BCM4312 Wireless Problems

[sqlpython]

I downloaded, burned and ran the SalixOS liveCD, very nice.
The laptop I used was a Dell Inspiron 1501 with a bcm4312 wifi card.
I successfully use this bcm4312 wifi NIC with Kubuntu, Debian, Sidux, RevlinuxOS, Mepis.
In all of the above cases I used the b43 Linux driver on board without further Blacklisting and no ndiswrapper as I am using the Linux b43.
I opened a terminal and used lsmod to show that b43 was installed and it was.
I then did an
ifconfig -a
Which showed these devices eth0, lo, wlan0 and wmaster0
So as wicd scaned no networks I then did
ifconfig wlan0 up
which returned a
SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory
iwconfig
indicated no link to a wifi so I
iwconfig wlan0 essid "linksys"
Still no wifi..
My wifi light did not light up and ifconfig -a showed no address assigned to wlan0
Lastly, I tried
modprobe -r b43
modprobe b43
then
and once again
ifconfig wlan0 up
iwconfig wlan0 essid "linksys"

I also tried removing b43, b44 and ssb then reinstalling b43, ssb, b44

Nothing works Wicd shows no connection.
...All previous Linux experience shows that this bcm4312 works with Linux..

Any suggestions?

[christian]

In Salix, the firmware for the b43 driver is not installed, but this is required for getting your card working (I've got the same one in my notebook). The reason for not distributing the firmware is the license, it may be a bit risky.

Do you know how to use SlackBuilds? If yes, have a look at this http://slackbuilds.org/repository/13.1/ ... -fwcutter/ and this http://slackbuilds.org/repository/13.1/ ... -firmware/ .
If you have got any more problems, feel free to ask again. But after installing the firmware package (you can install it manually too, have a look at the b43 homepage, I think a package is cleaner) everything worked fine here. After installing the firmware, you have to reload the kernel module or to reboot.

EDIT: Have a look at this too, there are SLKBUILDs for those packages http://www.salixos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1063

Greetings
Christian

[laprjns]

Wow, another user from Connecticut!

If you don't want to compile the firmware, then ndiswrapper does work. You will need to update the ndiswrapper thought,the package include in the Live Cd has the ndiswrapper in the wrong directory. See my first post in this thread: http://www.salixos.org/forum/viewtopic. ... 82&start=0

[sqlpython]

Thanks all........
I made the assumption since b43 was loaded by default that the firmware was there as in some distros..Ubuntus and Mepis as examples. Not a problem though........
I will not have a problem setting up source for fwcutter and installing as I have done so before......

Yes in Ct .
Really nice lightweight Slackware Distro... Keep up the Great work..
I am a Linux user of 15 years. Currently doing development work for RevlinuxOS and MEPIS. In the past I have done KDE development apps for Klikit linux..
http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php/Ko ... tent=83569

[caitlyn]

The 4312 is not supported natively by the Linux kernel or the b43 driver. I've written a how-to article at http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2010/06/av ... books.html You do need to compile the driver. Using b43-fwcutter and the firmware does not work with the 4312 chipset.

[christian]

The BCM4312 chipset IS supported by the b43 Linux driver (since kernel 2.6.32), please read http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43 for more information. The device doesn't work with a default Salix installation due to the missing firmware.
In Salix 13.1 we have kernel 2.6.33.4, which works very stable with BCM4312. You only need to install the firmware files, reload the module and everything works fine. With Salix 13.0 (kernel 2.6.29.6) you need Broadcoms STA driver to get the device working.

I know exactly how it behaves with this wifi device, because I've got one in my notebook.

Greetings
Christian

[caitlyn]

I'm sorry but I did try b43 first. It absolutely, positively does not work with my hardware which is a BCM 4312 chipset. I've had the same results with other distros as well. Oh, and yes I know about fwcutter and how to get the firmware. So... pardon me, but don't tell me it works. On my hardware it just plain does NOT. I also know from reading the forums and corresponding with other HP netbook users that others have had precisely the same experience I have had.

[christian]

Maybe you've got another version of BCM4312? http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43 lists three versions, two working, one not. According lspci -vnn I've got

Code: Select all

10:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company BCM4312 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller [103c:137d]

Greetings
Christian

[caitlyn]

Interesting... My output looks the same as your first line. I don't get a second line at all when I grep for BCM or 4312. At first glance I'd say the same revision but perhaps not considering the difference in the output.

Broadcom support has always been problematic, and not just the wireless chips either. I am not terribly surprised by different results. I still recommend the STA driver because it works 100% of the time.

[sqlpython]

I'm sorry but I did try b43 first. It absolutely, positively does not work with my hardware which is a BCM 4312 chipset.

I also have been connecting my 4312 via the b43 for quite some time, at least since 2.6.32. No, I checked actually before that kernel. As christian had mentioned perhaps you have a particular hardware version quirk.

and BTW my 4312 won't work with STA.... go figure..