Checking Firmware For My Wirless Card

[zach_wilson]

I know another tiresome thread by some noob having trouble with his wireless connection sorry guys but I'm stuck.

Having a little trouble finding out if the firmware for my wireless controller is installed. I've been going through the threads Getting Your Wireless to Work and the Primer My wireless doesn't work.

Here is what I get from /sbin/lspci

03:00.0 Network Controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03)

Here is what I get from /sbin/lspci -n

03:00.0 0280: 14e4:4328 (rev 03)

I've tried running dmesg | grep firmware but for some reason it doesn't work. So I ran dmesg | less and looked through 800 something lines(several times) but couldn't find any mention of a driver not being able to load firmware. I also looked through boot.msg and didn't see failure to load firmware there either.
I also used YaST=>Network Devices=>Network Settings but it only shows my lan controller. I also tried to add the wireless connnection in Network Settings.

Just tried something else while typing this post dmesg | grep b43 and I get these 2 lines which I don't understand, but I assume if I got it to return anything it might mean the b43 firmware is installed.

b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A-> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19

b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64

[pdc_2]

have a read at this post

Dell Vostro 1500 Wireless - openSUSE Forums

in post #7 he followed the advice of lwfinger in post #2 of

Wireless Broadcom BCM4311 - openSUSE Forums

(but you need internet access, ie like an ethernet cable connected)

and did

sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware

sudo /sbin/modprobe -rv b43

sudo /sbin/modprobe -v b43

if you haven't an ethernet cable, deltaflyer recommended

To install the BCM43xx firmware if you do not have a connection in Linux, do the following:

Using any method that you have to access the Internet, download this
http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/b...0.10.5.tar.bz2

Then copy it into your home directory. Once you have it there, you should enter the following:

tar xjf broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
sudo mkdir -p /lib/firmware
sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware \ broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5/driver/wl_apsta_mimo.o

These three commands will skip the download step and extract the firmware in the same way that the /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware does.

let us know how you get along

[Akoellh]

Originally Posted by zach_wilson

Here is what I get from /sbin/lspci

03:00.0 Network Controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03)

Here is what I get from /sbin/lspci -n

03:00.0 0280: 14e4:4328 (rev 03)

I've tried running dmesg | grep firmware but for some reason it doesn't work.

The reason is simple, this card is not (yet) supported by the in kernel driver.

You will have to blacklist b43 and use the proprietary driver from broadcom instead .

Read:

Kernel module configuration - openSUSE

and

Choosing the correct kmp-package for your installation - openSUSE Forums

and have a look at

Software.openSUSE.org

[lwfinger]

Akoellh wrote:
> zach_wilson;2047762 Wrote:
>> Here is what I get from /sbin/lspci
>>
>> 03:00.0 Network Controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n
>> (rev 03)
>>
>> Here is what I get from /sbin/lspci -n
>>
>> 03:00.0 0280: 14e4:4328 (rev 03)
>>
>> I've tried running dmesg | grep firmware but for some reason it doesn't
>> work.
>
> The reason is simple, this card is not (yet) supported by the in kernel
> driver.
>
> You will have to blacklist b43 and use the proprietary driver from
> broadcom instead .

You will also need to blacklist ssb.

[Akoellh]

Originally Posted by lwfinger

You will also need to blacklist ssb.

Hm, I hope you won't kill me for that Larry, but you are (only) partially correct.

If there is no other device which needs ssb (some wired NICs like b44-devices do), then blacklisting b43 and ssb will be the easiest way.

If there is one, then it will get a little more complicated.

So before blacklisting ssb, the complete output of

/sbin/lspci -nnk|-A2 -i net

should be checked to see if a wired ethernet device needs ssb.

[lwfinger]

Akoellh wrote:
> lwfinger;2047896 Wrote:
>> You will also need to blacklist ssb.
>
> Hm, I hope you won't kill me for that Larry, but you are (only)
> partially correct.
>
> If there is no other device which needs ssb (some wired NICs like
> b44-devices do), then blacklisting b43 and ssb will be the easiest way.

AFAIK, it is not possible to use b44 with the Broadcom-wl driver. The
standard version of ssb will grab the b43 device and it will not be
available for wl.

[Akoellh]

Originally Posted by lwfinger

AFAIK, it is not possible to use b44 with the Broadcom-wl driver. The
standard version of ssb will grab the b43 device and it will not be
available for wl.

Well, actually it is, but a little tricky, it's all about timing.

As I read in one of your previous posts, that you actually understand some German (and even if it is not good enough to perhaps understand all the text, you will certainly understand the code for this workaround), here an example for Ubuntu from a german forum.

http://forum.ubuntuusers.de/topic/br...cht-gefunden-/

This will also work with openSUSE (using /etc/init.d/boot.local), although the solution is a bit hackish (I would have another idea how to solve it under openSUSE with using MODULES_LOADED_ON_BOOT and putting the modules in the correct order), but never had the chance to get a "guinea pig" in one of the several fora I use actively, so it's only an idea.

[Akoellh]

Ops, ****, the link got lost and as you seem to be using NNTP and won't see edited postings, here the link again for NNTP users.

Broadcom 43xx - WLAN-Karte wird nicht gefunden (trotz ndisrapper) › Forum › ubuntuusers.de

[lwfinger]

Akoellh wrote:
> Ops, ****, the link got lost and as you seem to be using NNTP and won't
> see edited postings, here the link again for NNTP users.
>
> 'Broadcom 43xx - WLAN-Karte wird nicht gefunden (trotz ndisrapper) ›
> Forum › ubuntuusers.de' (http://tinyurl.com/ybdwjw4)

OK, if I understood that correctly, one needs to prevent b44 and ssb
from loading, then load wl, followed by b44 (which will also load
ssb). It works because the BCM43xx ID is already owned by wl.

I really liked that one signature "Ubuntu is an African word meaning
"I can't configure Debian."

[Akoellh]

Originally Posted by lwfinger

OK, if I understood that correctly, one needs to prevent b44 and ssb
from loading, then load wl, followed by b44 (which will also load
ssb). It works because the BCM43xx ID is already owned by wl.

Exactly.

Originally Posted by lwfinger

I really liked that one signature "Ubuntu is an African word meaning
"I can't configure Debian."

*Cough*

Thank you.

(*Hint Hint*)

:-)