Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

vlast777 · 2017-03-14 10:57:21

Hey there,

I am about to install Arch Linux on my MacBook Pro mid 2009. The problem is, my WiFi card is not supported out-of-the-box and does need the b43-firmware from AUR to work properly.
Now in my new apartment I don't have physical access to the WiFi router leaving me with just wireless connections (no connection via LAN cable). Now I have a working Arch Linux live USB thumb drive and I also downloaded the packages from AUR but as far as I remember they still need an internet connection during installation because they will pull some dependencies.

Is there anyway to get the Packages installed without having an active internet connection during the Arch installation (which I can continue, once i successfully installed the b43-firmware)?
NOTE: I got another machine running Arch with working Internet, so getting some packages precompiled wouldn't be a problem, I simply don't know how exactly I should go on.
A step-by-step guide would be very helpful!

Trilby · 2017-03-14 11:11:34

There are no runtime dependencies for b43-firmware. Just build the package on the system with a network connection, then move the resulting .pkg.tar.xz file over to the new system where it can be installed with pacman -U

vlast777 · 2017-03-14 19:01:43

Okay, I managed to build the packages on my other Arch Linux machine, booted up the one I am trying to install Arch onto and I was also able to install the prebuild packages.

The problem is, that I don't know how to load the installed firmware manually without having to reboot. Because if I reboot the machine, the installed packages have gone, since I wasn't able to install the base system nor the boot loader (i.e. no persistent storage, I think it does install the packages to RAM), without a working Internet connection (I am using a live USB drive to install them).

Any suggestions in how to load the b43-classic firmware after installing it, without having the issue of rebooting and without having WiFi connection yet? :-/

Last edited by vlast777 (2017-03-14 19:02:24)

Trilby · 2017-03-14 19:03:58

You should be able to `modprobe` the necessary module. I don't know the module name offhand - I'll see if I can track it down in a bit (I don't use b43 on my current systems).

EDIT: oops, I feel a bit silly - It should just be b43:

modprobe b43

Last edited by Trilby (2017-03-14 19:05:12)

vlast777 · 2017-03-15 15:06:11

Okay, still no success.

Here are the steps I tried to get the WiFi working.

1) Precompiled b43, b43-legacy and b43-classic firmwares on a different Arch Linux machine
2) Booted in my other notebook with an up-to-date Arch Linux live USB drive
3) created a folder /mnt/usb
4) Plugged in the other USB drive containing the precompiled packages
5) Mounted the USB drive to /mnt/usb
6) installed b43 / b43-legacy / b43-classic (of course only one at the time) using pacman -U
7)

# modprobe b43 // Or legacy

8)

 # iwconfig

still only shows lo0 and enp10s0, both providing no wireless connections.

What did I wrong? Shouldn't it be that easy? The OS X hardware manager (I want to install Arch on my MacBook Pro Mid2009) just says BCM43xx for the WiFi adapter chipset, so I don't know 100% which firmware to use. Also, for the b43-classic package I couldn't find the correct module name to load it.

Any help is highly appreciated.

Trilby · 2017-03-15 16:11:21

If you can share the output of the following command from the live system we could determine exactly which browser is needed:

lspci -vnn | grep -i net

Specifically, there will be a hex number like '14e4:XXXX' - we need the 4 digits after the 14e4: which identifies the specific chip.

However, I've never actually installed drivers like this on the live system. It *should* be as easy as what you've done. Perhaps first doing a `rmmod b43` then `modprobe 43` would help, I'm not sure. On the other hand, you may not want to bother with finding the *best* driver for the live system, and just get anything that works. Broadcom-wl might be better for this - generally wl is never a great option, but it does seem to be adequate on a wide range of hardware.

Alternatively, you may just want to use a cell phone tethering or similar just to get the base install at which point this would be easier to deal with.

vlast777 · 2017-03-15 16:42:33

Should tethering work with a live System using an Android Device connected via USB?

Trilby · 2017-03-15 17:32:05

That's the idea. I've not used usb tethering myself, but ewaller frequently recommends it and suggests it works well, e.g. here.

If that works, I'd suggest ensuring you install the base and base-devel group in the initial pacstrap command (i.e. when the installation guide instructions `pacstrap -i /mnt/ base` just make it `pacstrap -i /mnt/ base base-deve`) as this will make it easier to build any needed drivers from the AUR on the newly installed system.

Arch Linux

#1 2017-03-14 10:57:21

Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

#2 2017-03-14 11:11:34

Re: Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

#3 2017-03-14 19:01:43

Re: Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

#4 2017-03-14 19:03:58

Re: Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

#5 2017-03-15 15:06:11

Re: Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

#6 2017-03-15 16:11:21

Re: Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

#7 2017-03-15 16:42:33

Re: Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

#8 2017-03-15 17:32:05

Re: Install AUR Package during system installation without Internet access

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