Still Problems with BCM4318 and OpenSuSE 11.0

**leannonn** · 28-Oct-2008, 07:21

Hi,

My FS laptop has a BCM4318 wireless card. I've tried to get it working first by installing the firmware, and them by following the steps from the "primer", but with no success

The router uses WPA encryption.

Here's some info:
---
sasa@sunflower:~> uname -a
Linux sunflower 2.6.25.5-1.1-pae #1 SMP 2008-06-07 01:55:22 +0200 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux
---
sasa@sunflower:~> /sbin/lspci | grep Wireless
08:0a.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)
---
sasa@sunflower:~> /sbin/lspci -n | grep "08:0a\.0"
08:0a.0 0280: 14e4:4318 (rev 02)
---
sasa@sunflower:~> /bin/dmesg | grep -n "b43"
415:b43-phy0: Broadcom 4318 WLAN found
447:input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input8
448:b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
449:Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
450:Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
451:Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio
452:b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to DISABLED
---
sasa@sunflower:~> /bin/dmesg | grep -n "wlan0"
453:ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
---

This is the first point where something is wrong, as far as I can tell. The card is there, the firmware is there, but it fails to activate the link? Not sure if I should post more lines from `dmesg`?

Here's more info:
---
sasa@sunflower:~> /usr/sbin/iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr

ff Fragment thr=2352 B
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
---

No ESSID, though I've defined it using YaST (Network Devices/Network Settings recognizes the card but says "Not connected") and added a connection through the applet (the gear turns and turns, but no connection is made and no error is reported on screen).

Predictably, the scan returns no results:
---
sasa@sunflower:~> /usr/sbin/iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0 No scan results
---

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

Take care,
Leannonn

**leannonn** · 28-Oct-2008, 08:24

Hi,

Tried to add essid (genzard), channel (6), key (s:my_wpa_key) and ap (auto), manually with `iwconfig`. Now it says:
---
sasa@sunflower:~> sudo /usr/sbin/iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"genzard"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: Invalid
Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr

ff Fragment thr=2352 B
Encryption key:4B33-6C65-4230-724E-6333-7333-6833-344D-45
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
---

Take care,
Leannonn

**deltaflyer44** · 28-Oct-2008, 10:26

quick question, do you have a wireless switch ? I only ask as i saw this

452:b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to DISABLED

Andy

**lwfinger** · 28-Oct-2008, 10:35

> 452:b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to DISABLED

This message means that your radio enable switch is turned off! Until you set it
on, your device will not work.

Larry

**leannonn** · 28-Oct-2008, 10:44

Hi,

Thanks, for the replies.

Originally Posted by deltaflyer44

quick question, do you have a wireless switch?

Originally Posted by lwfinger

> 452:b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to DISABLED

This message means that your radio enable switch is turned off! Until you set it on, your device will not work.

Yes - there is a switch/button for turning wireless on/off on the laptop. The problem is nothing happens when I press it

Or almost nothing - the HDD light flickers a bit and that's it. As if it tries to start/read something, but fails...

The wireless router is up & running - I can connect to it (at to the internet) from the other computer.

Take care,
Leannonn

**leannonn** · 28-Oct-2008, 15:15

Hi,

Originally Posted by lwfinger

>Until you set it on, your device will not work.

How do I do that? Just with the on/off button, or can it be done with some command? How do I see (a log?) what happens when I press the on/off switch for the wireless?

Take care,
Leannonn

**deltaflyer44** · 29-Oct-2008, 01:33

Switch it on with the on/off button. When SuSE starts it should then see that the device can be activated for use. Basically,the on/off switch is there to provide power to the device,much like switching on your tv before using it ( unless it is on stand-by

)

Andy

**leannonn** · 29-Oct-2008, 02:13

Hi,

Originally Posted by deltaflyer44

Switch it on with the on/off button. When SuSE starts it should then see that the device can be activated for use. Basically,the on/off switch is there to provide power to the device,much like switching on your tv before using it ( unless it is on stand-by

)

It's a button - it doesn't have the ON (or OFF) position exactly, and pressing it does nothing until the computer/OS is up and running. As I said earlier, if I press it when it's already up, then the HDD LED flickers for a moment, but the Wireless LED stays off at all times

It worked fine under WinXP - the wireless LED stayed off during booting; after logging in I would press the button and it would turn the Wireless LED on.

Am I looking at incorrect driver/firmware? Is ndiswrapper my only way out?

Thanks

Take care,
Leannonn

**leannonn** · 29-Oct-2008, 02:20

Hi,

OK. here's what `/var/log/messages` has to say about me pressing the Wireless button:

Code:

Oct 29 09:15:01 sunflower kernel: atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x6d on isa0060/serio0).

So, basically, the wireless button is not "linked" to the action of turning the wireless card on, right? I have to define that action somehow?

Take care,
Leannonn

**deltaflyer44** · 29-Oct-2008, 02:27

Hmm, according to all the bumph, your device should be working. Try pressing the wireless on/off button when you are booting up,see if that works

Andy