Broadcom 4306 not Connecting

**chucknorman** · 24-Jun-2008, 20:46

Hi Folks,

This is my first post here, and I want to say how much I appreciate all the posts here, and how helpful everyone is.

I have just installed version 11 on my Compaq laptop, and am having trouble connecting with my wireless card. My router is recognized, but I can't connect to the Internet. I tried the script posted by Larry, and am stuck now.

Thanks for your help.

Chuck

**deltaflyer44** · 25-Jun-2008, 00:40

have you set it up via YaST yet ?

Andy

**chucknorman** · 25-Jun-2008, 06:04

Hi Andy,

Yes, I have set mt wireless card up through YaST.

Thanks,
Chuck

**herbievantetering** · 25-Jun-2008, 08:06

I have the same problem with the wireless on SUSE 11.0. You should install the new firmware drivers on wireless.kernel.org which contains the correct drivers. After installation the Network Manager Applet from Red Hat and Novell handles the wireless connection.

SECURITY: Support for more advanced security is planned in the future.
SETUP: Linux wireless installation and configuration reference

With the drivers installed you can turn the wireless device on and off and see the blue light on your laptop. The card scans for networks and recognises routers. The card is also recognised and the connection attempt is made. In the meantime it might be a good idea to test connectivity.

Larry Finger · 25-Jun-2008, 10:05

herbievantetering wrote:
> I have the same problem with the wireless on SUSE 11.0. You should
> install the new firmware drivers on wireless.kernel.org which contains
> the correct drivers. After installation the Network Manager Applet from
> Red Hat and Novell handles the wireless connection.
>
> -SECURITY: Support for more advanced security is planned in the
> future.-
> -SETUP: 'Linux wireless installation and configuration reference'
> (http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/...3#fw-b43-new)-
>
> With the drivers installed you can turn the wireless device on and off
> and see the blue light on your laptop. The card scans for networks and
> recognises routers. The card is also recognised and the connection
> attempt is made. In the meantime it might be a good idea to test
> connectivity.

You should look at the output of 'dmesg | grep b43' to see if your
firmware is missing. If it is, you can either follow the instructions
above, or enter the following command in a console

sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware

This will do the same as the linux-wireless instructions without
having to compile b43-fwcutter, which requires the installation of gcc
and libc.

Larry

**chucknorman** · 27-Jun-2008, 04:50

Hi Larry,

I ran the script and still have no wireless connction. What do I need to try next?

Thnaks
Chuck

Larry Finger · 27-Jun-2008, 10:34

chucknorman wrote:
> Hi Larry,
>
> I ran the script and still have no wireless connction. What do I need
> to try next?

What does the command /sbin/iwconfig show?

What does the command 'sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan' show?

What is the output of the command 'dmesg | grep b43'?

What is the output of the command 'sudo /sbin/ifup wlan0'? If the
iwconfig listing shows that your device is something other than wlan0,
substitute that in this command.

Larry

**herbievantetering** · 01-Jul-2008, 04:05

iwconfig is a bit deprecated and needs newer encryption and decryption protocols that communicate properly with a wireless device supporting the latest wireless security protocols. The command line tool supports configuration of external parameters of a wireless card. Most probably authentication will be or is seperated from iwconfig but the tool does not show that.

iwlist is a tool to test a networking interface, mostly wireless but also virtualised interfaces. The tool tests for encryption keys set and specific functionalities the card may or may not support. The tool is a bit deprecated and cards are not supporting or communicating correctly with this tool anymore.

dmesg retrieves information on the hardware available under the running linux kernel. It is actually a hardware abstraction layer like kernel boot message command line feedback tool but it should become a tool for hardware abstraction. The command is a bit deprecated but checks to see whether the kernel at least recognises or identifies the wireless driver.

for more information you can try the following

man dmesg
man iwlist
man iwconfig

or you can check the manual with a manual viewer

Eventually the manual viewers should be thrown out of the window and replaced by proper developer tools and -references but for now you can still start a command prompt and check the command line tools. The firmware cutter will also be thrown out of the window because they actually wrap or copy the microsoft driver which is of course not really allowed but it is definitely not allowed to claim hardware and everything on it and then eat the whole cake and get pissed off when someone makes his own or takes a piece of your cake.

The hardware behaviour is something like the guy in the burger store.

enters the store and knows everyone in the chain
cuts deals and gets pissed if he does not get burger
wants ice cream with the chocolate chips on it
queue barges and expects to be served first
does a lot of mystery shopping and is paranoid
throws ashes in your burger or has it done
threatens staff if they sell too much to others
who is the guy in the burger store?

**rbkumaran** · 01-Jul-2008, 04:18

Just a thought, are you dual booting with Windows? if so, disable power management under Device manager

Wireless will not work when dual-boot with Windows XP | SUSE & openSUSE

**Psquared** · 03-Jul-2008, 07:31

Originally Posted by rbkumaran

Just a thought, are you dual booting with Windows? if so, disable power management under Device manager

Wireless will not work when dual-boot with Windows XP | SUSE & openSUSE

This should be made a sticky. This is absolutely correct and making the changes in Windows and then rebooting to Suse I was able to see all wireless ESSIDs around me.

However, I did notice one thing. Right clicking on the applet and entering the information from there (WEP or WPA Security Key) does NOT complete the process.

You must go into Yast and setup your wireless connection there while hooked up to a wired connection. It appears that the NetworkManager in KDE4 needs to be accessed this way because in order to setup the wireless network it must connect to a repository.

I believe I read some thread where people were trying "just" to connect using the applet. That would not work for me, but once I used Yast, the applet changed to wireless with graduated bars.

Hope this helps someone.