I need help. OpenSUSE 11.4 Gnome 32-bit. Toshiba laptop with built-in Atheros AR5001 (ath5k driver) but it is disabled. I have been using Linksys WPC300n V1 PCMCIA wireless adapter. My laptop runs a multiboot system with win 7, opensuse, fedora 14 and ubuntu 10.10. Wireless is fine in all the OS’s except for opensuse. Fedora and Ubuntu use Broadcom wl.
uname -r
2.6.38.6-5-desktop
/sbin/lspci -nnk
0a:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4321 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4329] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Linksys WPC300N v1 Wireless-N Notebook Adapter [1737:0058]
Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
/CODE]
Software Management in Yast shows that b43 and b43-fwcutter are installed, but Network Devices in YAST shows BCM43XG as not connected, and its Hardware tab does not show any kernel module. However, if I remove "blacklist ath5k" from "/etc/modprobe.d/50-blacklist.conf" then its hardware tab shows kernel module being "ath5k". Whether ath5k is blacklisted or not, after reboot the Linksys card shows both Power light and Link light, and rfkill list all shows no blocks, but I still have no wireless connection. I did download "brcm_bcm4329-fullmac-4.bin" firmware file from compat wireless but this file has zero byte.
Should I wait until kernel 2.6.40 to compile broadcom wl?
Any suggestion is much appreciated.
Yes, I did try installing wl via YAST-Software Management way back when I first installed 11.4 with kernel 2.6.37-ish. At that time the card did not light up at all. I run into dependencies problems trying to install wl in the current 2.6.38.6-5-desktop kernel. This is why I was looking at compat wireless but their website shows b43 to be “working partially in kernels 2.6.39+”.
But you say other distros are working with ‘wl’
So I’m wondering why
I too have tested both the distros you mention.
With ‘wl’ offered as an alternative, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work. But @lwfinger would likely offer better advice than me.
If I really couldn’t get wireless working in 11.4, I’d probably use a distro that does work. Mint would get pref over Ub and Fedora above all.
Why not roll back the kernel to the release/update and try ‘wl’ again
On 05/18/2011 12:36 AM, caf4926 wrote:
>
> taytong888;2341119 Wrote:
>> Hi caf4926,
>>
>> Yes, I did try installing wl via YAST-Software Management way back when
>> I first installed 11.4 with kernel 2.6.37-ish. At that time the card
>> did not light up at all. I run into dependencies problems trying to
>> install wl in the current 2.6.38.6-5-desktop kernel. This is why I was
>> looking at compat wireless but their website shows b43 to be “working
>> partially in kernels 2.6.39+”.
> Sorry I missed you were using an updated kernel.
>
> But you say other distros are working with ‘wl’
> So I’m wondering why
> I too have tested both the distros you mention.
>
> With ‘wl’ offered as an alternative, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
> But @lwfinger would likely offer better advice than me.
> If I really couldn’t get wireless working in 11.4, I’d probably use a
> distro that does work. Mint would get pref over Ub and Fedora above all.
>
> Why not roll back the kernel to the release/update and try ‘wl’ again
When you get the correct wl package for your kernel, wl will work. You will need
to blacklist ssb and b43, but the wl installation should take care of that.
With openSUSE 12.1, b43 will be handling that card and you will only need to
install the firmware.
Thanks for your suggestion. When I (tried to) install broadcom-wl-kmp-desktop which is the only option available for current desktop kernel, via Software Management in YAST, I got the following error message:
"Nothing provides kernel (desktop:kernel)=32caa831272d7714 needed by broadcom-wl-kmp-desktop-5.100.82.38_k2.6.34.8_0.2-7.pm.9.4.i586.
"(Suggestions)
do not install broadcom-wl-kmp-desktop…
break broadcom-wl-kmp-desktop…by ignoring its dependencies"
Though I guess you could use Tumbleweed if you need a newer kernel for any other reason?
But then you would need to use Packman Tumbleweed and have followed the guide to switch to Tumbleweed. Not really my recommendation though.
To answer your Post#8, I moved to the latest kernel 2.6.38.6-5-desktop because I had hoped to be able to run broadcom wl for this Linksys WPC300N card. Regarding your Post#7, ealier today after I deleted kernel-syms because of dependencies problems YAST reinstalled both kernel-pae and the original kernel 2.6.37.6-0.5.1-default in my GRUB menu, pushing out other Linux distros when I rebooted. Because I could not see and log into other Linux distros, I deleted both these 2 kernels from /etc/menu.lst so that I can have the choice to log into other distros. Software management still shows kernel 2.6.37.6-0.5.1-default as being installed. So I have 2 questions:
How do I change GRUB menu such that all relevant kernels and OS choices are shown on reboot?
How do I revert to the original 2.6.37.6-0.5.1-default kernel and have it shown in GRUB menu?
Re-installed kernel-default 2.6.37.6-0.5.1, i.e. same one obtained when download ISO from Distrowatch, though I would love to know how I can get kernel-desktop off the bat. Rebooted to re-activate the kernel and booted into it. Tried to install broadcom-wl-kmp-default via Yast-Software Management. Same sort of error as before:
“There are some conflicts on the transaction that must be solved manually. Nothing provided kernel (default:driver_base)00125ef8238682fd needed by broadcom-wl-kmp-default-5.100.82.38_k2.6.34.8_0.2-7.pm.9.4.i586…”
Oh, I just discovered the source of the error: driver file was based on kernel 2.6.34.8, NOT 2.6.37.6. Perhaps when I upgraded from 11.3 I used the command “zypper dup without dependencies”. My desktop PC has openSUSE 11.4 KDE and it has kernel number 2.6.37.6-0.5-7.pm.9… in its broadcom wl driver filename (wl not installed).
Is there any painless way to correct this error, ie. without re-installing 11.4?
It sounds to me like you have your hands full with too many kernels installed. You really only need one flavour and kernel-desktop is usual for a home/office computer situation. Deleting all your existing kernels is difficult because when you mark one for removal it automatically selects another for install.
You have to take control and mark packages taboo, keep at it until you have just kernel-desktop for installation.
Which command to use in order to list and show all repos on this forum posting?
In KDE, I can see “taboo” under Packages (YAST-Software Management) but I cannot find “taboo” in GNOME under Packages or anywhere in Software Management, not even right-clicking the unwanted (kernel) package. Could you show me how?
So lets say kernel-default is installed, right click > delete
It may automatically select another kernel. If it does, and it’s not the one you want, right click > taboo
Do this until you have just kernel-desktop
Try selecting kernel-desktop-base (do this first, it’s the base package, it may help pick things up nicely)
/usr/sbin/rfkill list all
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
In the following, eth1 is the wireless interface of the Linksys card:
/usr/sbin/iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
eth1 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"snynhatrang"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: 00:1F:33:B4:E1:D8
Bit Rate=130 Mb/s Tx-Power:24 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=5/5 Signal level=-32 dBm Noise level=-57 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:1 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.
eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.
eth1 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:1F:33:B4:E1:D8
ESSID:"snynhatrang"
Mode:Managed
Frequency:2.422 GHz (Channel 3)
Quality:5/5 Signal level:-31 dBm Noise level:-92 dBm
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Note that the following is from the built-in miniPCI Atheros AR-5001 card but it's not connected according to YAST and I did blacklist its ath5k driver:
wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:1F:33:B4:E1:D8
Channel:1
Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
Quality=26/70 Signal level=-84 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"snynhatrang"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=000000a8dbbc9197
Extra: Last beacon: 182ms ago
IE: Unknown: 000B736E796E68617472616E67
IE: Unknown: 010882848B962430486C
IE: Unknown: 030101
IE: Unknown: 2A0104
IE: Unknown: 2F0104
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 32040C121860
IE: Unknown: 2D1A1E181AFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3D16010D1600000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 7F0101
IE: Unknown: DD090010180202F0010000
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
IE: Unknown: DD1E00904C331E181AFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: DD1A00904C34010D1600000000000000000000000000000000000000
dmesg | less
11.548075] wl: module license 'unspecified' taints kernel.
11.548084] Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
11.587602] wl 0000:0a:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
11.587620] wl 0000:0a:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
11.587634] wl 0000:0a:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
12.425324] lib80211_crypt: registered algorithm 'TKIP'
12.425564] eth1: Broadcom BCM4329 802.11 Hybrid Wireless Controller 5.100.82.38
.....
611.586808] ath5k 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
611.586825] ath5k 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
611.586906] ath5k 0000:02:00.0: registered as 'phy0'
612.109129] ath5k phy0: Atheros AR5414 chip found (MAC: 0xa0, PHY: 0x61)
612.237834] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
/CODE]
I also tried uninstalling and re-installing both Broadcom wl packages but after rebooting, there's still no Internet even though the Power LED of the Linksys card lights up steadily. Did blacklist ssb and b43 also.
Perhaps I could invite Larry Finger the expert to chime in.
:(
Yes, I do have Windows 7, Ubuntu 10.10 and Fedora 14 on this laptop, and wireless works on all of these OS’s. Ubuntu uses Broadcom wl and Fedora uses akmod wl. I just physically removed the Atheros miniPCI wireless card from this machine as a test, and went through alll the above commands. Still the same results with dmesg | less. After rebooting, only the power LED but not the LINK LED of the Linksys card lights up, whereas before both lights are steady with b43-pci-bridge (No internet though).