BCM4312 Wireless Problems

[lmello]

This !@$% card is problematic. Every kernel release and you'll have to try a different method to get it working:

In Slackware 12.2 I used ndiswrapper.
In Slackware 13.0 I used the tarball provided at Broadcom's website.
In Slackware 13.1 I used the b43-firmware and b43-fwcutter packages from SBo.



Thankfully, the box I run Salix on has an atheros-compatible wireless card.

[caitlyn]

In all three Slackware releases I was able to use the driver on the Broadcom website. I used the slackbuild script from SBo to create the package in each case. It's been 100% consistently solid for me with the STA driver from the Broadcom site, at least with the revision I have in this machine and the one I had in a crappy Gateway laptop which died prematurely. That's why I recommend sticking with the STA driver, at least for now.

Yes, the Atheros 5xxx chipsets are very well supported now. A few years ago you had to use madwifi or ndiswrapper and they were problematic too. Thankfully that is no longer the case.

[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 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..

I don't think it's a quirk. Broadcom is notorious for changing things without changing model numbers. Their hba cards for SAN connections have also had similar issues. It's just the way Broadcom is.

[sqlpython]

I don't think it's a quirk. Broadcom is notorious for changing things without changing model numbers

Yep, quite likely. Broadcom shares very little info.