Broadcom STA driver in FC15

[ikillyanow]

The hardware in my lenovo netbook is not covered in the b43 driver, so I am forced to install the STA driver. All other distros of fedora (14 and below) have a nice RPM package to install via RPM fusion repos. Unfortunately FC15 is too new to have such a nice little package.

So, my only option is to build the driver from the source provided on the broadcom site

http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

from here- following the readme i untar the tarball and attempt to run "make clean" and then "make" to build the driver.

this is the error i get


KBUILD_NOPEDANTIC=1 make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build M=`pwd`
make: *** /lib/modules/2.6.38.3-18.fc15.i686.PAE/build: No such file or directory. Stop.

ive scoured the internet for hours looking for what packages i need to install to build in fedora. no luck so far.

any suggestions?

[stoat]

You probably need stuff for compiling. Connect by wired NIC to install them and try again. I would try...

su
yum install kernel-PAE-devel kernel-headers
yum groupinstall "Development Tools"

P.S.: Somebody else may know how to deal with the RPM Fusion stuff for Fedora 15. I haven't got there yet.

[christian_l]

I thought the broadcom-wl package is basically the same as the STA driver(?). Works with the broadcom chip in my old Dell Inspirion 6400, in FC15beta as it did in earlier versions. I had to remove it before the update from FC14, but then reinstalled it with "yum install akmod-wl".

Edit: I just checked, yum actually installed the old versions (akmod-wl-5.60.48.36-2.fc14.x86_64, broadcom-wl-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.noarch), but they seem to be working fine with Fedora 15.

[Abstract]

Originally Posted by christian_l

I thought the broadcom-wl package is basically the same as the STA driver(?). Works with the broadcom chip in my old Dell Inspirion 6400, in FC15beta as it did in earlier versions. I had to remove it before the update from FC14, but then reinstalled it with "yum install akmod-wl".

Edit: I just checked, yum actually installed the old versions (akmod-wl-5.60.48.36-2.fc14.x86_64, broadcom-wl-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.noarch), but they seem to be working fine with Fedora 15.

I'm having trouble adding the RPM Fusion Repo in Fedora 15 Beta. Is it working for you?

[christian_l]

Originally Posted by Abstract

I'm having trouble adding the RPM Fusion Repo in Fedora 15 Beta. Is it working for you?

Works for me, although I added RPM Fusion a long time before upgrading to FC15 (with this method: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/YumUpgradeFaq - did not run too cleanly, but somehow I managed). During the upgrade I was asked whether I want to import the new keys, and that was basically it...

[mareizio]

Hey!!!

I had the same problem; I succeeded in installing broadcom STA drivers adding RPM Fusion Repo and then "sudo yum install akmod-wl".

I hope someone helps

[keljaden]

I am confused on how you were able to solve this. Currently when try to install broadcom-wl I am getting

kmod-wl-2.6.35.4-28.fc14.x86_64-5.60.48.36-2.fc14.x86_64 requires kernel-uname-r = 2.6.35.4-28.fc14.x86_64

"sudo yum install akmod-wl". (so doing this installed broadcom-wl now, but the wifi indicator still says that my firmware is missing).

I am using rawhide as well. Can you please explain the fix?

[mareizio]

Originally Posted by keljaden

Can you please explain the fix?

I just added RPMFusion repo and then

sudo yum install akmod-wl

, nothing else (maybe then I installed broadcom-wl, I don't remember)

[christian_l]

And to follow up on what mareizio said: Yes, the akmod-wl you need is still numbered fc14, and broadcom-wl (which yum will pull in automatically) even fc13. Upon reboot, akmod-wl will look whether the matching kmod-wl for your kernel is installed, and generate and install it for you if it's missing. That way I have kmod-wl-2.6.38.5-22.fc15.x86_64-5.60.48.36-2.fc15.x86_64 installed now.

[keljaden]

Thanks so much. After some stuff from another friend I finally got it working. Thanks for the replies though.

[ChrisTomalty]

I'm a recent convert from Ubuntu, and was just having some issues with the methods described above. I'd describe myself as quite linux savvy, but am only used to Ubuntu so go easy on me

I am running the most recent build of rawhide with all the updates and Fusion enabled.

I have tried enabling the Fusion repo and installing akmod-wl and broadcom-wl, but it says that I need different versions of the kernel and/or glib. Obviously I don't want to go mucking around in these without knowing what I'm doing. Is there a clear way to do this?

[GoinEasy9]

Do you have :kernel-devel" or if your using a PAE kernel "kernel-PAE-devel" installed? I believe it's needed for the akmods. Then, a simple "yum install akmod-wl" and a reboot will get you there.

[ChrisTomalty]

To be honest, I don't know. I'm not familiar with Fedora (having switched just today from Ubuntu). A) How do I find out and B) how do I get that to the place where I can run yum install akmod-wl?

EDIT:
I tried those commands again to see if any of the error messages would prove enlightening, but now I'm getting this when I run either command:

bash-4.2$ sudo yum install broadcom-wl
[sudo] password for chris:
Loaded plugins: langpacks, presto, refresh-packagekit
[LINK TO DROPBOX FEDORA REPO]: [Errno 14] HTTP Error 404 - Not Found : [LINK TO DROPBOX FEDORA REPO]
Trying other mirror.
[LINK TO DROPBOX FEDORA REPO]: [Errno 14] HTTP Error 404 - Not Found : [LINK TO DROPBOX FEDORA REPO]
Trying other mirror.
Error: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: Dropbox. Please verify its path and try again
bash-4.2$

[LINK TO DROPBOX FEDORA REPO] is there because this board won't let me post that many links... I just installed Dropbox, but I've installed other things since then. I checked the list of sources and it wasn't checked off. I rebooted, but the problem persists. I have the feeling I made a very basic mistake...

[EsteBandido2010]

Hi ¡¡ I have problem with wireless not detected. BCM4313 and my installing is clean, some hours ago. I came from ubutu and i want to stay in F15. So i've installed the repofusion/configuration and then akmod-wl (@chris) driver, but my wireless can't be detected yet, and some drivers like pad, so isn't installed the correct drivers. When Recently installed the system this information was observed:
Paquete Arquitectura
Versión Repositorio Tamaño
================================================== ==============================
Instalando:
akmod-wl i686 5.60.48.36-2.fc14 rpmfusion-nonfree-rawhide 1.7 M
Instalando para las dependencias:
akmods noarch 0.3.6-3.fc12 rpmfusion-free-rawhide 16 k
binutils i686 2.21.51.0.6-2.fc15 fedora 3.3 M
broadcom-wl noarch 5.60.48.36-1.fc13 rpmfusion-nonfree-rawhide 13 k
cloog-ppl i686 0.15.9-3.fc15 fedora 93 k
cpp i686 4.6.0-7.fc15 updates 3.9 M
emacs-filesystem i686 1:23.2-17.fc15 fedora 49 k
fakeroot i686 1.12.4-3.fc15 fedora 74 k
fakeroot-libs i686 1.12.4-3.fc15 fedora 23 k
gcc i686 4.6.0-7.fc15 updates 11 M
glibc-devel i686 2.13.90-9 fedora 970 k
glibc-headers i686 2.13.90-9 fedora 597 k
kernel-devel i686 2.6.38.6-27.fc15 updates 6.7 M
kernel-headers i686 2.6.38.6-27.fc15 updates 738 k
kmodtool noarch 1-18.fc11 rpmfusion-free-rawhide 14 k
libmpc i686 0.8.3-0.3.svn855.fc15 fedora 49 k
patch i686 2.6.1-9.fc15 fedora 97 k
ppl i686 0.11.2-1.fc15 fedora 1.5 M
ppl-pwl i686 0.11.2-1.fc15 fedora 35 k
rpm-build i686 4.9.0-6.fc15 fedora 125 k
rpmdevtools noarch 8.1-1.fc15 fedora 113 k
xemacs-filesystem noarch 21.5.31-1.fc15 fedora 12 k

Resumen de la transacción
================================================== ==============================
Instalar 22 Paquete(s)

Tamaño total de la descarga: 31 M
Tamaño instalado: 86 M
Está de acuerdo [s/N]:s


YA GARGADO:
Instalado:
akmod-wl.i686 0:5.60.48.36-2.fc14

Dependencia(s) instalada(s):
akmods.noarch 0:0.3.6-3.fc12 binutils.i686 0:2.21.51.0.6-2.fc15
broadcom-wl.noarch 0:5.60.48.36-1.fc13 cloog-ppl.i686 0:0.15.9-3.fc15
cpp.i686 0:4.6.0-7.fc15 emacs-filesystem.i686 1:23.2-17.fc15
fakeroot.i686 0:1.12.4-3.fc15 fakeroot-libs.i686 0:1.12.4-3.fc15
gcc.i686 0:4.6.0-7.fc15 glibc-devel.i686 0:2.13.90-9
glibc-headers.i686 0:2.13.90-9 kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.38.6-27.fc15
kernel-headers.i686 0:2.6.38.6-27.fc15 kmodtool.noarch 0:1-18.fc11
libmpc.i686 0:0.8.3-0.3.svn855.fc15 patch.i686 0:2.6.1-9.fc15
ppl.i686 0:0.11.2-1.fc15 ppl-pwl.i686 0:0.11.2-1.fc15
rpm-build.i686 0:4.9.0-6.fc15 rpmdevtools.noarch 0:8.1-1.fc15
xemacs-filesystem.noarch 0:21.5.31-1.fc15

¡Listo!
================================================== =
[root@Steve-PC steve]# akmods --force
Checking kmods exist for 2.6.38.6-27.fc15.i686.PAE [ OK ]
Files needed for building modules against kernel
2.6.38.6-27.fc15.i686.PAE could not be found as the following
directories are missing:
/usr/src/kernels/2.6.38.6-27.fc15.i686.PAE/
/lib/modules/2.6.38.6-27.fc15.i686.PAE/build/ [FALLÓ]

I suspect of the line above where say broadcom-wl.noarch 0:5.60.48.36-1.fc13 here is f13 and its possible not the right driver. And might be for a line that i observed when start by first time the OS and it says like this: pci, none, NETWORK BCM4313 802.11b/g LP-PHY. Another possible solution is compilling the kernel, i think. What is your oppinion?l

Please i ned help of anybody.

Asus 1015PED netbook in F15 Gnome 3.

Best regards

[GoinEasy9]

Just a guess, you have a PAE kernel installed but don't have kernel-PAE-devel, instead you have kernel-devel, so,
as root in a terminal
yum install kernel-PAE-devel
then try again.