HowTo: Broadcom Wireless on Hardy

[Ayuthia]

As you now know or will find out, the developers of the native Linux Broadcom module have developed a new module for the 2.6.24 kernel. With this change, the bcm43xx modiule has been depreciated. The b43, b43legacy, b44, and ssb modules have been introduced.

Like the bcm43xx module, people have mixed feelings about whether the new b43/b43legacy modules work well or not. Some feel that the connection speed is not quite there and others experience connection loss periodically. Those who do not like it are using NDISwrapper. This post will cover how to install the firmware to get the b43/b43legacy module. This post is not going to cover the NDISwrapper process mainly because there are many different Broadcom drivers and a post will not do it justice. I will recommend the following site:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...eisty_No-Fluff

If you are looking for a troubleshooting guide, please check out:
NDISwrapper - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=780590
b43/b43legacy - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=780692

Current non-working chipsets--Ones that do not work with b43/b43legacy so NDISwrapper is the only option (check by doing lspci -nn and look for something like [14e4:43XX]):
(From http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43)
The 802.11a part of the 4309 and 4312 is not supported
Any wireless-N features
BCM 4328/4329

(From the b43 mailing list)
(Kernel versions < 2.6.24-17) Broadcom Corporation BCM4310 USB Controller [14e4:4315] (rev 01) if kernel version >= 2.6.24-18, install linux-restricted-modules

(Found in Ubuntu)
14e4:4311 (rev 02) (Fixed in 2.6.24-18)
14e4:4312 (rev 02) (Possibly fixed in 2.6.24-17--Can anyone confirm this?)

Option 1
For those with a working internet connection
In the Terminal/Konsole/xterm window do the following:

sudo aptitude install b43-fwcutter

Once it downloads the package, it will ask you if you want it to download the firmware for you. Select yes and it will install it for you. Then do the following:

sudo ifconfig wlan0 up

You should be wireless!

For those of you who are configuring your /etc/network/interfaces, you might need to do:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

That will restarting your network and will read through the /etc/networking/interfaces to connect.

Option 2
For those without a working internet connection

If you have a Hardy install CD,
Insert your CD and do the following:

sudo apt-cdrom add
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install b43-fwcutter

Make sure that you say no or cancel when the installer asks you to find/download the firmware for you. It will get stuck because it is thinking that there is an internet connection.
Now skip down to the Downloading Firmware section.

If you don't have a Hardy install CD
You will have to find a place with a working internet connection. Go to this link:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/utils/b43-fwcutter
Download the version that you need--amd64 for 64-bit and i386 for 32-bit. Copy the file to your home directory and do the following:
64-bit:

cd
sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter_011-1_amd64.deb

It is possible that the _011-1_ portion is another number.
Make sure that you say no or cancel when the installer asks you to find/download the firmware for you. It will get stuck because it is thinking that there is an internet connection.

32-bit:

cd
sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter_011-1_i386.deb

It is possible that the _011-1_ portion is another number.
Make sure that you say no or cancel when the installer asks you to find/download the firmware for you. It will get stuck because it is thinking that there is an internet connection.

Downloading Firmware
Both 32-bit and 64-bit:
You will still need to find someplace with a working internet connection and download the following files:

http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o
http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2

Copy those files to your home directory. In the Terminal/Konsole/xterm window do the following:

cd
sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o
tar xfvj broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2
sudo b43-fwcutter --unsupported -w /lib/firmware broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0/kmod/wl_apsta_mimo.o
sudo chmod o+rx /lib/firmware/b43 /lib/firmware/b43legacy
sudo ifconfig wlan0 up

For those of you who are configuring your /etc/network/interfaces, you might need to do:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

That will restarting your network and will read through the /etc/networking/interfaces to connect.

That should be it!

Another option (if you have a working internet connection) in Kubuntu is to go into System->Hardware Driver Manger. Once you have entered your password (if you have not done anything as root recently) the Hardware Driver screen will appear. It should have Broadcom B43 wireless drvier as an option. Click on the Enabled checkbox and it should do the b43-fwcutter install for you. It will ask you if you want it to find the firmware for you. Select yes and you should be set.

Ubuntu users should have something similar menu item (System->Adminstration->Hardware Driver ?) or a pci card symbol on the panel that you can click.

Note for users of encryption: If for some reason you cannot connect, you might need to enter the password through Network Manager (wireless icon in the panel) and it should ask you for a keyring password. From there you should be able to connect. See post #30 for more information. Thanks esteckis!

Good luck! Hope this helps.

Configuration Tool
Here is a new tool I am trying to add that will help configure your Broadcom wireless card. It will help set up the blacklisting and add the modules needed so that it will work on reboot. Just download the attachment and extract the file. If you want to do it from the Terminal:

tar -cvvzf toolbox_*.tar.gz

. The application is in the early stages but it does make backup copies for you. Since it is in the early stages, use at your own risk.

In order to run the program, you will need to click on toolbox.py or from the terminal:

./toolbox.py
or
python toolbox.py

[xomp]

This does not work. The card shows up as enabled in Hardware Driver and shows all the networks around me but I cannot connect to anything. It will not obtain a lease on any address.

[Ayuthia]

Can you post your lspci -nn and did you try the b43 process or did you try the ndiswrapper howto?

EDIT:
Another thing to add, when you use iwlist scan, does it show a lot of other wireless connections using the same channel as you? I have seen a few people using the b43 driver that has received interference from other wireless routers using the same channel. Once they changed the channel, things were fine.

One other thing. I just read your other post and it mentions that it comes with an attached wireless adapter (prism). Unfortunately, this post only works with the Broadcom versions.

[xomp]

Here is my lscpi -nn

xomp@medic:~$ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset Host Bridge [8086:1a30] (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset AGP Bridge [8086:1a31] (rev 04)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev 42)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) [8086:248c] (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801CAM IDE U100 Controller [8086:248a] (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller [8086:2485] (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500] [1002:4c57]
02:04.0 Communication controller [0780]: Agere Systems LT WinModem [11c1:0450] (rev 02)
02:06.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1420 PC card Cardbus Controller [104c:ac51]
02:06.1 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1420 PC card Cardbus Controller [104c:ac51]
02:08.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VM (KM) Ethernet Controller [8086:1038] (rev 42)
02:0e.0 USB Controller [0c03]: NEC Corporation USB [1033:0035] (rev 41)
02:0e.1 USB Controller [0c03]: NEC Corporation USB [1033:0035] (rev 41)
02:0e.2 USB Controller [0c03]: NEC Corporation USB 2.0 [1033:00e0] (rev 02)
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)

Here is my iwlist scan

lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wmaster0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan1 No scan results

I have disabled the other wifi adapter (the prism2) since linux is incapable of utilitzing it, hence the reason I purchased this Belking Wireless G.. I am 'trying' to use the propietary driver and not ndiswrapper at all for this.

[Ayuthia]

I am 'trying' to use the propietary driver and not ndiswrapper at all for this.

Thanks for the clarification and the information.

Can you provide the results for:

lsmod |grep -i -e b43 -e ssb -e bcm43xx -e ndiswrapper
lshw -C network

This will tell us what modules are loaded and what your wireless card is trying to use.

[mikeymo1741]

The problem I seem to be having is that the connection gets dropped, but only when I am connected to a WEP-enabled access point. To an unsecured network I can connect all day long without an issue.

Once I connect to my WEP-enabled home network, the connection will randomly drop, and I will get a Connection Manager window asking for the WEP key, although that is saved in the connection settings. It might reconnect, it might not, but if it doesn't, that SSID will not even show up in the scan unless I reboot. When I reboot, it connects fine on it's own until the connection drops.

As I said, to an open network, there are no issues.

Any thouughts?

lspci -v | grep Broadcom
00:0b.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)

I am using the b43 driver, BCM43XX is blacklisted.

[Ayuthia]

The problem I seem to be having is that the connection gets dropped, but only when I am connected to a WEP-enabled access point. To an unsecured network I can connect all day long without an issue.

Once I connect to my WEP-enabled home network, the connection will randomly drop, and I will get a Connection Manager window asking for the WEP key, although that is saved in the connection settings. It might reconnect, it might not, but if it doesn't, that SSID will not even show up in the scan unless I reboot. When I reboot, it connects fine on it's own until the connection drops.

As I said, to an open network, there are no issues.

Any thouughts?



I am using the b43 driver, BCM43XX is blacklisted.

Does anything show up in dmesg when the connection drops? Also, is your SSID the only one that is missing? If it is, you might try a different channel on your router to see if it makes a difference.

[mikeymo1741]

I'll have to make note of the log next time it happens.

Yes it's only my SSID that drops. I'll try switching channels, but it never happens from Windows on the same laptop in the same place. Besides, if the connection dropped, I would assume it should reconnect on it's own without having to re-enter the key.

[Ayuthia]

I'll have to make note of the log next time it happens.

Yes it's only my SSID that drops. I'll try switching channels, but it never happens from Windows on the same laptop in the same place. Besides, if the connection dropped, I would assume it should reconnect on it's own without having to re-enter the key.

The driver that Windows uses and what Ubuntu uses are different. What could be happening is that there is just enough interference on that channel that it cannot find your SSID. When that happens, it cannot re-establish the signal because it cannot find it. When that happens, you get the WEP key question.

If you want it to be more like Windows, you can try NDISwrapper. It uses the Windows driver to communicate with your wireless card. No guarantees that it will be exactly like Windows though.

[mikeymo1741]

I was using ndswrapper with Gutsy and had no issues. I think I might go back to it...


When I look at availible networks, mine is always the strongest. Besides, this has happened when it was in the same room as the silly router, five feet away...