Beginner: how to install Broadcom wireless card on Fedora 11?

[confident]

I chose to change my operating system from Microsoft Xp to Linux and finally chose Fedora to be my new OS.
After Fedora installation I got a problem that I cannot connect to my wireless network I used to using Xp, I think that my wireless card is not installed on Fedora because when I checked in the network configuration I found that the only installed adapter is the Ethernet Realtek for the wired connection.

My OS is Fedora 11.
The CPU Model name is : Intel (R) Core (TM) 2 Duo CPU T8300 @2.40 GHz, so I think that my architecture is x86_64.
My Network controller is : Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g

So please tell me what to do as I am quite new to Linux.
Thanks a lot for your help.

[Simian Man]

If you haven't already done it, add the RPM Fusion repository using the instructions here. This will enable you to install patented and proprietary software including your wireless drivers.

Then install the driver by entering the following in a terminal:

su -
yum install broadcom-wl

Then restart your computer and you should have wireless.

[confident]

Thanks a lot for your fast reply, , but is this installation (using the yum install from the terminal ) require to access the internet from linux? as I can only access the internet from windows xp.

[bbfuller]

Hello confident

Welcome to the forum.

This should get you the broadcom-wl driver if you don't have access to the internet on the Linux machine.

If you want to install the broadcom-wl rpm's from rpmfusion without an internet connection then you need to know which kernel you are running.

uname -a

from a terminal will tell you that. My machine reports:

2.6.29.4-167.fc11.i686.PAE

Go to this site if you have a new install that you have not updated:

http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfr...thing/i386/os/

If you have managed to update then you need to go here:

http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfr...dates/11/i386/

You will need a file like:

kmod-wl-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.i686.PAE-5.10.79.10-2.fc11.9.i686.rpm

but that matches your kernel number and architecture, the parts I have highlighted red, and a file like:

kmod-wl-PAE-5.10.79.10-2.fc11.9.i686.rpm

note how the parts of this file name match the previous file, and finally like:

broadcom-wl-5.10.79.10-2.fc11.noarch.rpm

that again matches the other two. Don't worry, the architecture for this one is the basic architecture.

Transfer them all to a folder on your linux machine where there are no other rpm files..

In a terminal, acquire full root rights by issuing the command:

su -

that's a space and a minus sign after the su.

Then use the cd command to change into the folder where you have the three rpm files.

Use the command:

rpm -ivh *.rpm

to install the three files. By using a wild card they should be able to sort out their interrelated dependencies for themselves.

That should get broadcom-wl installed.

At that stage, NetworkManager in the notification area of the panel to the left of the clock "may" begin to identify wireless networks when you left click on it.

If not, then in the same terminal window as you used above run:

service NetworkManager restart

Post back if you have any questions or problems.

[Simian Man]

Oh yes that does require internet connection. What you can do is download the packages to a USB stick and then move them to your Fedora install manually. Last I checked, you will need 2 packages:

For 32-bit:
http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfr...c11.noarch.rpm

http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfr...c11.9.i586.rpm




For 64-bit:
http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfr...c11.noarch.rpm

http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfr...1.9.x86_64.rpm


Once you have moved them onto your Fedora install, install them with rpm:

su -
rpm -Uvh *.rpm

Then a reboot should give you working wireless.

[confident]

Thanks a lot Simian Man and bbfuller for your efforts, now I am writing this post with the wireless connection

[hooloo]

BBfuller and Simian Man,

Thanks for your help.
My XPS 1530 with BCM4312 card can go on HiFi now.

I tried both your method.
After reboot, it is on.

Now, I am going to try my Dell 700m with BCM 4309 card.
I saw some posts by bbfuller on other topics.
But It is still not working.
I will try this one.

[bbfuller]

Hello hooloo

Welcome to the forum.

Be aware that there a many different broadcom chipsets and there is no one way that will control all of them.

The broadcom-wl driver mentioned in this thread does not claim to work with the 4309, whereas the b43 driver (which is a completely different driver) does lay cliam to the 4309 chipset.

Which driver have you attempted so far and what happened?

[biggsk]

bbfuller,
Thanks! your steps got my Dell Inspiron 1520 wireless up and running!

[digitalJ]

Hi
I'm experiencing similar problems to that of the original poster. I've followed the steps suggested above, but without luck.
The files I used are :

1. broadcom-wl-5.10.79.10-2.fc11.noarch.rpm
2. kmod-wl-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.i686.PAE-5.10.79.10-2.fc11.9.i686.rpm
3. kmod-wl-PAE-5.10.79.10-2.fc11.9.i686.rpm

The network icon to the left of the date says there's no connection. When I start the network configuration tool as root and select my wireless(in the network adapters list) and then click on the Activate button, I get an error message saying that the device may not be available. My machine is a dual boot with Win 7 and FC 11. A tool I used(SiSoftware Sandra) in Windows to give me info about the card reports it as :

Wireless Adapter 1
Name : Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter
Network Type : Any
Channel : 1
Physical Type : 802.11g (ERP), 802.11b (HRDSSS)
Authentication : Open, Shared Key, RSNA-802.11i (WPA2-Enterprise), RSNA-PSK (WPA2-Personal), WPA-802.1X (WPA-Enterprise), WPA-PSK (WPA-Personal)
Encryption : WEP n-bit, TKIP, AES-CCMP
Connection State : Connected
Background Scanning : Yes
Auto Configuration Enabled : Yes

What could I be missing?

Jeff

[bbfuller]

Hello digitalJ

Welcome to the Forum.

If you are still following this thread, are you sure that your card is of the type that the broadcom-wl driver supports. It doesn't support all broadcom chipsets.

If you run:

/sbin/lspci

and post back the result we can think further about it.

[Dangermouse]

For those interested i made a offline rpm for quickly getting the broadcom wireless card working without internet connection.
http://dnmouse.org/broadcom.html
It was made as a quick fix to get online, you can then change the driver etc.. to wl if needed.

[elelab]

hi

my wireless card is BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03) ( lspci outoput )
After installing ndiswrapper_ 1.55 and windows driver, it can associate with wireless router. (output of ifconfig below)
the problem is i can't add a wireless connection using Network Manager (NetworkManager Applet 0.7.1).
So the Firefox shows work offline.

Any solution ?

thanks

[root@test]# ifconfig
Wireless_connec Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:22:4A25:B3
inet addr:192.168.1.102 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::223:4dff:feb2:b5a3/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:17 Memory:f1ffc000-f2000000

[stoat]

Originally Posted by elelab

After installing ndiswrapper_ 1.55 and windows driver, it can associate with wireless router. (output of ifconfig below)
the problem is i can't add a wireless connection using Network Manager (NetworkManager Applet 0.7.1).

Hello elelab,

That makes it sound like you created a wireless connection the Network Configuration utility (system-config-network). If that is true, then go back in there and edit the wireless connection. Check the box for "Controlled by NetworkManager". Reboot and see if that helps.

Originally Posted by elelab

So the Firefox shows work offline.

I think you are connected already. You've got an IP address from the router. Can you ping something on the Internet? Try ping www.google.com in a terminal. That will probably be successful. Sometimes Firefox will start in offline mode. You can change that.

P.S.: I still recommend using NetworkManager if you can. It will make connecting away from home easier.

[elelab]

Hi Stoat,
thanks for your reply. what I tried is below.

1. Check the box for "Controlled by NetworkManager".
Reboot
the wireless connection shows inactive in NetworkManager.
the notification area of NetworkManager Applet 0.7.1 shows disconnected and grey for connection information.

2 unCheck the box for "Controlled by NetworkManager".
manually activate the wireless connection
ping www.google.com was successful.
However, the notification area of NetworkManager Applet 0.7.1 still shows disconnected and grey for connection information.

3. since the notification area shows disconnected, the VPN connection I set up for wired connection is grey.
when firefox start, it shows work offline. I have to uncheck work offline manually, then firefox works.

4. most wanted is to have VPN connected,
even the notification area of NetworkManager Applet 0.7.1 shows disconnected and grey


thanks for any solution.