HOWTO: Broadcom 4318 Wireless Cards

[compwiz18]

OK, I updated the script. I removed extra driver files that you don't need, added ndiswrapper to the tarball so you don't need an internet connection to install, had the script automatically add ndiswrapper to /etc/modules (this should load it at startup, fixes a couple problems), AND I updated the steps to make it easier to install

[redmoth]

I followed the instructions after downloading the newest tarball (jun 20,2006) for a Compaq v2000 with the BCM4318 wireless chipset. Keep in mind that this laptop does have an AMD Turion64 processor, though I do not know if this will make a difference. However, after running the script, the wireless light did not light up...so I rebooted, but it did not help. I verified that after the reboot the ndiswrapper was loaded as a module using

modprobe -l |grep ndiswrapper

also i verified that that ndiswrapper loaded a driver using

ndiswrapper -l

the output of which was

 bcmwl5        driver present, hardware present

after the reboot, the wlan0 interface (which was previously there) does not show up in the Network Interface Manager, and only eth0 (the wired interface) remains. Also, the iwconfig command does not indicate any interfaces that have any wireless extensions, nor does it show up in ifconfig.

Im a bit lost...Any ideas as to what to try next? I am going to attempt to look at the windows installation that is on the laptop, then see if I can get a copy of the files it is using as a driver for the chipset, then hopefully, get ndiswrapper to install those...

Any suggestions extremely welcome!

thanks,
-rob

[compwiz18]

I have a v2000 too...it worked for me. Are you using the 64bit version of Ubuntu? Oh yeah...also, pushing the button worked for me..it lit up and then everything was good.

[xolot1]

your script worked flawlessly for one reboot, now im having trouble.

after the reboot, the wlan0 interface (which was previously there) does not show up, and only eth0 (the wired interface) remains. Also, the iwconfig command does not indicate any interfaces that have any wireless extensions, nor does it show up in ifconfig.
-rob

i may have the same problem (but im a slight newbie, so i may be confusing errors). my eth1 interface does not show up under my gnome-netstatus-applet, and nm-applet only shows my wired network. network settings does show eth1, and it being active; and iwconfig also shows eth1 as present. so probably a different error. however, my network is wpa encrypted, so ill just throw that in the mix too. suggestions?

[compwiz18]

Also try sudo rmmod bcm43xx maybe?

[zany]

i have a compaq v2000 running ubuntu amd64...

here's a couple concerns i have:

a) does this work for amd64 installs of ubuntu?
b) when i run ndiswrapper, it states that bcmxx is not found in /proc/modules, how do i fix that?exit

c)i get a lot of line xx: ndiswrapper: command not found errors

thanks for your help

[compwiz18]

i have a compaq v2000 running ubuntu amd64...

here's a couple concerns i have:

a) does this work for amd64 installs of ubuntu?
b) when i run ndiswrapper, it states that bcmxx is not found in /proc/modules, how do i fix that?exit

c)i get a lot of line xx: ndiswrapper: command not found errors

thanks for your help

a - not sure, i have 32 bit on a 64 bit processor
b & c - try running sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper before running the script, not sure about those 2

[xolot1]

Also try sudo rmmod bcm43xx maybe?

b) when i run ndiswrapper, it states that bcmxx is not found in /proc/modules, how do i fix that?

bcm43xx does not exist in /proc/modules. (just trying to add data, my experiences since i cant really help in any other way.)

[redmoth]

okay! I thought about it for just a second and looked at the output of

 dmesg

and saw that up near the top when ndiswrapper is loaded that it gave an error noting that the driver is not a 64 bit driver. So I googled for it, and found a Suse post regarding a similar situation for another user for 64bit Suse. Some guy with the awesome nic GenericHuman pointed towards the 64bit drivers for the bcm4318 chipset at linuxant here:

http://www.linuxant.com/driverloader/drivers.php

what i ended up doing (after reading the script in the original attachment of this thread, and discovering that it removes any previous installations of the driver) was just repackaged the 64 bit drivers in the tarball, and reran the script according to the instructions in the original post of this thread...

needless to say I am proudly using the laptop to post this message now.

I will attach the tarball that I have recreated TO BE USED ONLY FOR 64 BIT INSTALLS WITH THE BCM4318 CHIPSET!

man, many thanks to compwiz18 for the superbly written script, and all the real groundwork!! thank you, thank you!!

-rob

[zany]

thanks guys..

i'm going to keep cracking at this

it says that bcmwl5: driver present, hardware present but won't show up in network manager in ubuntu

also says

Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2 repeated several times..

looks like the driver got installed though,

not sure what the next step is...