How to: Broadcom Wireless cards

[DapKo]

http://www.omattos.com/broadcom/

"Extract the contents of the zip file into /lib/firmware/ - thats all there is to it, the rest should "just work". Fwcutter is NOT required to use this - these files have already been extracted."

[dranick]

Hello and thank you for the tutorial.

I have everything in place but the wireless NIC gets turned off as soon as GDM starts (the wireless led is turned on during system boot but it turns off when the graphical interface loads).

I can see all the available wireless networks in range but I can't connect to my wireless network (I guess it has to do to the wireless network card being turned off).

Please help.

Thank you,

Nick

***Later edit***

System info: Asus A7D with a BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller wireless network card.

on a lshw -C network command I have the following output:

  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 3
       bus info: pci@0000:03:03.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 02
       serial: 00:17:31:2f:fd:02
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ndiswrapper+bcmwl5 driverversion=1.53+Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100. latency=64 link=no module=ndiswrapper multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g

The dmesg shows:

 b43-phy0: Broadcom 4318 WLAN found
 Broadcom 43xx driver loaded [ Features: PLR, Firmware-ID: FW13 ]
 [   19.980175] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:03.0: PCI INT A disabled
 [   20.099614] ndiswrapper version 1.53 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no) 
 [   20.226737] ndiswrapper (link_pe_images:575): fixing KI_USER_SHARED_DATA address in the driver 
 [   20.229543] ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100.15.5) loaded 
 [   20.229931] ndiswrapper 0000:03:03.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 22 (level, low) -> IRQ 22 
 [   20.238699] ndiswrapper: using IRQ 22 
 [   20.598753] wlan0: ethernet device 00:17:31:2f:fd:02 using NDIS driver: bcmwl5, version: 0x4640f05, NDIS version: 0x501, vendor: 'NDIS     Network  Adapter', 14E4:4318.5.conf    
 [   20.598814] wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK

but yet my wireless card remains turned off (the wireless ledd is off even though the bluetooth one is lit).

I will appreciate any help you can provide on this matter as I really can't use the system without a working wireless card.

Thank you in advance!

[trescott3]

I got my BCM94311 wireless card working on an HP DV6000 laptop using the guide here:

http://trentscott.org/?p=1

[Greg F]

http://www.omattos.com/broadcom/

"Extract the contents of the zip file into /lib/firmware/ - thats all there is to it, the rest should "just work". Fwcutter is NOT required to use this - these files have already been extracted."

This solved the problem with my wireless card. It was as easy as it sounds.

[venkatesh_b87]

hi everybody, i am trying out the procedure specified here. but i did not understand the 4th point. what is that extracting firmware??? from which setup file??

[rickfisher]

More up to date info as of 2009-04-10

http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

[krstofer]

Hey Guys, Sorry if this was addressed, but I can't seem to find the answer in this thread.

I am pretty new to linux (ubuntu). I am getting the error message, "Can't find package bmc43xx-fwcutter"

I think I enabled the repositories right, but I am including a screen shot, just in case.

Right now I am using a USB d-link device which worked upon install, however I have the built in broadcom 4306 that I want to use instead.

I have an HP dv1000 laptop. I included the screenshot of the repository.

[krstofer]

More up to date info as of 2009-04-10

http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

Nevermind, I was able to get it working using this link. Maybe this should be added to the OP.

Thanks guys!!!

[bulgedeyes]

First of all, thanks to all the posts on these forums I'm posting from a wireless connection, and I have a Broadcom 4318 "AirForce One 54g".

Here's how I did it, maybe it'll help someone. You don't even need an internet connection.

The drivers I used are attached to the message. To follow this guide to a T downlad them and place in a folder bcm43xx on your desktop.

I've tried the procedure in this HowTo several times, on different versions of Dapper, with different drivers and it would never work. I had to use ndiswrapper to get it working.

I'm running Ubuntu i386 Dapper, Turion 64, ATI Radeon XPRESS 200M.

1) Blacklist bcm43xx driver
Open a Terminal window
Type "sudo gedit etc/modprobe.d/blacklist"
At the bottom add the lines
# get rid of the default kernel drivers
blacklist bcm43xx

2) Make sure network interfaces file is correct
Type "sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces"
Remove all comments ('#') that you see so that all devices arehandled by the default network manager.
I would reboot here and make sure the wireless light goes out

3) Install ndiswrapper
Put in Ubuntu CD. Open Synaptic Package Manager (ClickSystem -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager),search for ndiswrapper-utils, and install it.You could also type "sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-utils

4) Conigure ndiswrapper
Open termianl and navigate the folder where your drivers are."cd Desktop/bcm43xx"
Type "sudo ndiswrapper -i oem3.inf"Then type "sudo ndiswrapper -m"
Type "sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper"Change the one line in that file to read "alias eth1 ndiswrapper"

Now you should reboot so all the drivers load.

Once you reboot the wireless light on your laptop should be lit. If it worked, you should be able to click the Network Manager icon in the top right. It will probably show a disconnected ennection becuase the computer is not plugged in.
Left click it and select eth1 from the drop down menu.
Click Configure
Click Wireless Connection, then Properties. Here just enter your network information. If you're using an unprotected network you should only have to type yout SSID.

Click OK and you should now be connected! If a green signal meter and connected network icon appear in the upper right you'll know it worked.

Hope this helps!

I know I'm VERY late to the party and everything, but, dude, you effin ROCK! After three days, no clear answer, this solution, which I thought would be as fruitless as the countless others, solved my problem.

[jeb800e]

Whenever I try this method, the thing that only comes up is my 56k Modem. Will this work with my Belkin Wireless-G Desktop Card? Am I able to safely and successfully install the Belkin Wireless-G Desktop Card under Wine?