HowTo: Broadcom BCM43xx in 5 minutes with ndiswrapper/WPA for fresh installs

[mootpoint]

Testimonial:

Laptop: Compaq F572US
Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 02)
0280: 14e4:4311 (rev 02)
Ubuntu 8.04.1
2.6.24-16-generic i686

I'm not using any kernel flags at bootup (irqpoll, etc.)

Used 0.3 version of the Hardy bugfix. Everything went flawlessly. Thanks!

m00t

[Hasmarth]

Hasmarth,

Just execute the commands in 0.3, and if it says "Not found," ignore it and keep going. You'll be fine.

m00t

Sorry i don't understand excuting in 0.3, ubuntu is a totally new concept to me. Care to shed a bit of light?

[Ayuthia]

Sorry i don't understand excuting in 0.3, ubuntu is a totally new concept to me. Care to shed a bit of light?

Modifying /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper

Version 0.3

echo -e '#Hardy ssb/ndiswrapper workaround, added' `date` '\ninstall ndiswrapper modprobe -r b43 b44 b43legacy ssb; modprobe --ignore-install ndiswrapper $CMDLINE_OPTS; modprobe ssb; modprobe b44;' | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper

The Version 0.3 command is like a script that runs whenever ndiswrapper is being loaded. What it will do is automatically remove the b43, b44, b43legacy, and ssb modules (the native Broadcom Linux modules for wireless (b43* modules) and wired ethernet cards (b44) then load the ndiswrapper modules, and then reload the b44 module so that the wired card will work (if you have a Broadcom wired ethernet card).

This is similar to the Trying It Temporarily section, but is the automated version.

As for the b43/b43legacy concern, you don't need to worry about it beause the Version 0.3 command will take care of it if they do exist.

[Hasmarth]

Oh i see what you meant by 0.3. I'll try it a little later and get backt o you guys. If the bug fix works, should i go back to step 3 and try that?

[Ayuthia]

Oh i see what you meant by 0.3. I'll try it a little later and get backt o you guys. If the bug fix works, should i go back to step 3 and try that?

If you have already done these steps:

sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf
ndiswrapper -l
sudo depmod -a
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
sudo cp /etc/network/interfaces /etc/network/interfaces.orig
echo -e 'auto lo\niface lo inet loopback\n' | sudo tee /etc/network/interfaces
sudo ndiswrapper -m
echo 'ndiswrapper' | sudo tee -a /etc/modules
echo 'ENABLED=0' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/wpasupplicant

you will not need to do step 3 again. The steps in this post loads the Windows driver to ndiswrapper and creates the alias information in /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper (lets ndiswrapper know to use wlan0). It also resets all the configurations done to /etc/network/interfaces. If this part is not done, ndiswrapper will not work.

[Hasmarth]

ok i tried 0.3 but module is still ssb in lshw -C network. I don't think i did those commands Ayuthia. I'm a little cnfused about what to do next. Any ideas?

[Ayuthia]

ok i tried 0.3 but module is still ssb in lshw -C network. I don't think i did those commands Ayuthia. I'm a little cnfused about what to do next. Any ideas?

Let's go back and check if the driver is installed:

ndiswrapper -l

If it shows that the device/hardware is present and that bcmwl5 is the driver, then you have done those commands. If it is not there, then you should do those steps. There is a good chance that the ndiswrapper -m step will return an error, but that is ok. That command verifies that only alias commands are in there. It does not expect us to add the 0.3 steps in there.

[Hasmarth]

k it says bcml5 : invalid driver
im gonna go ahead and try those commands
okkk... looks like along with ndiswrapper -m, the first two commands came back with errors

[bilbobagins]

Hi,followed all steps,but when i check network connection after setting wep key etc i get this message wlan0:avahi.This has plagued me since Gusty can anyone tell me how to get this avahi thing to go!!!!!!!
Bilbo

[Ayuthia]

k it says bcml5 : invalid driver
im gonna go ahead and try those commands
okkk... looks like along with ndiswrapper -m, the first two commands came back with errors

The invalid driver message means that it does not like the driver. You will want to remove the driver:

sudo ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5

and try again. Just make sure that you are in the same directory as the bcmwl5.inf file and the bcmwl5.sys (32-bit) or bcmwl564.sys (64-bit) file. To load the file again:

sudo modprobe -i bcmwl5.inf
ndiswrapper -l