wireless problem

user · December 28, 2009, 5:41pm

well im really lost, i tried in many ways and it doesnt work. notice that i have windows xp and opensuse in the same laptop and none of them run the wireless. i tried everykind of driver for the last two months and then linux and follow the indications from forums and i dont get it.
one more thing along all the drivers i was installing for windows xp without succeed, at some point the wireless switch is with the light always off so i install linux at that point but still the same not the matter wich position is the switch, the led shows wireless off.

thanks for any help.

this imformation i got about the task in linux system:

yast2:
812.11a/b/g WLAN
kernel driver:ssb
driver:b43-pci-bridge

Terminal:(notice that in the system reg doesnt appear the line “b43-phy0: Broadcom **** WLAN found”)

Kimchi@linux-oqum:~> /sbin/lspci

01:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g (rev 01)

Kimchi@linux-oqum:~> /sbin/lspci-n

01:00.0 0280: 14e4:4312 (rev 01)

Kimchi@linux-oqum:~> dmesg

0.131495] [Firmware Bug]: ACPI: ACPI brightness control misses _BQC function


8.029219] b43-pci-bridge 0000:01:00.0: PCI INT A -&gt; Link[LK2E] -&gt; GSI 19 (level, high) -&gt; IRQ 19                                                                               
8.029231] b43-pci-bridge 0000:01:00.0: setting latency timer to 64

imchi@linux-oqum:~> /usr/sbin/iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

Kimchi@linux-oqum:~> sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.

lwfinger · December 28, 2009, 6:08pm

First of all, your card with PCI IDs 14e4:4312 will work with the built-in b43
driver, whether you have openSUSE 11.1 or 11.2. (You really should specify that
version!)

The only thing I wonder about is why it doesn’t work with Windows, but at least
it is seen on the PCI bus - lspci sees it.

Is your wireless card disabled in the BIOS? You should check that first.

Have you installed the firmware? Does the output of ‘dmesg | grep firmware’ show
that it is missing? If so, if you have an Internet connection in Linux, please
enter the following commands:

sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware
sudo /sbin/modprobe -rv b43
sudo /sbin/modprobe -v b43
sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan

Did the first one complete normally? Did the next two commands generate any
errors? Please post the output of the last command. Now, what is the state of
the wireless LED? Does it follow the switch?

user · December 29, 2009, 12:28pm

hi,
the opensuse version is the 11.2

i didnt know about the bios and i think it really can be the point, but as the first time that i check the bios setup of this computer(hp dv2000) i got surprised there is not advanced option in the bios so i can just see basic information and boot settings. i actualized the flash bios to F3D version but still the same.

anyway i dont know if the wireless is enabled or not in the bios

with “dmesg | grep firmware” doesnt show any problem and before i check dmesg line by line and didnt find any firmware error.

anyway i run thus commands with the next results:

sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware(no error)

b43 firmware successfully installed.
b43legacy firmware successfully installed.

sudo /sbin/modprobe -rv b43(no error)

Kimchi@linux-oqum:~> sudo /sbin/modprobe -v b43(ERROR)

WARNING: Error inserting mac80211 (/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/updates/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
WARNING: Error inserting pcmcia (/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
WARNING: Error inserting ssb (/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/updates/drivers/ssb/ssb.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
FATAL: Error inserting b43 (/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/updates/drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)

sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan (same than always)

lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.

the wireless led remain the same always off light at any position of the switch

is it possible the wireless enabled in the bios changed to disabled without notifying me?

thanks for all

user · December 29, 2009, 12:34pm

i was also checking forums about bios modding and i saw some phoenix program but by the comments i think is not pretty safe thing to do. you can really get the whole thing totally **** with just a install error.

or not?

lwfinger · December 29, 2009, 4:59pm

On 12/29/2009 05:36 AM, kimchi wrote:
>
> hi,
> the opensuse version is the 11.2
>
> i didnt know about the bios and i think it really can be the point, but
> as the first time that i check the bios setup of this computer(hp
> dv2000) i got surprised there is not advanced option in the bios so i
> can just see basic information and boot settings. i actualized the flash
> bios to F3D version but still the same.
>
> anyway i dont know if the wireless is enabled or not in the bios
>
> with “dmesg | grep firmware” doesnt show any problem and before i check
> dmesg line by line and didnt find any firmware error.
>
> anyway i run thus commands with the next results:
>
> sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware(no error)
>
> b43 firmware successfully installed.
> b43legacy firmware successfully installed.
>
> sudo /sbin/modprobe -rv b43(no error)
>
> Kimchi@linux-oqum:~> sudo /sbin/modprobe -v b43(ERROR)
>
> WARNING: Error inserting mac80211
> (/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/updates/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko):
> Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
> WARNING: Error inserting pcmcia
> (/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko):
> Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
> WARNING: Error inserting ssb
> (/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/updates/drivers/ssb/ssb.ko): Unknown
> symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
> FATAL: Error inserting b43
> (/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/updates/drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.ko):
> Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)

Your modules are messed up, which should not happen. What packages have you
installed? Is compat-wireless one of them? If so do a

sudo zypper rm compat-wireless

You do not need it.

If compat-wireless is not installed, then please report what you did.

user · December 29, 2009, 10:46pm

actually i didnt install any additional package, i just install “kle” desktop with standard install opensuse 11.2. it recognized the broadcom card and i guess it installed the right package or module, actually im very new on linux but i can tell you the updating didnt work from right after i installed, giving some errors so no any package was added.

before i had gnome desktop and the updating was working properly but i changed to kle. anyway, i mean i dont know witch package i got and i dont know where to find it.

but i am still thinking about the point of wireless disabled in bios setup but as i said when i run the bios there is no chance of checking the advance menu so i dont know if is disabled or not.
do you think is safe to install phoenix software to check the bios and find out if its that the problem?

sorry for my miss knowing but i got old after ms-dos and i never got on date my knowledge about systems cause windows didnt let much chances.

thanks

lwfinger · December 30, 2009, 12:15am

On 12/29/2009 03:56 PM, kimchi wrote:
>
> sorry for my miss knowing but i got old after ms-dos and i never got on
> date my knowledge about systems cause windows didnt let much chances.

If your BIOS does not have an option to disable the wireless, then forget about
that suggestion. One of the recent threads here was only resolved when the
reporter discovered that his BIOS had turned the wifi off.

Whatever your update process has been, your kernel modules are not right,
otherwise modules would load without error.

BTW, the first computer that I used had vacuum tubes, was programmed with paper
tape, and used a magnetic drum instead of RAM (Univac 1103). You won’t get far
with me by claiming to be old.

user · December 30, 2009, 1:36am

it sound quite impresive, i would like to have seen one of those, but anyway, i guess you mean the best is to install linux again or try to get the right modules by updating. do u know witch package or tag should i look for?

i guess i can download it straight from the web even if the updating aplication of the linux (“yast” if i remenber well…im posting from windows by now) is giving me errors.

if the modules i got are not right, does it mean the copy of opensuse i installed is damage or wrong?

thanks

lwfinger · December 30, 2009, 3:10am

On 12/29/2009 06:46 PM, kimchi wrote:
>
> it sound quite impresive, i would like to have seen one of those, but
> anyway, i guess you mean the best is to install linux again or try to
> get the right modules by updating. do u know witch package or tag should
> i look for?
>
> i guess i can download it straight from the web even if the updating
> aplication of the linux (“yast” if i remenber well…im posting from
> windows by now) is giving me errors.
>
> if the modules i got are not right, does it mean the copy of opensuse i
> installed is damage or wrong?

You should first go to

http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.2/repo/oss/suse

The next thing to do is select either i586 or x86_64, depending on what flavor
you have (you have not told us which you use). Then select

kernel-default-2.6.31.5-0.1.1.x86_64.rpm

or

kernel-default-2.6.31.5-0.1.1.i586.rpm

and download it. Copy it to Linux and install it with

sudo rpm -iv kernel-default…

This step will add it to your grub menu so that you can select it when you boot.
After that, the modules will load and you can configure your wireless. You do
not need to reinstall the firmware.