broadcom-wl not working since 2.6.40.6-0.fc15.x86_64 kernel update

madalex · #1 10th October 2011, 05:39 PM

Since the Kernel update last week, I no longer see the "wireless" option in the Network Manager dropdown menu.

This seems to be a question that has been asked in the past on these forums but at the same time, Im not 100% sure of the real issue and solution. My thoughts are that the kmod-wl is not at the same version as the lastest kernel update ?

Looking at my current setup, I can see the wl module is no longer found.

Code:

$ modprobe wl
FATAL: Module wl not found.

Code:

$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
fuse                   62381  3 
vboxpci                13583  0 
vboxnetadp              5674  0 
vboxnetflt             15257  0 
sunrpc                200079  1 
vboxdrv              1805567  3 vboxpci,vboxnetadp,vboxnetflt
cpufreq_ondemand        5934  8 
acpi_cpufreq            9536  1 
mperf                   1449  1 acpi_cpufreq
bnep                   14635  2 
ip6t_REJECT             3992  2 
nf_conntrack_ipv6       7730  2 
nf_defrag_ipv6          9083  1 nf_conntrack_ipv6
bluetooth             191587  7 bnep
ip6table_filter         1655  1 
ip6_tables             16908  1 ip6table_filter
nf_conntrack_ipv4       8358  2 
nf_defrag_ipv4          1513  1 nf_conntrack_ipv4
xt_state                1306  4 
nf_conntrack           67613  3 nf_conntrack_ipv6,nf_conntrack_ipv4,xt_state
uvcvideo               57089  0 
videodev               72120  1 uvcvideo
media                  11611  2 uvcvideo,videodev
v4l2_compat_ioctl32     7377  1 videodev
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     22515  1 
snd_hda_codec_idt      56565  1 
snd_hda_intel          23896  2 
snd_hda_codec          82508  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep               6328  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_seq                52322  0 
snd_seq_device          5941  1 snd_seq
snd_pcm                78520  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
dell_wmi                1657  0 
sparse_keymap           3358  1 dell_wmi
dell_laptop             8415  0 
rfkill                 16436  4 bluetooth,dell_laptop
dcdbas                  7716  1 dell_laptop
microcode              18587  0 
joydev                  9615  0 
i7core_edac            16001  0 
edac_core              40186  3 i7core_edac
i2c_i801                9237  0 
iTCO_wdt               13000  0 
iTCO_vendor_support     2578  1 iTCO_wdt
r8169                  38146  0 
mii                     4335  1 r8169
snd_timer              19372  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd                    63380  13 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore               6267  1 snd
snd_page_alloc          7343  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
ipv6                  284698  89 ip6t_REJECT,nf_conntrack_ipv6,nf_defrag_ipv6
firewire_ohci          26085  0 
sdhci_pci               8849  0 
firewire_core          49191  1 firewire_ohci
sdhci                  22752  1 sdhci_pci
crc_itu_t               1547  1 firewire_core
mmc_core               76665  1 sdhci
wmi                     9033  1 dell_wmi
video                  12340  0 
radeon                690883  3 
ttm                    55273  1 radeon
drm_kms_helper         26474  1 radeon
drm                   193955  5 radeon,ttm,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit            5006  1 radeon
i2c_core               25712  6 videodev,i2c_i801,radeon,drm_kms_helper,drm,i2c_algo_bit

Code:

$ lspci -v | awk '/Ether|Net/,/^$/'
05:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
	Memory at f0a00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel modules: ssb

0b:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 02bd
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 48
	I/O ports at 7000 [size=256]
	Memory at f0804000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Memory at f0800000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=16K]
	[virtual] Expansion ROM at f0820000 [disabled] [size=128K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: r8169
	Kernel modules: r8169

Code:

$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

p12p1     no wireless extensions.

Code:

$ rpm -qa | grep -e kernel -e broadcom-wl -e kmod-wl | sort
abrt-addon-kerneloops-2.0.3-4.fc15.x86_64
broadcom-wl-5.60.48.36-1.fc13.noarch
kernel-2.6.38.6-26.rc1.fc15.x86_64
kernel-2.6.40.4-5.fc15.x86_64
kernel-2.6.40.6-0.fc15.x86_64
kernel-devel-2.6.40.4-5.fc15.x86_64
kernel-devel-2.6.40.6-0.fc15.x86_64
kernel-headers-2.6.40.6-0.fc15.x86_64
kmod-wl-2.6.40.4-5.fc15.x86_64-5.60.48.36-2.fc15.8.x86_64

Code:

$ lspci | grep Broadcom
05:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)

***DBelton*** · #2 10th October 2011, 05:50 PM

You have to update the kmod-wl package to match your kernel version.

your kernel is version 2.6.40.6-0 and the kmod you have installed is for 2.6.40.4-5

the kernel module MUST match the kernel version.

You can either wait for an updated kmod-wl to be put into the rpmfusion repo, or you can install the akmod package, then it will build the kernel module for you when you update your kernel.

madalex · #3 11th October 2011, 09:12 AM

Thanks very much for your reply.

Is there any reason why the kmod-wl has not been available at the same time as the new kernel update ?

It doesn't seem right to release a new kernel which will then break a lot of computers ?!

***DBelton*** · #4 12th October 2011, 02:12 AM

well, the kernel is released in the fedora repos.

rpmfusion is where the kmod is located, and they are not controlled by fedora.

Usually, rpmfusion gets the kmod into the repo within a day or so but sometimes they lag behind. That's why installing the akmod is usually a better option. That way if the kmod isn't in the repo when you update your kernel, the akmod will build the module for you.

madalex · #5 12th October 2011, 09:18 AM

Can the kmod-wl and akmod-wl co-exist together? Or do I have to do a

Code:

su -c 'yum remove kmod-wl'

From what Ive read if I use the akmod-wl, is it just a case of running the following commands ?

Code:

su -c 'yum install akmod-wl'

su -c 'akmods --akmod wl'

SomeDamFool · #6 12th October 2011, 10:03 AM

They can exist together, but the akmods has been broken for a while now. Do a forum search to find related info on that topic. Alternatively, wait to install the new kernel until the kmod is available, usually only a day or two.
Mike

excaliburhc · #7 12th October 2011, 10:13 AM

not running 64 bit f15 but the following post resolved the issue for me

basically
Install the broadcom-wl packages:
su -c 'yum install akmod-wl'
Build the kmod: su -c 'akmods --akmod wl'

You now have the driver build and installed. Try loading it:
su -c 'modprobe wl'

worked for me - * i had to remove my previous installs first.

http://fedoramobile.org/fc-wireless/...nux-sta-driver

madalex · #8 12th October 2011, 08:48 PM

I uninstalled the kmod-wl package, then installed and built the akmod-wl.

I now have wireless back working !!!

)))))

Thanks all.