Not able to Load wl.ko

[spartanboy184]

I was able to install the new Broadcom driver and could use my wireless card (bc4328). It worked perfectly but I wasn't able to make it load on each boot but was able to do it when ever I needed to use my internet connection. Then i installed the Nvidia Driver from the repo and since then I haven't been able to load it again. I own a Dell Xps 1530 with the bc4328 wireless card chip and a Nvidia 8600 gt. I would really appreciate your help. Here's the tutorial a followed before i had my little problem:

Installing Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA driver

This driver includes
BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4321, and BCM4322

Finally my HP 6515b with BCM4312 is free from ndiswrapper !!!!

A)
1) Depending on your system download 32 or 64 bit package
from Broadcom Corporation - Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA driver

2) Go to a terminal to the dir with package.

3) tar -xvzf hybrid-portsrc-.tar.gz
Replace version with one you have

4) Install kernel headers (eg. in fedora “yum install kernel-headers”)

5) make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build M=`pwd`

if There were no errors

6) Unload Modules from memory
rmmod ndiswrapper b43 ssb bcm43xx b43legacy

7) For WPA
modprobe ieee80211_crypt_tkip

8)Check if Compiled Module is working
insmod wl.ko

Now Probably a new interface will be there for wireless (wlan0 or eth-1)
To check it run
iwconfig
iwlist scanning

AND YES !! ITS Working !!!!!

B)Making it load on boot

1)cp wl.ko /lib/modules/uname-r/kernel/net/wireless/

2)depmod -a

3)rmmod wl

4)modprobe wl

5)Add following Lines to /etc/rc.local


modprobe ieee80211_crypt_tkip
modprobe wl

from : Installing Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA driver « Lost in Cyberspace

[spartanboy184]

My wifi card doesn't seem to be activate but the module is loaded

modprobe -l | grep wl
/lib/modules/2.6.25.18-0.2-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rndis_wlan.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.25.18-0.2-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/wl3501_cs.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.25.18-0.2-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl4965.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.25.18-0.2-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl3945.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.25.18-0.2-default/kernel/net/ipv4/ipvs/ip_vs_wlc.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.25.18-0.2-default/wlan/wl.ko

[spartanboy184]

When I do iwconfig my card is not detected but here what i get from lspci :
lspci | grep Broadcom
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03)

[spartanboy184]

the problem seemed to be caused by a kernel update. Someone knows how to solve this.

[lwfinger]

spartanboy184 wrote:
> the problem seemed to be caused by a kernel update. Someone knows how to
> solve this.

When you use an out-of-kernel driver such as wl, nvidia, or ati graphics
drivers, you have to rebuild the driver each time the kernel changes.

Larry

[spartanboy184]

I've always reuilt the module but it doesn't work with this specific driver after the kernel version 2.6.27.5 . I rebuilt the module after making a zypper update and it didn't work(Kernel 2.6.27.7-something). So I compiled a kernel (2.6.27.8) and rebuilt the module again but it didn't work too. Like i mentionned before the modules is loaded but my card isn't activated. The LED doesn't light up. I don't know what to do in these cases. I even tried other distro and i got the same problem.

[LewsTherinTelemon]

Hi there,

Just a silly question, but are you sure the module is actually loaded? Modprobe -l will list all the modules that are in the active database (created with depmod -a), however I believe you need to use #lsmod to see those which are actually loaded.

If it is not loaded, try loading it up: #modprobe wl and post any error you get. If it can't find it, run #depmod -a and try again.

Cheers,
Pete

[lwfinger]

spartanboy184 wrote:
> I've always reuilt the module but it doesn't work with this specific
> driver after the kernel version 2.6.27.5 . I rebuilt the module after
> making a zypper update and it didn't work(Kernel 2.6.27.7-something). So
> I compiled a kernel (2.6.27.8) and rebuilt the module again but it
> didn't work too. Like i mentionned before the modules is loaded but my
> card isn't activated. The LED doesn't light up. I don't know what to do
> in these cases. I even tried other distro and i got the same problem.

Is there anything in the dmesg output that might enlighten you?

Do you have a version of the BCM43XX that needs wl?

[JosipBroz]

You should just replace your custom-compiled driver/module with the package built specifically for SuSE (I think it's the "broadcom-wl") and that should do it. On the downside, however, it will force you to install the debug kernel (because wl contains a binary blob).

[spartanboy184]

the packages works perfectly. Thanks for the info josip.