]

. tho you may or may not want to keep the network manager on during bootup, the network manager will activate the wireless This sounds strange, with broadcom I have to use wassistant, while with intel on my HP laptop I just installed fedora and 179 updates appeared in the sys tray over WL without even touching anything at all :D

[scotta3234]

I usually "Suggest" using NetworkManager as I've found it to be the easiest. If wlassistant works for you then that's great. I know in the .23 kernel they've made some major changes to the broadcom driver which should help out a number of people when it gets released.

[Gnafu the Great]

I usually "Suggest" using NetworkManager as I've found it to be the easiest. If wlassistant works for you then that's great. I know in the .23 kernel they've made some major changes to the broadcom driver which should help out a number of people when it gets released.

Do you know if it will support 54Mbps?

[scotta3234]

From what I understand, the b43 driver should scale the rate depending on the signal quality. So I believe it does support 54mbps or close to it. Although, I know that this isn't working reliably on all cards (although they've tested it on them) and they're working to improve the driver so that it's much more reliable/stable overall. I haven't actually tested network transfers although I will hopefully do this later this evening so I can post results for you.

[Gnafu the Great]

From what I understand, the b43 driver should scale the rate depending on the signal quality. So I believe it does support 54mbps or close to it. Although, I know that this isn't working reliably on all cards (although they've tested it on them) and they're working to improve the driver so that it's much more reliable/stable overall. I haven't actually tested network transfers although I will hopefully do this later this evening so I can post results for you.

If it works at full speed, I may give it another try :D. I have ndiswrapper working well, but I know I was unable to connect to my school's open WIFI network today, so I wonder if it would work with this other method. I have ndiswrapper installed via Livna, so it should just be a simple matter of removing those packages through yum, right? After that, it shouldn't conflict with this other driver, I would assume.

EDIT: And so I'm clear, is this driver method working for you in all aspects? With ndiswrapper, I have been getting reasonable numbers for signal strength and I have had no problems connecting to my WEP network at home. I assume you're getting proper signal strength readings and you're able to connect to various network types without too much issue?

[scotta3234]

The driver seems to be working pretty well for me. Signal strength values are pretty good and appear to be accurate. It can connect fine to my home network using wep encryption. The only other network I've connected to is my friends but it went fine. Maybe I'll drive around and see what I can find in terms of networks when I continue my tests. I don't really like ndiswrapper but that's just my personal preference. If you don't mind trying the native drivers again I sure would having some other people confirm that the driver is working.

[Gnafu the Great]

The driver seems to be working pretty well for me. Signal strength values are pretty good and appear to be accurate. It can connect fine to my home network using wep encryption. The only other network I've connected to is my friends but it went fine. Maybe I'll drive around and see what I can find in terms of networks when I continue my tests. I don't really like ndiswrapper but that's just my personal preference. If you don't mind trying the native drivers again I sure would having some other people confirm that the driver is working.

Well, I definitely want/need 54Mbps, so I'll wait for your word on that before taking the plunge, but I will gladly switch over and do testing if it does support the full speed :). I'm assuming the steps are still as stated in your main post?

EDIT: Although, I'm guessing I would use b43-fwcutter instead of bcm43xx-fwcutter.

[alphonsebrown]

I usually "Suggest" using NetworkManager as I've found it to be the easiest. If wlassistant works for you then that's great. I know in the .23 kernel they've made some major changes to the broadcom driver which should help out a number of people when it gets released.
Just to clarify as a suggestion to others:
Wpa_supplicant service actually prevents wassistant to find the network at my home while using broadcom. On the other hand Network Manager doesn't help at all.

This is really a complete mess! I guess I'll go for the ndiswrapper because WPA is not possible at the moment.

[Gnafu the Great]

From what I understand, the b43 driver should scale the rate depending on the signal quality. So I believe it does support 54mbps or close to it. Although, I know that this isn't working reliably on all cards (although they've tested it on them) and they're working to improve the driver so that it's much more reliable/stable overall. I haven't actually tested network transfers although I will hopefully do this later this evening so I can post results for you.

Did you have a chance to do some testing yet? I'm very hesitant to uninstall ndiswrapper and install b43-fwcutter without hearing from you. I may grow impatient/curious and do it anyway, though :p.

EDIT: 400th post! :D

[scotta3234]

Hello,

Sorry I haven't gotten around to doing much of the testing I had hoped to do. I've been upgrading my network over the last day or two and actually just finished switching out my cable modem a few hours ago to get the mess working again. I'll try and do it as soon as possible though. Congrats on the 400th post!

[barf]

Acer Aspire 5024 with Broadcom 4138 wireless card. FC7 64 bit fresh install.

After 10 hours of farting about with Ndiswrapper and acer_acpi which I think would have have worked if I could have got the bloody card to switch on. Loads of googling and searching through forums and getting soooo close then I came upon this thread. Did what the man said in post #1 and looking in the logs could see stuff was happening but still no coconut. THEN I TRIED modprobe b43 and bingo lights flashing and network manager doing its stuff, 2 available networks, logon wpa2 automatic, fantastic.
I would like to point out that I used both bcm43xx-fwcutter and b43-fwcutter on the version 4 file. The Network Config gui does not show the wlan but it works fine. On reboot open a terminal as root and 'modprobe b43' and your away :D

Sorry incomplete info full version is:

You will need acer_acpi which can be found at http://code.google.com/p/aceracpi/. Download the source and build it yourself (comes with instructions and is simple to do), read the readmes.

Do as described in post #1 of this thread. I'm not sure if you need to use the b43-fwcutter as I did but you do need to use the bcm43xx one.

On reboot open a terminal as root and enter
#modprobe acer_acpi
#modprobe b43
#echo 1 > /proc/acpi/acer/wireless ....... turns on the wireless card, use echo 0 to turn off.

You will need to do this each time you reboot (or write a little script ).

[Crito]

I'm going batty trying to get the Broadcom BCM4306 wireless card working in my Compaq R3240 laptop. Using Fedora 8 Test 3 64-bit version. First I couldn't get ndiswrapper to work and assume it's because of the 32-bit drivers and 64-bit everything else. Due to a fast clock bug using a 32-bit kernel isn't an option. Anywho, so moving on to native drivers, I discover bcm43xx doesn't seem to exist anymore, yet the bcm43xx-fwcutter utility is in the F8 repo. OK, no problem I think, it's detecting and loading b43 driver automagically anyway, so I de-blacklist it and download b43-fwcutter but it won't extract the firmware I need.

I'm stumped at this point. Here's the relevant info:
[root@r3240us SP30379A]# b43-fwcutter bcmwl5.sys
Sorry, the input file is either wrong or not supported by b43-fwcutter.
This file has an unknown MD5sum d5f1ab1aab8b81bca6f19da9554a267a.
[root@r3240us SP30379A]# bcm43xx-fwcutter bcmwl5.sys

filename : bcmwl5.sys
version : 3.100.65.1
MD5 : d5f1ab1aab8b81bca6f19da9554a267a
microcodes : 2 4 5
pcms : 4 5

microcode : 2
revision : 0x0123
patchlevel : 0x0021
date : 2005-01-22
time : 19:48:06

microcode : 4
revision : 0x0123
patchlevel : 0x0021
date : 2005-01-22
time : 19:48:06

microcode : 5
revision : 0x0123
patchlevel : 0x0021
date : 2005-01-22
time : 19:48:06

extracting bcm43xx_microcode2.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_microcode4.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_microcode5.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_pcm4.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_pcm5.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval01.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval02.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval03.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval04.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval05.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval06.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval07.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval08.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval09.fw ...
extracting bcm43xx_initval10.fw ...


Is there some way to convert the bcm43xx firmware to b43? Any clues greatly appreciated.

[scotta3234]

It appears you're using the wrong firmware version. Remember b43=V.4 of the firmware (the one with the wl_apsta.o file). bcm43xx driver (which you shouldn't use unless you flat out can't get it working with the newer b43 driver)=version3 firmware.

[Crito]

Thanks for the clue. Unfortunately I still can't get it to work. FWIW though, bcm43xx is gone in F8, so no reason to blacklist it anymore. I just can't get b43 to work. b43-fwcutter was able to process the v4.0 firmware file you had in your first post. The output it produces doesn't seem to work with my card though. :( Will have to wait until someone with F8 figures it out, I guess, as I've wasted 6+ hours on it at this point and it's just easier to buy a $15 Orinoco or Atheros based card off ebay. Solution: don't use anything with Broadcom's name on it!

[cmckisic]

I am having problems with the 1390 on fedora7. I did the b43-fwcutter and the files are in the firmware folder under the b43 directory. when the machine boots (HPdv2214us AMD Turion 64x2 running 32bit Fedora7)
Dmesg shows:
b43-phy0 ERROR: Microcode "bcm43xx_microcode5.fw" not available or load failed.
b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the correct firmware (version 4). I used the link listed in the original message which was for unarchived wl_apsta.o.

I get the siocsifflags or file missing error when I try to activate wlan0.

Any Help will be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Is B43 looking for files in the B43 directory or somewhere else? Either it is looking elsewhere or the right files are not cut out by B43-fwcutter. The permissions look right for root on the directory.
b43 contains:
a0g0bsinitvals4.fw a0g1initvals13.fw b0g0initvals4.fw ucode11.fw
a0g0bsinitvals5.fw a0g1initvals5.fw b0g0initvals5.fw ucode13.fw
a0g0initvals4.fw b0g0bsinitvals13.fw lp0bsinitvals13.fw ucode4.fw
a0g0initvals5.fw b0g0bsinitvals4.fw lp0initvals13.fw ucode5.fw
a0g1bsinitvals13.fw b0g0bsinitvals5.fw pcm4.fw
a0g1bsinitvals5.fw b0g0initvals13.fw pcm5.fw

[scotta3234]

Hello all, just checkin in to see how things are going. I've gotten a ton of messages recently for many users still having trouble with broadcom cards. I realize there are some new issues that seem to be happening and i will do my best to try and figure out exactly what's going on.

[FriedChips]

Hope to hear back on anything you may have to offer, I am really not enjoying the performance of ndiswrapper.

[agds]

Has anyone had luck with the Airport Extreme on a 12" PowerBook G4? lspci lists it as a Broadcom 4306, and I had it working in Yellow Dog 5.0.2 recently. For some reason, it's not showing up in the Network Manager's hardware tab, nor is it listed as an option in the add hardware dialog.

[Gnafu the Great]

Every once in a while, I'll give the fwcutter method another try, and it never wants to work. This time, I looked around a bit more. It turns out this method only supports revision 01 of the 4311 chipset, and I have revision 02 :p. I've sent Broadcom some feedback begging that they release official Linux support for these chipsets, and I ask that you do the same (if you haven't already):

http://www.broadcom.com/contact/feedback.php

Be sure to select the "Linux Drivers" subject in the drop-down box. Thankfully, ndiswrapper works okay for me, but it's not perfect. The thing that really got me wanting to try the fwcutter method again was the fact that I couldn't connect to a friend's WPA network last night. I figured maybe it was ndiswrapper :p. I'm also unable to try out Kismet ;). Anyway, please send Broadcom feedback (and be nice, write well, don't flame, etc.). It's important they here our voices.

[FriedChips]

Good words Gnafu, I'll be doing the same soon.

[Gnafu the Great]

Good words Gnafu, I'll be doing the same soon.

They sent me an immediate form response, part of which suggested trying Linuxant, so I'm gonna see if it works better than/as well as ndiswrapper.

EDIT: Wait, it looks like you have to pay for it. Screw that!

[scotta3234]

Just did the transition to Fedora8 test 3 and noticed I have left a MAJOR error on the front page which is now corrected. The command should read/usr/bin/b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta.o

[FriedChips]

well what you're saying is I should try that again than? Could that have been the reason it hasn't worked for me? Thanks for your help in advance.

[scotta3234]

Yes you should definitely try it again. Unless of course you have revision 02 in which case it probably wont work anyways according to what I've been hearing. Yeah I didn't even notice the error because I was using Fedora7 in which my card works with both the bcm43xx and b43 fwcutter and command. It was only when I installed Test3 did i notice that things weren't matching up.

[Gnafu the Great]

Yes you should definitely try it again. Unless of course you have revision 02 in which case it probably wont work anyways according to what I've been hearing. Yeah I didn't even notice the error because I was using Fedora7 in which my card works with both the bcm43xx and b43 fwcutter and command. It was only when I installed Test3 did i notice that things weren't matching up.

You lucky revision 01er :p.

[FriedChips]

You lucky revision 01er :p.

Yup my card is Rev02.... and lucky me I just installed F8 x86_64 and now I can't even get it working with ndiswrapper.... I really like x86_64 though.. :confused: :confused: WHY!?!?! Step up and fix this broadcom!!! ;)

[KKJensen]

Has anyone tried just getting rid of their broadcom card (which I'm thinking of doing) and replacing it with another card??? I'm on the lookout for the "perfect" card that works out-of-the-box without any convoluted-madwifi/ndiswrapper/fwcutter-hoop-jumping to do everytime there's a kernel update.

I've been trying to push linux among my family and friends that are constantly asking for help with viruses and cleaning things up...90% of them could use linux...they just will be asking me about fixing their wifi all the time...

[FriedChips]

Has anyone tried just getting rid of their broadcom card (which I'm thinking of doing) and replacing it with another card??? I'm on the lookout for the "perfect" card that works out-of-the-box without any convoluted-madwifi/ndiswrapper/fwcutter-hoop-jumping to do everytime there's a kernel update.

I've been trying to push linux among my family and friends that are constantly asking for help with viruses and cleaning things up...90% of them could use linux...they just will be asking me about fixing their wifi all the time...

I have considered this, I just have 2 problems with that. 1. I just bought a brand new laptop and really can't afford to invest more in replacing the wireless in it. 2. If I did replace it, it would have to be either a usb or pcmci card as I couldn't physically replace the one that's in it as it is built in.

If you do find a good replacement that works %100 out-of-the-box be sure to let us all know here on the forums, as there are many others looking for the same thing.

[scotta3234]

Has anyone tried just getting rid of their broadcom card (which I'm thinking of doing) and replacing it with another card??? I'm on the lookout for the "perfect" card that works out-of-the-box without any convoluted-madwifi/ndiswrapper/fwcutter-hoop-jumping to do everytime there's a kernel update.

I've been trying to push linux among my family and friends that are constantly asking for help with viruses and cleaning things up...90% of them could use linux...they just will be asking me about fixing their wifi all the time...



Be very careful if you do this. Many laptop manufacturers have hardware specific mini pci-e adapters in them. If you try and change them out your computer may not even boot! On my HP for example I tried replacing the card not once but twice! First I tried putting in an Atheros based mini pci-e card and then when my computer no longer booted, and then the same with an ipw3945 card which I had. Another example is that laptops such as thinkpads need "thinkpad approved" hardware in order to function... although these types of mini pci-e cards can be found on the net.

[glhere]

just some solace/understanding from a broadcom user:

Keep trying -- as painful as it seems, it will be worth the effort. First you will learn about wireless ( :] ) and second, the people who work on this broadcom issue are really great, and they Will help work this out. The 64 bit answer for rev2 if not out now, will be out soon -- hang in there and keep checking posts in the multiple threads on this issue here.

PS Anybody know/find the post on 64bit v 32bit with regard to (broadcom) wireless?

[raxso]

I dont know what really happen but i follow the instructions on how to install using ndiswrapper the wireless light didn't turn on but after a couple of reboot it just started to work...

[FriedChips]

just some solace/understanding from a broadcom user:

Keep trying -- as painful as it seems, it will be worth the effort. First you will learn about wireless ( :] ) and second, the people who work on this broadcom issue are really great, and they Will help work this out. The 64 bit answer for rev2 if not out now, will be out soon -- hang in there and keep checking posts in the multiple threads on this issue here.

PS Anybody know/find the post on 64bit v 32bit with regard to (broadcom) wireless?

I have gotten my Dell 1390 Mini-PCI going again with ndiswrapper, I just needed to use Fedora 7 cuz NetworkManager in 8 is BUSTED. For me though I downloaded and used the windows driver from dell which is a file named 151517.EXE and unzipped and used the bcmwl5.inf file. Which as it turns out will work for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems. It is the same when you install it in windows. It is not that it somehow works for both it is that both drivers are built into one I guess or something.

[Frenchy]

I followed these instructions and all goes well until I try to connect, where it says "connecting to..." for a while, then "connection failed"

I just realised though, that my router uses WEP, but the only box available for me to enter a key in is the WPA one, how do I get the WEP one?

Screenshot (http://i18.tinypic.com/8g84zdx.png)

Thanks

EDIT: Fixed, I just left-clicked the icon in the top-right and chose my wireless connection :)

[akenateb]

works perfectly, finally i can "navi-less" with my fedora 8

[dwhitney67]

I'm unable to get my Broadcom bcm4311 card working, even after following the instructions in the opening post. Can someone help?

I have a Dell Inspiron E1505; the wifi LED is illuminated, however the device (whether it be eth1 or wlan0?) does not appear in the NetworkManager's list of hardware, nor devices.

Running 'lspci' returns the following:
...
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 01)

From 'dmesg', here's some output (that has been snipped for purposes of keeping it brief):
b43-phy0: Broadcom 4311 WLAN found
b43-phy0 debug: Found PHY: Analog 4, Type 2, Revision 8
b43-phy0 debug: Found Radio: Manuf 0x17F, Version 0x2050, Revision 2
phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'simple'
...
b43-phy0 debug: Loading firmware version 351.126 (2006-07-29 05:54:02)
Registered led device: b43-phy0:tx
Registered led device: b43-phy0:rx
b43-phy0 debug: Chip initialized
b43-phy0 debug: 32-bit DMA initialized
input: Unspecified device as /class/input/input10
b43-phy0 debug: Wireless interface started
b43-phy0 debug: Adding Interface type 2
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
...
b44: eth0: Link is up at 100 Mbps, full duplex.
b44: eth0: Flow control is off for TX and off for RX.
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
b43-phy0 debug: Removing Interface type 2
b43-phy0 debug: Wireless interface stopped
b43-phy0 debug: DMA-32 0x0200 (RX) max used slots: 0/64
b43-phy0 debug: DMA-32 0x02A0 (TX) max used slots: 0/128
b43-phy0 debug: DMA-32 0x0280 (TX) max used slots: 0/128
b43-phy0 debug: DMA-32 0x0260 (TX) max used slots: 0/128
b43-phy0 debug: DMA-32 0x0240 (TX) max used slots: 0/128
b43-phy0 debug: DMA-32 0x0220 (TX) max used slots: 2/128
b43-phy0 debug: DMA-32 0x0200 (TX) max used slots: 0/128

When running 'lsmod':
b43 133221 0
rfkill 9297 1 b43
...
mac80211 115789 1 b43
...
cfg80211 10953 1 mac80211
input_polldev 7369 1 b43
...
ssb 30149 2 b43,b44
...

What else needs to be done to get the bcm4311 recognized by NetworkManager?

TIA.

[henrycorp]

Let me start off by saying that I am using a Dell Latitude D520.

I'm running Fedora 8, and tried to use the methods on the first page of this thread; but I have run into a problem. b43-fwcutter was already installed, and I downloaded the driver to the bcm43xx folder on the Desktop. I then used the command tar -xvf broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2 to "untar." I issued the command /usr/bin/b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta.o, and received this message: Cannot open input file wl_apsta.o.

Am I missing something??? Please let me know.

Thanks.

[dwhitney67]

Let me start off by saying that I am using a Dell Latitude D520.

I'm running Fedora 8, and tried to use the methods on the first page of this thread; but I have run into a problem. b43-fwcutter was already installed, and I downloaded the driver to the bcm43xx folder on the Desktop. I then used the command tar -xvf broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2 to "untar." I issued the command /usr/bin/b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta.o, and received this message: Cannot open input file wl_apsta.o.

Am I missing something??? Please let me know.

Thanks.
I think you should back away from this approach. I finally got my wireless working using the instructions (err, script) provided by DangerMouse. See the full thread here: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?p=933326#post933326

If you want to continue with your approach, after unpacking the compressed tar-ball, you need to change directory to broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0 to find where the file wl_apsta.o resides. Then run the b43-fwcutter command as you have done defore (with root privileges).

[SirTwist]

Ok, I have a question. I've been attempting to install my Linksys wireless notebook adapter. For some reason, I can not get the network stuff to see it. I've followed all of the instructions I've read about, and tried. Maybe I need some sleep. Or something. I'm using a HP Omnibook 6000, as well. Everything I've done, as near as I can tell, has be correct. I am not sure why it is not showing up under the System=>Administration=>Network. Maybe I need to reboot a few times as well, and get my wireless router running, as well. And I'm running FC 8 on it.

Off topic, and apologies, I'm looking for the extras for FC 8, if there are any.

[dwhitney67]

If it is any consolation, I got the Broadcom 1390 to work in my Dell Inspiron 1505, however it does not appear in the "Network" list either. In addition, the LED indicator on my notebook is not illuminated. Nevertheless, my wireless networking is functioning like a charm.

[SirTwist]

Mine does work. I am not 100% sure where it is, off hand, but it is working. Now I am looking for wifi radar and/or wifi assist, or something like that.

[lord_zoo]

Hi!

Just to see if this could help to you all.

I followed the b43_fwcutter with no luck.

Then, use the sligtly different bcm43xx-fwcutter with no luck neither, but!, then I could see my home network.

Since I use WPA, I couldn't connect as many of you.

The, I added an alias in modprobe.conf:

alias eth1 bcm43xx_mac80211

reboot and then, it worked like a charm.
WPA enabled, and pretty stable by now.
In fact, is the link i'm using rigth now.
I guess is something with wpa_supplicant not liking the wlan0.

Hope it helps.