HOWTO: Broadcom 4318 Wireless Cards

**aldegaz** · July 20th, 2006

that would be the card that I am trying to get to work (rev 02)

**futureman** · July 20th, 2006

I am still unable to get this to work, here's what you asked for.

__________________________________________________ _______________
apt-get --version
apt0.6.43.3 Ubuntu2 for linux amd64 compiled on Apr 18 2006 19:47:31
Supported modules:
*Ver: Standard.deb
*Pkg: Debian dpkg interface (priority 30)
S.L: 'deb' Standard binary tree
S.L: 'deb-src' Standard Debian source tree
Idx: Debian Source Index
Idx: Debian Package Index
Idx: Debian dpkg Status file

uname -a
Linux mike-desktop 2.6.15-23-amd64-generic #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue May 23 13:45:47 UTC 2006 x86_64 GNU/Linux
__________________________________________________ _______________

and when i run this script from bcm4318x64.tar.gz
__________________________________________________ _______________
sudo ./ndiswrapper_setup
THIS IS THE 64-BIT VERSION OF THE SCRIPT. IF YOU DON'T HAVE 64-BIT UBUNTU THIS SCRIPT WILL NOT WORK
Installing ndiswrapper...
dpkg: error processing ndiswrapper.deb (--install):
package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)
Errors were encountered while preocessing:
ndiswrapper.deb
__________________________________________________ _______________

any ideas??

**TFrog** · July 21st, 2006

Between the information in various Ubuntu wiki articles I was able to get my Compaq Presario R4125US Broadcom BCM4318 equipped laptop up and running wirelessly in Kubuntu. My only problem at this point is to get it to connect on boot to my network that runs WPA-PSK security. I can get it to connect with Knetworkmanger after boot but will not automatically connect to my network. Minor pain but would be nice if I could avoid this. Any help would be appreciated. I've had more response here than in the Kubuntu forums so maybe you kind folks could help out again.

**compwiz18** · July 21st, 2006

Originally Posted by futureman

I am still unable to get this to work, here's what you asked for.

__________________________________________________ _______________
apt-get --version
apt0.6.43.3 Ubuntu2 for linux amd64 compiled on Apr 18 2006 19:47:31
Supported modules:
*Ver: Standard.deb
*Pkg: Debian dpkg interface (priority 30)
S.L: 'deb' Standard binary tree
S.L: 'deb-src' Standard Debian source tree
Idx: Debian Source Index
Idx: Debian Package Index
Idx: Debian dpkg Status file

uname -a
Linux mike-desktop 2.6.15-23-amd64-generic #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue May 23 13:45:47 UTC 2006 x86_64 GNU/Linux
__________________________________________________ _______________

and when i run this script from bcm4318x64.tar.gz
__________________________________________________ _______________
sudo ./ndiswrapper_setup
THIS IS THE 64-BIT VERSION OF THE SCRIPT. IF YOU DON'T HAVE 64-BIT UBUNTU THIS SCRIPT WILL NOT WORK
Installing ndiswrapper...
dpkg: error processing ndiswrapper.deb (--install):
package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)
Errors were encountered while preocessing:
ndiswrapper.deb
__________________________________________________ _______________

any ideas??

My bad. Looks like a script error. Open up the package manager (Synaptic) and install ndiswrapper-utils (or apt-get install ndiswrapper-utils). Then try running the script again.

**futureman** · July 21st, 2006

I do not have any internet connection in linux, i have to use xp, how would i get that package in xp, ndiswrapper-utils, so i could put it on a cd?

**futureman** · July 21st, 2006

Wow, I got it to work, I had to download the 64 bit version of ndiswrapper, and use drivers off the list on the ndiswrapper home page ( the drivers in the tar from this how to wouldn't work for me), then I did a fresh install of Ubuntu and pointed your script to use the drivers and ndiswrapper i downloaded, it didn't work at first and I almost gave up, but decided to reboot, after that it worked fine.

Thanks compwiz for having this how to and keeping up with it. Might want to look into the 64 bit version of your script a little though.

**electrocutioner** · July 22nd, 2006

hi, electro again-
I re-installed 6.06 32 bit version this time (too many proggs i needed not ready for 64amd)
anyways,using your 32 bit script gets me up and running,but not with wep.
also,im network manager doesn't twirl when it connects,andim not getting any 'keychain'coming up to ask me for my key(maybe need to turn something on?)
I have tried entering keys manually,editing etc/networks/interfaces-both with just lo appearing as your script writes it,and with my network info

heck,i even tried entering my keys with hyphens every 4 digits like a few postings have suggested....

here is my info

this is what i get from % iwconfig

eth0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power:25 dBm
RTS thr:2347 B Fragment thr:2346 B
Power Management:off
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

and from :~$ iwlist eth0 scan
eth0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
ESSID:"xxxxxxxxx"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
Mode:Managed
Frequency:2.452 GHz (Channel 9)
Quality:0/100 Signal level:-75 dBm Noise level:-256 dBm
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
12 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:bcn_int=100
Extra:atim=0

here is my interfaces script

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
wireless-essid xxxxxxxxx
wireless-key xxxxxxxxxx

thanks for the help

EDIT----k Its running wep now.
had to install wifiradar and select the right settings.strangely,it wants 'mode' to be set as blank even though it lists it as 'managed'in wifiradars display.
oh well,on to wpa next!

btw great work compwiz!I set up everything very quickly using your scripts.one note though,there are some dependencies that are not present on a fresh install with updates applied...namely
dhcdbd
libnl1-pre6
libnm-util0

it would be very easy to miss that if you didn't understand what errors the script was generating.

**basherbob** · July 24th, 2006

Awsome tutorial. However I came across this problem when I was trying to install the wraaper:

basherbob@basherbob-laptop:~/Desktop$ sudo ./ndiswrapper_setup
THIS IS THE 64-BIT VERSION OF THE SCRIPT. IF YOU DON'T HAVE 64-BIT UBUNTU, THIS SCRIPT WILL NOT WORK.
Installing ndiswrapper...
dpkg: error processing ndiswrapper.deb (--install):
package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)
Errors were encountered while processing:
ndiswrapper.deb
Extracting the drivers...
Deleting temporary files...
Changing driver permissions...
Changing working directory...
Removing previous attempts to use ndiswrapper, if any...
./ndiswrapper_setup: line 15: ndiswrapper: command not found
./ndiswrapper_setup: line 16: ndiswrapper: command not found
Removing default driver...
ERROR: Module bcmxx does not exist in /proc/modules
Installing driver through ndiswrapper...
./ndiswrapper_setup: line 20: ndiswrapper: command not found
./ndiswrapper_setup: line 21: ndiswrapper: command not found
./ndiswrapper_setup: line 22: ndiswrapper: command not found
Modprobing ndiswrapper...
Moving back to original working directory...
Deleting more temporary files...
Blacklisting bcm43xx...
Installation completed.
Please check the wifi light on your computer.
If it is on, installation was successful.
Please make sure to exit superuser mode by typing exit.

Even though I downloaded this file "bcm4318x64.tar.gz" it complains I have the wrong package architecture. hhhmmm

**Iandefor** · July 24th, 2006

Originally Posted by compwiz18

@Iandefor: I'm glad it worked. It is my first script, so it is bound to have problems - for instance, it should probably check if you sudo'ed it before it attempts to run.

Not a bad thought. I've been sitting on my improvements pretty much since I made that post. I'll re-post them after double-checking everything soon.

**Iandefor** · July 25th, 2006

You were missing a hash-bang... so I fixed that. I also added a check to make sure the user is running a Broadcom Wireless 4318 chipset, the ability to log the results of most of the commands, and a question at the end to see if the user wants to reboot.

EDIT: D'oh! The first version I uploaded was bad... here's the good version

.