I’ve attempted to locate a forum/thread that’s straight-forward on how to get the wireless (BCM4312 rev 2) working on my HP2133, to no avail.
I’ve installed the firmware and ndiswrapper, but can not for the life of me find out where the hell to get the drivers! I’m running openSuse 11 please help!
cweep wrote:
> I’ve attempted to locate a forum/thread that’s straight-forward on how
> to get the wireless (BCM4312 rev 2) working on my HP2133, to no avail.
>
> I’ve installed the firmware and ndiswrapper, but can not for the life
> of me find out where the hell to get the drivers! I’m running openSuse
> 11 please help!
The open-source drivers for the BCM4312 are standard modules in a 2.6.25 kernel.
You do not need to locate them anywhere. There are two - ssb and b43. You should
get rid of ndiswrapper and let b43 load and it should just work after you
configure it with YaST. Ypou can check by issuing the command ‘dmesg | grep
b43’. It should not show any messages about missing firmware, etc.
BTW, that is the card I use most of the time.
Larry
I’m sorry but I don’t know what b43 is, ‘dmesg | grep b43’ returned two errors:
b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file “b43/ucode.fw” not found or load failed
b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43devicefirmware and download the latest firmware (version 4).
Now I gather from the errors that I need to download a newer version of the firmware but this is also above my level of expertise.
cweep wrote:
> I’m sorry but I don’t know what b43 is, ‘dmesg | grep b43’ returned two
> errors:
>
> b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file “b43/ucode.fw” not found or load failed
>
> b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to
> http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43devicefirmware and
> download the latest firmware (version 4).
>
> Now I gather from the errors that I need to download a newer version of
> the firmware but this is also above my level of expertise.
Do you have an Internet connection while running Linux? If so, open a terminal
and enter the one command
sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware
As amazing as it sounds, that will get your firmware installed.
Incidentally, if you had gone to the network / wireless forum, you would have
found a sticky called “Additional Wireless Bits” that woould have told you what
to do. If you do not have Internet access in Linux, the sticky also tells you
what to do.
Larry
Yes, as I mentioned I’ve already installed the firmware and yes I used that exact “sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware” command to do so.
Let me detail my level of experience. I’ve used Linux before but on an inconsistent basis. I’m familiar with how to execute commands in terminal and install the actual OS (which I understand is not that difficult).
What I don’t know is what to do after installing the firmware or what those error messages even mean; sorry if I confused anyone.
P.S. I’ve reviewed all available threads and forums explaining this process but it always appears incomplete (such as how to obtain the drivers, or how to tell if something completed successfully/completely).
cweep wrote:
> Yes, as I mentioned I’ve already installed the firmware and yes I used
> that exact “sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware” command to do so.
>
> Let me detail my level of experience. I’ve used Linux before but on an
> inconsistent basis. I’m familiar with how to execute commands in
> terminal and install the actual OS (which I understand is not that
> difficult).
>
> What I don’t know is what to do after installing the firmware; sorry if
> I confused anyone.
The normal thing to do next is to configure the device with YaST / Network
Settings / Network Devices.
If there is a problem with YaST, use the command ‘/usr/sbin/iwconfig’ to verify
that you have a wireless device named wlan* or eth*. If not, use the command
‘lsmod | grep b43’ to verify that the driver is loaded. Also use the command
‘dmesg | grep b43’ to look for errors.
Report back what you find and we will decide where to go next.
Larry
Here are the results of the commands you asked I execute:
#:~> /usr/sbin/iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wmaster0 no wireless extensions.
wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"linksys"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:13:10:23:F2:48
Bit Rate=2 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
Link Quality=85/100 Signal level=-48 dBm Noise level=-73 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
#:~> lsmod | grep b43
b43 148124 0
rfkill 11796 3 rfkill_input,b43
mac80211 178324 1 b43
input_polldev 9096 1 b43
led_class 9476 1 b43
ssb 38660 1 b43
pcmcia 43636 2 b43,ssb
pcmcia_core 42900 2 b43,pcmcia
firmware_class 13696 2 b43,pcmcia
#:~> dmesg | grep b43
b43-phy0: Broadcom 4311 WLAN found
input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input9
b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
b43-phy0: DMA mask fallback from 64-bit to 32-bit
Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio
b43-phy0 ERROR: PHY transmission error
Now I’m not 100% on how to interpret these results but from what I can see I’ve got it installed right and am receiving a signal from my WLAN. However, I still can’t access the internet using the wireless.
What Next?
P.S. I appreciate your patience, I understand it’s frustrating when a newb can’t make use of the information available so experts such as yourself must revisit these problems over and over again.
Thanks.
cweep wrote:
> Here are the results of the commands you asked I execute:
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
>
> #:~> /usr/sbin/iwconfig
> lo no wireless extensions.
>
> eth0 no wireless extensions.
>
> wmaster0 no wireless extensions.
>
> wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:“linksys”
> Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:13:10:23:F2:48
> Bit Rate=2 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm
> Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
> Link Quality=85/100 Signal level=-48 dBm Noise level=-73 dBm
> Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
> Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
>
> #:~> lsmod | grep b43
> b43 148124 0
> rfkill 11796 3 rfkill_input,b43
> mac80211 178324 1 b43
> input_polldev 9096 1 b43
> led_class 9476 1 b43
> ssb 38660 1 b43
> pcmcia 43636 2 b43,ssb
> pcmcia_core 42900 2 b43,pcmcia
> firmware_class 13696 2 b43,pcmcia
>
> #:~> dmesg | grep b43
> b43-phy0: Broadcom 4311 WLAN found
> input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input9
> b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
> b43-phy0: DMA mask fallback from 64-bit to 32-bit
> Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
> Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
> Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio
> b43-phy0 ERROR: PHY transmission error
>
> --------------------
>
>
> Now I’m not 100% on how to interpret these results but from what I can
> see I’ve got it installed right and am receiving a signal from my WLAN.
> However, I still can’t access the internet using the wireless.
>
> What Next?
>
>
> P.S. I appreciate your patience, I understand it’s frustrating when a
> newb can’t make use of the information available so experts such as
> yourself must revisit these problems over and over again.
Your wifi has associated with the AP and everything is working at the transport
level. It may not have authenticated correctly, or it may not have gotten an IP
number via DHCP. What are the details of the connection? Is it encrypted? Are
you using a fixed IP or DHCP? What does ‘/sbin/ifconfig’ show for wlan0?
Larry
The connection is not encrypted, I’m assigning the IP using DHCP, and the results of ‘/sbin/ifconfig’ are as follows:
alan@linux-amhd:~> /sbin/ifconfig
...
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:21:00:34:FB:FA
inet6 addr: fe80::221:ff:fe34:fbfa/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:108 (108.0 b)
...
I just enabled Hostname and Domain by DHCP and set my default gateway, hopefully this works.
So I’m correct that I am actually set to go as far as drivers and firmware? Now all I’m worrying about is the network setup?
Upon review I noticed an inconsistency: dmesg | grep b43 identifies the WLAN as BCM4311, is that OK or should it be BCM4312, which is the model of my broadcom card.
cweep wrote:
> Upon review I noticed an inconsistency: dmesg | grep b43 identifies the
> WLAN as BCM4311, is that OK or should it be BCM4312, which is the model
> of my broadcom card.
The b/g section of a 4312 is the same as a 4311. Don’t worry about that.
From the previous post, your device is transmitting, but has not received any
data, nor has it gotten an IP number.
What do you see with a ‘/usr/sbin/iwconfig’ command. Is the ESSID field filled
in? Please try a ‘sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist’ command and report what it says.
Larry
These are the results of the commands:
# sudo /usr/sbin/iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wmaster0 no wireless extensions.
wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"linksys"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:13:10:23:F2:48
Bit Rate=2 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
Encryption key:off
Link Quality=83/100 Signal level=-52 dBm Noise level=-73 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
# sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist
Usage: iwlist [interface] scanning [essid NNN] [last]
[interface] frequency
[interface] channel
[interface] bitrate
[interface] rate
[interface] encryption
[interface] keys
[interface] power
[interface] txpower
[interface] retry
[interface] ap
[interface] accesspoints
[interface] peers
[interface] event
[interface] auth
[interface] wpakeys
[interface] genie
[interface] modulation
I have also been attempting to remove NDISWrapper, not sure if this may be interfereing with anything…I downloaded and installed it using software management. So far it appears ndiswrapper has a folder but nothing in it…‘sudo make uninstall ndiswrapper’ returns ‘sudo: make: command not found’
cweep wrote:
> These are the results of the commands:
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
>
> # sudo /usr/sbin/iwconfig
> lo no wireless extensions.
>
> eth0 no wireless extensions.
>
> wmaster0 no wireless extensions.
>
> wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:“linksys”
> Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:13:10:23:F2:48
> Bit Rate=2 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm
> Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
> Encryption key:off
> Link Quality=83/100 Signal level=-52 dBm Noise level=-73 dBm
> Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
> Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
>
> # sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist
My stupid mistake. The command should have been ‘sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan’,
but no matter. The iwconfig output shows that you are associated with an AP
named linksys with the MAC address 00:13… Is it yours? If so, I hope you have
changed the password on the router.
I just looked back over this thread and I realize that I asked you to redo
something, and that I already “knew” the answer.
Your problem is in the configuration. You say you set the default gateway. Was
that manual or done by DHCP. It should be the latter.
It seems that you are using the traditional ifup method of controlling your
network devices. Perhaps you should delete the wireless section and reboot. When
the system discovers the new hardware, you should get a new chance to configure
it. Let everything be automatic. One other thing to do. When you are in YaST /
Network Settings / Network Devices, disable IPV6. It doesn’t matter in
connecting to your AP, but it will save you some long pauses while IPV6 name
server lookups time out when browsing.
Larry
No, I have not changed the password on my router, should I have? If so, what’s the idea behind it? And yes, it’s my router/network.
Additionally, I don’t understand what you mean by “delete the wireless section” - of what?
Thanks again.
cweep wrote:
> No, I have not changed the password on my router, should I have? If so,
> what’s the idea behind it? And yes, it’s my router/network.
You should have. Last December, I was in an RV park in Nevada where the
proprietor had an open network for the customers to use for Internet access.
Early one Saturday morning, the network was suddenly WPA encrypted. I assumed
the owner was trying something, but when it was still that way on Monday, I
asked him about it. He knew nothing. He used the same router, but only with
wired connections. Clearly someone in the vicinity knew the default password for
Linksys routers and logged into the configuration pages. With the ESSID
unchanged, it is a dead giveaway.
>
> Additionally, I don’t understand what you mean by “delete the wireless
> section” - of what?
Using YaST, select Network Settings / Network Devices. Click on your wireless
device and delete that device.
Larry
I did not realize you meant change from the default, yes I have changed it.
However, I managed to get it working…turns out I had overlooked the “Next” button at the base of the configuration screen thus not completeing the entire configuration process.
I really can’t express my appreciation Larry. I’m amazed at how patient you’ve been with me and the countless other beginners.
THANKS!