Broadcom-wl Fedora 17

[hank863]

In Fedora 16, I added the RPM Fusion repository and ran 'yum install broadcom-wl' to install my wireless driver. I have installed Fedora 17 beta and added the RPM Fusion repository, but broadcom-wl is not in the repository and 'yum install kmod-wl' returns a dependency error because wl-kmod-common could not be found. Has anyone gotten broadcom wireless working in Fedora 17?

Note: I posted a bug here (https://bugzilla.rpmfusion.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2287) and it should be resolved shortly.

[ruckman17]

I have Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01) and use the brcmsmac driver which comes with FC17
It was blacklisted at one time so check that. Then I loaded it with modprobe and my wireless worked.

[hank863]

Thanks, but I have a BCM4322 and it isn't currently supported by anything but the proprietary driver :/

---------- Post added at 07:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:28 PM ----------

Searching rpmfusion.org did not turn up any results, but I eventually found the F16 package here: http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/releases/16/Everything/x86_64/os/repoview/broadcom-wl.html I installed it and all is well :)

[Magickman]

That's the way I did it too, broadcom-wl did the trick.Toshiba Satellite.

[skytux]

I have Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01) and use the brcmsmac driver which comes with FC17
It was blacklisted at one time so check that. Then I loaded it with modprobe and my wireless worked.

I have removed broadcom-wl and all its kmod-wl-* dependencies in F16, then rebooted and my BCM4313 wireless (the same as yours) in my Dell notebook is working fine!! But the light in the panel which has the form of an antenna, right above the keyboard, should be turned on indicating that wireless is enabled, but it is not, it is turned off... does this happens to you too? Any ideas? :(

[swl72us]

Here's how I manually installed the driver on my Dell mini 10v:

export FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR="/lib/firmware"
wget http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2
tar xjf broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2
sudo b43-fwcutter -w "$FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR" broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o

You will need to install wget since it isn't installed by default or just manually download the driver.

[stoat]

Here's how I manually installed the driver on my Dell mini 10v:

export FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR="/lib/firmware"
wget http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware...00.138.tar.bz2
tar xjf broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2
sudo b43-fwcutter -w "$FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR" broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o

You will need to install wget since it isn't installed by default or just manually download the driver.Very well.

But that's not a driver. That's firmware for the b43 driver that is included with Linux kernels. Anyway, what you described is not known to work for the two Broadcom chipsets mentioned so far in this thread (BCM4313 and BCM4322). But when a supported chipset is present, and detected by the kernel, and b43 is loaded, then what you described works very well.




my BCM4313 wireless (the same as yours) in my Dell notebook is working fine!! But the light in the panel which has the form of an antenna, right above the keyboard, should be turned on indicating that wireless is enabled, but it is not, it is turned off.Sometimes when multiple drivers or techniques are tried and then removed, things can be left behind that interfere with subsequent things tried. One idea, if the module is not seen listed by lsmod, is to confirm that the brcmsmac module has not been blacklisted.

But whenever an appropriate driver has been loaded according to lsmod, and any required firmware is installed, and things still aren't right, then other sort of standard things to check are a physical on-off wireless switch (it happens all the time), a software switch or hotkey, a BIOS setting, or rkfkill (http://fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=249577).

Or, maybe you meant the wireless device is already connected to an access point, is working normally, and only an LED indicator is not properly indicating the status of the wireless device. Well, it's not unheard of. And I don't know anything to do about that. Maybe somebody else knows.

[swl72us]

Sorry, I thought he used the same driver that I did since in Fedora 16 I would install kmod-wl and in F17 I couldn't do that because of dependency errors just as TC described.

[stoat]

Sorry, I thought he used the same driver that I did since in Fedora 16 I would install kmod-wl and in F17 I couldn't do that because of dependency errors just as TC described.It's okay. You probably have a BCM4312 chipset (lspci will tell). It's common in Dells, and it can use b43 or broadcom-wl. The sets of chipsets supported by b43 and broadcom-wl overlap and have some chipsets in common, but they each support some chipsets that the other doesn't. Anyway, the information you published is accurate and still can be useful to any future reader whose kernel loads the b43 module for a detected wireless device.

Fedora has built-in b43 firmware provided by the package b43-openfwwf. And it probably will be installed if a supported wireless device is connected and turned on during installation. But the OpenFWWF web site still says it supports only four Broadcom chipsets. For the other known chipsets that use b43, the proprietary firmware (acquired by the procedure you described) is needed.

To reverse the procedure you described, delete the folder /lib/firmware/b43. The firmware files are copied there, and that is all that the b43-fwcutter procedure does.

[skytux]

Or, maybe you meant the wireless device is already connected to an access point, is working normally, and only an LED indicator is not properly indicating the status of the wireless device. Well, it's not unheard of. And I don't know anything to do about that. Maybe somebody else knows.

Exactly, and sorry for being unclear :)

What happens is that the led indicator is turned off, but the wireless device is connected to an AP and I can surf the web successfully :)

I'd like to have the led turned on as before, but I can survive with that, I'm happy for not having to use the proprietary driver!!!