Request help with an islanded laptop (Broadcom driver)

quasar66 · #1 2nd October 2010, 01:40 AM

Hi...

Just received a Toshiba L650 laptop, and installed F13 x86-64 on a disk partition using install DVD. The wired ethernet on this is Atheros AR8152, and the Wireless is Broadcomm 4313. Both these devices are not supported by default.

So, as per instructions on the Linux Wireless site, and some guidance on this forum, have downloaded the Broadcomm driver tar on another machine, copied it onto the Toshiba laptop using a USB device, and then extracted, and ran the b43-fwcutter -w.

The subdirectory /lib/firmware/b43 is created and has approx 3 dozen files. However, the Broadcomm driver is not showing up as an option in the Network Manager (system-config-network) or in the lsmod command output.

I tried to manually add it by doing modprobe b43 command - it then begins to appear in the lsmod, but the option to add the Broadcomm wireless driver during a "New wireless Hardware" is not appearing still. I think, at an abstract level, I need to somehow "tell" the system to add the Broadcomm driver - am just not sure how to do so :-)

On the other hand, the Atheros AR8152 has no driver as of now, so the wired Ethernet is also not connecting.

Could somebody guide me how I can download all the required files on a different machine, and then install it on the Toshiba laptop? I need to request you to give fairly detailed instructions - am a user, not Linux scientist (not as of now !!!).

Any advice I remain sincerely grateful for.
Thanks

P.S. : The outputs of the commands are reproduced below :
uname - r
2.6.33.3-85.fc13.x86_64
lspci
(Among others)
03:00.0 Network Controller : Broadcomm Corporation BCM 4313 802.11 b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)
04:00.0 Ethernet Controller : Atheros Communications AR8152 v1.1 Fast Ethernet

---------- Post added at 06:10 AM CDT ---------- Previous post was at 05:39 AM CDT ----------

Hi ..

Further to above, as per guidance in the forum somewhere, I downloaded the following three files :
kmod-staging-2.6.33.2-2.fc13.3x86_64.rpm
kmod-staging-2.6.33.3-85.fc13.x86_64.rpm
staging-kmod-addons-2.6.33.2-2.fc13.noarch.rpm

Then transported them to Toshiba on a USB drive, and then executed rpm -ivh *.rpm.
Encountered no problem, but Broadcomm wireless option still not available.

There must be a step i am missing ... Please advice.
Thanks,

stoat · #2 2nd October 2010, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quasar66

The outputs of the commands are reproduced below :
uname - r
2.6.33.3-85.fc13.x86_64
lspci
(Among others)
03:00.0 Network Controller : Broadcomm Corporation BCM 4313 802.11 b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)
04:00.0 Ethernet Controller : Atheros Communications AR8152 v1.1 Fast Ethernet

Quote:

Originally Posted by quasar66

Further to above, as per guidance in the forum somewhere, I downloaded the following three files :
kmod-staging-2.6.33.2-2.fc13.3x86_64.rpm
kmod-staging-2.6.33.3-85.fc13.x86_64.rpm
staging-kmod-addons-2.6.33.2-2.fc13.noarch.rpm

...but Broadcomm wireless option still not available.

Well, the wireless driver you need for your chipset is not in staging. Doing that stuff was a diversion, IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by quasar66

...have downloaded the Broadcomm driver tar on another machine, copied it onto the Toshiba laptop using a USB device, and then extracted, and ran the b43-fwcutter -w.

The subdirectory /lib/firmware/b43 is created and has approx 3 dozen files. However, the Broadcomm driver is not showing up as an option in the Network Manager (system-config-network) or in the lsmod command output.

According to linuxwireless.org, the BCM4313 chipset is supported by b43 with the 2.6.33 kernel. The kernel is usually good about loading the correct driver for supported hardware. Anyway, if the module loads manually, and if the correct firmware files are installed, then I recommend first that you forget about system-config-network. The system-config-network utility is not NetworkManager. It's the old Network Configuration utility, and there is no requirement to use it. It's still great for pre-configuring interfaces that will be managed by terminal commands or scripts. But the "real" NetworkManager not only doesn't need it, it sometimes can be harmed by it.

Next, with the b43 module loaded, I recommend that you check for available networks in the NetworkManager panel applet (left-click the panel icon). Try to connect.

However...

If you do not see available networks when some are known to be in range, then I recommend that you stop with b43 and install the so-called broadcom-wl driver which also is known to work with the BCM4313 chipset. Here is a recent thread where someone with your chipset and kernel managed to install the files for the broadcom-wl driver in an offline situation and get the wireless card going. See post #4 for the exact details...

http://fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=249684

quasar66 · #3 2nd October 2010, 02:29 AM

Thanks stoat, and all others !!! It worked like a charm.

Essentially, these Broadcom-wl and kmod-wl files did the trick.

Any idea on the Atheros 8152 drivers ? :-) I can work without wired network, but just wondering if you/somebody knows whats to be done about them ...

Thanks in anticipation

quasar66 · #4 5th October 2010, 04:38 AM

Hi,

Sorry to report, but this problem has cropped up all over again. May I request some guidance on this please?

Sequence of events -

1. Installed F13, had problem with islanding as neither Broadcomm wl nor Atheros wireline were working. Quickly solved thanks to great guidance here - downloaded the three files mentioned in the post http://fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=249684, and the Broadcomm device became available - and wireless connections went through smoothly. After being connected to Internet, and 509 updates later, the Atheros wired connection was also working smoothly.

2. Since the graphics card was not working, downloaded the new Linux kernel, and installed it. The results have been captured here. http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showpo...1&postcount=15. The card is working perfectly now.

3. However, now the Broadcomm wireless has stopped working. If I boot into the previous version 2.6.34.7-56, the ATI graphics card does not work, but the Broadcomm wireless works smoothly. If I boot into 2.6.34.7-59, the ATI works smoothly, but the Broadcomm wireless does not.

The third file in the links above, kmod-wl-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.5.x86_64.rpm, has since then been updated to kmod-wl-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.18.x86_64.rpm. I tested the option of removing this update, and installing the previous version, essentially, bringing the new kernel, 2.6.34.7-59 to identical state, but the Broadcomm driver still remains elusive.

Any advice on why this could be so ? is this a problem with the new kernel, and hence am I expected to report so somewhere? or is it plain old configuration related complexity?

A sincere thanks again for any advice.

stoat · #5 5th October 2010, 04:49 AM

I would take a moment to list exactly what is installed now since the update. Sometimes it helps...

Code:

rpm -qa | grep -e kernel -e kmod -e broadcom | sort

P.S.: I think I see what it is already. That new kernel of yours. The kmod kernel package for it is not in the RPM Fusion repo at this moment. Apparently, from what you said, the kmod metapackage updated to the latest version, but you still need a kmod kernel package for the new kernel.This happens every now and then. Consider installing the akmod version. This is what it's for. It will automatically create the kmods for new kernels. If you want to try this idea, then reboot into the kernel with wireless and install akmod-wl. Then reboot into the new kernel and see if it works. The akmod-wl version needs kernel-devel and several other things, but those will be installed by yum as dependencies.

quasar66 · #6 5th October 2010, 10:24 AM

Hi stoat,

The output of what you wanted to see is below . I tried what you mentioned. The akmod-wl installed on the kernel connecting using wireless, but did not install the kernel-devel(s) as they were already installed earlier. I was always able to get to Internet using the new kernel using wired Ethernet, so got to Internet with newest kernel, and checked out the akmod - and its there. However, the Broadcom driver refuses to show up. Back to previous kernel, and wireless is working smoothly and ATI driver is failing ...

[gautam@localhost ~]$ sudo rpm -qa | grep -e kernel -e kmod -e broadcom | sort
abrt-addon-kerneloops-1.1.13-2.fc13.x86_64
akmods-0.3.6-3.fc12.noarch
akmod-wl-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.5.x86_64
broadcom-wl-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.noarch
kernel-2.6.33.3-85.fc13.x86_64
kernel-2.6.34.7-56.fc13.x86_64
kernel-2.6.34.7-59.fc13.x86_64
kernel-devel-2.6.34.7-59.fc13.x86_64
kernel-headers-2.6.34.7-56.fc13.x86_64
kernel-headers-2.6.34.7-59.fc13.x86_64
kmodtool-1-18.fc11.noarch
kmod-wl-2.6.33.3-85.fc13.x86_64-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.5.x86_64
kmod-wl-2.6.34.7-56.fc13.x86_64-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.18.x86_64
kmod-wl-2.6.34.7-59.fc13.x86_64-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.5.x86_64
kmod-wl-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.18.x86_64
[gautam@localhost ~]$

As always, I remain sincerely grateful for your advice.
Thanks...

stoat · #7 5th October 2010, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quasar66

I was always able to get to Internet using the new kernel using wired Ethernet, so got to Internet with newest kernel, and checked out the akmod - and its there. However, the Broadcom driver refuses to show up.

You have to reboot or rebuild the akmod for the driver kmods to be created. Rebooting is probably the simplest thing to do. You probably already found out by now.

FYI, more about akmods...

http://fedorasolved.org/Members/zcat/akmods

quasar66 · #8 6th October 2010, 02:07 AM

Thanks stoat ! Works like a charm :-)

remain grateful as always for all the support ...