Issues with b4311

Nikolaev · March 9, 2009, 12:56pm

Hi all,

I believe this thread may look the same as other posts on the forum, but the fact is that I am new to openSuse.

So following the instructions from previous posts I think the wifi adapter is installed properly:

Firstly I have downloaded and installed the firmware for my broadcom 4311 adapter which is supported by the b43 driver.

the out put of this command:

Thedude@thedude:/> dmesg | grep b43

does not return anything which to my understanding means that the firmware is loaded.

then I have typed:

Thedude@thedude:/> /usr/sbin/iwlist scan

Which returns:

lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.

wmaster0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.

wlan0 No scan results

after that using

Thedude@thedude:/> /usr/sbin/iwconfig

returns to me the following information:

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
Power Management:off
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

to my understanding so far this could mean only 2 things:

There are no wifi networks detected in the area
The wifi adapter is not switched on.

At the moment the laptop I use has a wifi mechanical switch which powers on the wifi adapter. The current state of the switch is on but the led indicating if the adapter is on does not change to “on”.

Could you please, advise how I can check if the wifi adapter is on, and what should I do next as I am pretty certain that there are AP’s in the area. If you need any additional information please post.

Thank you in advance.

regards, Nikolay

Nikolaev · March 9, 2009, 1:16pm

Sorry for the wrong information, on my first post:

After rebooting my laptop:

Thedude@thedude:~> dmesg | grep b43

returns:

b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LK4E] -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
b43-phy0: Broadcom 4311 WLAN found
input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input10
firmware: requesting b43/ucode13.fw
firmware: requesting b43/b0g0initvals13.fw
b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio

Now the led shows that my wifi adapter is on:

Using this command:

Thedude@thedude:~> /usr/sbin/iwlist scan

returns:

lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.

wmaster0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.

wlan0 No scan results

after that using

Thedude@thedude:~> /usr/sbin/iwconfig

returns:

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
Power Management:off
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

does this means that there are no wireless access points in the area, or my wifi adapter is not detecting any.

regards, Nikolay

Nikolaev · March 9, 2009, 3:36pm

Hi people and linux gurus,

I can confirm that my wifi interface is working. There is a list of networks which are displayed when I perform as su:
/usr/sbin/iwlist scan.

the output is:

wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:0E:2E:FF:33:1A
ESSID:“rosen”
Mode:Master
Channel:11
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Quality=53/100 Signal level:-88 dBm Noise level=-71 dBm
Encryption key:on
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:tsf=0000007856a9a30d
Extra: Last beacon: 120ms ago
Cell 02 - Address: 00:18:4D:8A:FC:5E
ESSID:"\x00\x00\x00\x00"
Mode:Master
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=51/100 Signal level:-88 dBm Noise level=-71 dBm
Encryption key:on
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
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
Extra:tsf=0000007523aee18c
Extra: Last beacon: 504ms ago

Now my query is how I can make my wifi interface connect under command line. Also could you please recommend any GUI to manage my my wireless connections, except the YaST.

regards, Nikolay

lwfinger · March 9, 2009, 4:14pm

Nikolaev wrote:
> Hi people and linux gurus,
>
> I can confirm that my wifi interface is working. There is a list of
> networks which are displayed when I perform as su:
> /usr/sbin/iwlist scan.
>
> the output is:
>
> wlan0 Scan completed :
> Cell 01 - Address: 00:0E:2E:FF:33:1A
> ESSID:“rosen”
> Mode:Master
> Channel:11
> Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
> Quality=53/100 Signal level:-88 dBm Noise
> level=-71 dBm
> Encryption key:on
> IE: WPA Version 1
> Group Cipher : TKIP
> Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
> Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
> Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6
> Mb/s
> 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36
> Mb/s
> 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
> Extra:tsf=0000007856a9a30d
> Extra: Last beacon: 120ms ago
> Cell 02 - Address: 00:18:4D:8A:FC:5E
> ESSID:"\x00\x00\x00\x00"
> Mode:Master
> Channel:6
> Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
> Quality=51/100 Signal level:-88 dBm Noise
> level=-71 dBm
> Encryption key:on
> IE: WPA Version 1
> Group Cipher : TKIP
> Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
> Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
> 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
> Extra:tsf=0000007523aee18c
> Extra: Last beacon: 504ms ago
>
>
>
> Now my query is how I can make my wifi interface connect under command
> line. Also could you please recommend any GUI to manage my my wireless
> connections, except the YaST.

Use NetworkManager. The version in openSUSE 11.1 is better than in 11.0, but it
works. You should find the wireless applet in the right-hand corner of the
screen - lower for KDE, upper for Gnome. Right click on it and select a new
connection.

I’m glad you discovered how to do a proper scan. When you do it as root, the
scan is active, i.e. the system sends a probe for nearby access points. As an
unprivileged user, the scan is passive and nothing is sent. You may catch a
beacon, but the likelihood is much lower.

Larry