Confirm packages prior to install

[laprjns]

read this thread:
http://www.salixos.org/forum/viewtopic. ... &hilit=b43

[laprjns]

Sorry, I realize that the threat is not very clear any more. See this note at the top of the first post:

Note: The install-b43-firmware script has been removed from the b43-fwcutter package as of Salix 13.2alpha1. Please read the README.Slackware file distributed with the package for current instructions on creating a b43-firmware package for your system.

With the removal of the script (legal reasons I believe) the process is now somewhat manual. You need to download the b43-fwcutter package (either b43-fwcutter-013-i486-6pw.txz or b43-fwcutter-013-x86_64-6pw.txz) from the Salix repo and depending on your broadcom chip set one of the following firmware source from http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/.

• broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
  broadcom-wl-4.178.10.4.tar.bz2
  wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o

Maybe download all of them just to be sure.
Your going to need to know which firmware package that you need (one of the three listed above) so you'll need to check here;
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43
Once your up an running on Salix, copy all these files into a directory and install the b43-fwcutter package:

Code: Select all

mkdir b43
cd b43 
cp /path/to/the/downloaded_files/* .

Now install the fwcutter package. (I'll assume that your using Salix 32)

Code: Select all

su
spkg -i b43-fwcutter-013-i486-6pw.txz

Once the fwcutter package is installed then you need to follow the instruction in README.Slackware file found in /usr/doc/b43-fwcutter-013. You may want to read it before you lose your internet connection so i have copied it here:

Mb43/b43legacy firmware
======================

"The Broadcom wireless chip needs software, called "firmware", that runs on the wireless chip itself
during operation. This firmware is copyrighted by Broadcom and must be extracted from Broadcom's
proprietary drivers. To get such firmware on your system, you must download the driver from a legal
distribution point. Then you must extract the firmware from that Broadcom driver by using b43-fwcutter
and install it in the special directory for firmware - usually /lib/firmware. Please note that the
firmware from the binary drivers is copyrighted by Broadcom Corporation and must not be redistributed."

This is a short guide on how to create a b43(legacy)-firmware package for your system.

First you will need to find out which firmware version to extract. You can use the 'lspci' command to
display the Chip-ID of the wireless card which can be compared against the "Known PCI devices" list at
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43.

lspci -vnn | grep 14e4
0001:01:01.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g
Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)

The Chip-ID from the example above is [14e4:4318], using this information I know this card requires the
b43 kernel module using version 4.150.10.5 of the firmware.

Distributed with the b43-fwcutter package are a number of ready-made build scipts you can use to create
a b43 or b43legacy firmware package. These scripts can be found in the '/usr/share/b43-fwcutter/' directory.

All you need to do to create a package is to copy the relevant build script to an empty directory then
execute 'slkbuild -X' as root (super user) from that directory. The source archive will be fetched from the
the internet (you will need an active internet connection) and the package created.

mkdir b43
cd b43
cat /usr/share/b43-fwcutter/b43-firmware-4.150.10.5.SLKBUILD > SLKBUILD
slkbuild -X

Once the package has been created you can install it with the package management tools.

spkg -i b43-firmware-4.150.10.5-fw-1pw.txz

You may then load the b43 (or b43legacy) kernel module with the 'modprobe' command. If the module doesn't
load automatically on startup then add the following command to '/etc/rc.d/rc.local':

modprobe b43

If you have installed Broadcom's Hybrid Linux Driver then you will need to unload the 'wl' module first:

modprobe -r wl

To perminently blacklist the 'wl' module use the following command, you can easily delete 'blacklist-wl.conf' to
reinstate it at a later date:

echo "blacklist wl" > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-wl.conf

[pwatk]

The script was removed due to typos and a difference of opinion over it's usefulness.

If you follow the instructions in the README.Slackware it's quite simple to create your own package from the SLKBUILDs provided. You'll also find some of these packages are available from SlackBuilds.org and installable via Sourcery/slapt-src.

My advice would be to install Salix in a virtual machine to build the package(s) then test it on the livecd prior to installation.

I know this is long winded but if you rely on wireless access then it's better to be safe than sorry.

-pwatk

[pwatk]

I finally got fed up seeing the same questions about b43 and Broadcom wireless cards in various parts of the forum so I've added a guide to the wiki.

How to install b43 firmware for Broadcom Wireless cards

I hope this helps (figures and toes crossed ).

[JRD]

Very clear. Thanks !