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

[Rastus]

SUCCESS!

Dell Inspiron 1525

* Wireless Brand and Model 0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4310 USB Controller (rev 01)


* Wireless Chipset: 0b:00.0 0280: 14e4:4315 (rev 01)


Description: Ubuntu 8.04.1


Kernel / Architecture: 2.6.24-19-generic i686


No boot options
Did Not have to recompile ndiswrapper
Used 2e but tried it with the small version of the package and had no success. Downloaded the larger package from Dell and it worked.

No Hardy Bug Fix.

Thanks Captain Jackson.

[Jamie Jackson]

But I have the same symptoms, I can see the network and it still will not connect with my WEP key.
Suggestions?

PS I am sure that you have nice booty but I'm not that kind of guy.

I'm curious to know if it works if you turn off WEP on your AP. Could you try that and report back?

UPDATE: Just saw your new post. Would you please provide a link to the big driver file package you downloaded?

[Jamie Jackson]

The stripped down driver bundle for my card (Broadcom Corporation BCM4310 USB Controller (rev 01)) did not work; ndiswrapper it didn't detect the hardware after loading it. The driver in the massive ~86mb-ish exe file from Dell did, though. (I've got a Vostro 1510).

Other than that, though? Golden. Thank you very much, good sir!

Thanks, Frem. Please provide a link to the Dell download?

[Jamie Jackson]

I don't know why I'm getting so much extra help on this thread as compared to my old one, but thanks a lot to the folks who are giving support to others.

[BlackholeZ]

I'm trying this procedure on my HP Pavilion dv8000 on a pretty fresh install of Hardy, but I've had no luck.

My chipset is: 06:02.0 0280: 14e4:4319 (rev 02)

I tried step 2a going off the "other bcm43xx" suggestion. After going through the whole process, and using the "lshw -C network" command, I don't have any "module" specifying ssb or ndiswrapper.
here is what it shows.

 *-network:0             
       description: Network controller
       product: BCM4311 [AirForce 54g] 802.11a/b/g PCI Express Transceiver
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:06:02.0
       version: 02
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master
       configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=64 module=ssb
  *-network:1
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 6
       bus info: pci@0000:06:06.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 10
       serial: 00:0f:b0:bb:ff:56
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=8139too driverversion=0.9.28 ip=192.168.233.167 latency=128 maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 module=8139too multicast=yes
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 1
       logical name: wlan0
       serial: 00:14:a5:2c:71:cd
       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g

I tried the temporary hardy fix, it now shows the module=ndiswrapper, but I still don't have any available wireless APs.
Here is the hardy fix and the network readout after:

dan@dan-laptop:~$ sudo rmmod b43
dan@dan-laptop:~$ sudo rmmod b44
ERROR: Module b44 does not exist in /proc/modules
dan@dan-laptop:~$ sudo rmmod b43legacy
ERROR: Module b43legacy does not exist in /proc/modules
dan@dan-laptop:~$ sudo rmmod ssb
dan@dan-laptop:~$ sudo rmmod ndiswrapper
dan@dan-laptop:~$ sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
dan@dan-laptop:~$ sudo modprobe ssb
dan@dan-laptop:~$ sudo modprobe b44
dan@dan-laptop:~$ lshw -C network
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
  *-network:0             
       description: Wireless interface
       product: BCM4311 [AirForce 54g] 802.11a/b/g PCI Express Transceiver
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:06:02.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 02
       serial: 00:14:a5:2c:71:cd
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ndiswrapper+bcmwl5 driverversion=1.52+Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100. latency=64 module=ndiswrapper multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11a
  *-network:1
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 6
       bus info: pci@0000:06:06.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 10
       serial: 00:0f:b0:bb:ff:56
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=8139too driverversion=0.9.28 ip=192.168.233.167 latency=128 maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 module=8139too multicast=yes

Anything I missed? Or should have done differently? I'm pretty capable with computers, but I'm new to linux. Any help will be greatly appreciated, if I need to post more info, let me know.
-Dan

[henrich.born]

The BCM94311MCG-device still doesn't work, even after installing the driver with ndiswrapper. For testing I installed another driver for an usb device (tew-424UB) and it works very well.

Here the recommended data

root@mms-mobile:~# # HP Compaq 6720s
root@mms-mobile:~#
root@mms-mobile:~# lspci | grep Broadcom
10:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 02)
root@mms-mobile:~#
root@mms-mobile:~#
root@mms-mobile:~# lspci -n | grep '14e4:43'
10:00.0 0280: 14e4:4311 (rev 02)
root@mms-mobile:~# lsb_release -d
Description: Ubuntu 8.04.1
root@mms-mobile:~#
root@mms-mobile:~# uname -mr
2.6.24-19-generic i686

After all steps of the HowTo (1, 2a and 3) I didn't see any available wireless access point under "Wireless Networks".

Result of lshw

root@mms-mobile:/# lshw -C network
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: 82562GT 10/100 Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 19
bus info: pci@0000:00:19.0
logical name: eth0
version: 03
serial: 00:1a:4b:89:ff:11
size: 100MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e1000 driverversion=7.3.20-k2-NAPI duplex=full firmware=1.1-2 ip=192.168.1.42 latency=0 link=yes module=e1000 multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100MB/s
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:10:00.0
logical name: wlan0
version: 02
serial: 00:1a:73:bf:62:02
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ndiswrapper+bcmwl5 driverversion=1.52+Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100. latency=0 link=no module=ndiswrapper multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g
*-network
description: Wireless interface
physical id: 2
logical name: eth1
serial: 00:03:1b:57:a3:0f
capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11b/g

With the tew-424ub-device (above "eth1") a wirless-lan-connection can be established without any problems.

root@mms-mobile:/# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet Hardware Adresse 00:1a:4b:89:ff:11
inet Adresse:192.168.1.42 Bcast:255.255.255.255 Maske:255.255.255.0
inet6-Adresse: fe80::21a:4bff:fe89:ff11/64 Gültigkeitsbereich:Verbindung
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metrik:1
RX packets:265587 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:204729 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
Kollisionen:0 Sendewarteschlangenlänge:100
RX bytes:161914370 (154.4 MB) TX bytes:45631684 (43.5 MB)
Basisadresse:0x4020 Speicher:e4600000-e4620000

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet Hardware Adresse 00:03:1b:57:a3:0f
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metrik:1
RX packets:0 errors:1 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:1
TX packets:88 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
Kollisionen:0 Sendewarteschlangenlänge:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:3696 (3.6 KB)

lo Link encap:Lokale Schleife
inet Adresse:127.0.0.1 Maske:255.0.0.0
inet6-Adresse: ::1/128 Gültigkeitsbereich:Maschine
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metrik:1
RX packets:7364 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:7364 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
Kollisionen:0 Sendewarteschlangenlänge:0
RX bytes:275233 (268.7 KB) TX bytes:275233 (268.7 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet Hardware Adresse 00:1a:73:bf:62:02
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metrik:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
Kollisionen:0 Sendewarteschlangenlänge:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:17 Speicher:e4000000-e4004000

root@mms-mobile:/# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSIDff/any
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power:32 dBm
RTS thr:2347 B Fragment thr:2346 B
Encryption keyff
Power Managementff
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

eth1 IEEE 802.11b/g ESSID:"67042640" Nickname:"zd1211"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: 00:0F:CCC:4A:6C
Bit Rate=24 Mb/s
Encryption keyff
Link Quality=99/100 Signal level=53/100
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

What's going wrong? Could it be possible, that the bcm-interface is not powered on?

It would be great, if someone would be able to help me, because im really new in Linux and Ubuntu.

Thx

[vanix]

On my other lap...


* Machine Brand and Model HP PAVILLION ZX5000
* Wireless Brand and Model 02:02.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 03)

* Wireless Chipset: 02:02.0 0280: 14e4:4320 (rev 03)
* Ubuntu Version: Ubuntu 8.04.1
* Kernel / Architecture: 2.6.24-19-generic i686
* Any extra boot options you might be using NONE
* Whether or not you had to compile NDISWrapper WITHOUT COMPILE
* Which version of Step 2 you used (If you try the recommended step 2, and it doesn't work, and then you find some other, presumably newer, driver version that *does* work, please provide a link to the download, for inclusion consideration.) USED ONE I HAD
* If you're on Hardy, whether you had to apply the "Hardy Bug Fix" workaround or not VER 0.3

In my case, i couldn't make it work, the ssb and b43 were always loaded when modprobin' ndiswrapper despite they were blacklisted... 'till i found this little detail... the fix???

sudo gedit /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf 

and change

DEVICE=eth0 

to look like

DEVICE=lo

save, then

sudo update-initramfs -u 

then restart and voila!... b43 has gone...

Salud!os

[Ayuthia]

sudo update-initramfs -u 

I think that this command is the magic one. It appears to update the blacklisting. I had to use it recently on one of my installs. However, I have not pinpointed why it makes it work yet though.

[Peter0Pan]

Note: I'm continuing the thread that has been made read-only in the archives:
"HowTo: Broadcom 4311 in 5 minutes with ndiswrapper/WPA for fresh Feisty installs"

Edit: Since I originally posted this I've also added support for other devices, so it now supports the BCM4306, BCM4310, BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4318, and BCM4328
Edit 2: Update (Oct 2007): Gutsy Gibbon (*Ubuntu 7.10) has native support (via the restricted driver manager) that actually works, so this guide isn't strictly necessary for Gutsy. However, Gutsy's native support isn't capable of quite the same bandwidth as this ndiswrapper solution. Further, it doesn't seem to work for everyone. Fortunately, this guide also appears to be compatible with Gutsy.
Edit 3: Update (Apr 26 2008): This howto works with Hardy Heron (*Ubuntu 8.04) for many users. I've added some Hardy-specific commands that workaround an outstanding (ssb) module loading bug. Note, this howto still doesn't work for some Hardy users, for reasons we haven't fully hashed out yet, but almost certainly related to the ssb issue. Hardy users, please refrain from voting until this is worked out, but feel free to make thread posts.

I created a quick howto for myself, since I've had to install this card a few times. This howto works well for fresh installs of Feisty (and Gutsy, and Hardy), and requires no compiled packages. (This means simple apt-get installs only for most people, but there are ndiswrapper compilation instructions for those who need it.)

BCM43xx HowTo.

This should take less than 5 minutes.

Please report your results here or on the wiki. Others benefit from detailed feedback, so you get bonus points if you provide all of the following:

HARDY Users, Before Following the Wiki: (I need this to try to develop a module-reloading script, since Hardy users ideally should use a custom module reloader for their particular hardware.)

* Modules and Dependencies: lsmod


All Users, After Following the Wiki

• Machine Brand and Model
• Wireless Brand and Model (please post the whole line): lspci | grep Broadcom
• Wireless Chipset: lspci -n | grep '14e4:43'
• Ubuntu Version: lsb_release -d
• Kernel / Architecture: uname -mr
• Any extra boot options you might be using (e.g., noacpi, irqpoll, etc.)
• Whether or not you had to compile NDISWrapper
• Which version of Step 2 you used (If you try the recommended step 2, and it doesn't work, and then you find some other, presumably newer, driver version that *does* work, please provide a link to the download, for inclusion consideration.)
• If you're on Hardy, whether you had to apply the "Hardy Bug Fix" workaround or not

Good luck,
Jamie
Last edited by Jamie Jackson; May 6th, 2008 at 11:34 PM. Reason: hardy update

Hi Jamie,

Incredible work for fresh install. And it works perfect till I reboot the system. As soon as I reboot the system, the network manager doesn't show any wireless option at all. The lspci | grep Broadcom return nothing. iconfig returns - no wireless connections (for both lo & eth0). Worst: A fresh install after that doesn't solve the problem, if it does then again a reboot messes it up. Though wired works each time. Can you please help?

The last thing I tried was the tutorial at:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=766560

I am positing the results of the commands:

maya@Maya-Laptop:~$ lspci | grep Broadcom
maya@Maya-Laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

maya@Maya-Laptop:~$

Answers to your questions:

• Machine Brand and Model
  HP dv6361eu
• Wireless Brand and Model (please post the whole line): lspci | grep Broadcom
  Broadcom 4312 (rev 01)
• Wireless Chipset: lspci -n | grep '14e4:43'
  14e4:43
• Ubuntu Version: lsb_release -d
  8.04.01
• Kernel / Architecture: uname -mr
  2.6.24-19-generic i686
• Any extra boot options you might be using (e.g., noacpi, irqpoll, etc.)
  None
• Whether or not you had to compile NDISWrapper
  Yes
• Which version of Step 2 you used.
  Step 2b
• If you're on Hardy, whether you had to apply the "Hardy Bug Fix" workaround or not
  Yes

[Ayuthia]

Hi Jamie,

Incredible work for fresh install. And it works perfect till I reboot the system. As soon as I reboot the system, the network manager doesn't show any wireless option at all. The lspci | grep Broadcom return nothing. iconfig returns - no wireless connections (for both lo & eth0). Worst: A fresh install after that doesn't solve the problem, if it does then again a reboot messes it up. Though wired works each time. Can you please help?

The last thing I tried was the tutorial at:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=766560

I am positing the results of the commands:

maya@Maya-Laptop:~$ lspci | grep Broadcom
maya@Maya-Laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

maya@Maya-Laptop:~$

Answers to your questions:

• Machine Brand and Model
  HP dv6361eu
• Wireless Brand and Model (please post the whole line): lspci | grep Broadcom
  Broadcom 4312 (rev 01)
• Wireless Chipset: lspci -n | grep '14e4:43'
  14e4:43
• Ubuntu Version: lsb_release -d
  8.04.01
• Kernel / Architecture: uname -mr
  2.6.24-19-generic i686
• Any extra boot options you might be using (e.g., noacpi, irqpoll, etc.)
  None
• Whether or not you had to compile NDISWrapper
  Yes
• Which version of Step 2 you used.
  Step 2b
• If you're on Hardy, whether you had to apply the "Hardy Bug Fix" workaround or not
  Yes

By any chance are you dual-booting? If so, can you try and see if you can connect on the other operating system? I know that some HP laptops have been running into problems where the motherboard overheats and causes problems with the wireless. My laptop had that problem and had to get serviced. From what I have known, if your wireless card was shown in lspci and then it disappears, it usually is a hardware problem.