Broadcom Driver Issue

arew264 · 2008-02-07 05:54:51

I have a compaq laptop with a BCM4318 chipset, which bcm43xx claims to support. Initially, I set this up by simply finding a Broadcon driver *somewhere* and installing it according to the wiki (bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware bcmwl5.inf). The card _kind of_ worked, it could scan and see networks but couldn't associate with them.
I added bcm43xx to the module blacklist and installed NDISwrapper. I then got the ACTUAL driver from the compaq website, ran it under ndiswrapper, and got better wireless results than with the same driver under windows.
Now that I realize I had the wrong driver when I first tried bcm43xx, I would like to try it again, but so far I have:
blacklisted ndiswrapper
removed the driver from ndiswrapper
used bcm43xx-fwcutter to install the real driver (I ran sudo rm -R /lib/firmware/* first)
unblacklisted bcm43xx and added it to the modules array in rc.conf
rebooted

My wireless card does show up, but it is inactive. If I try to run sudo ifconfig eth1 up, I get an operation not supported error. Scanning gives no results as well as an error, though I forget the exact message (I can get it if necessary).

Can anyone see what I broke? Do I just have an incompatible driver?

Stoffi · 2008-02-07 06:12:35

a friend of mine also has a broadcom card in his computer, and he is eagerly waiting for the new kernel, as his card is supposed to get native support then. atm, he is using ndiswrapper.
maybe not what you asked for, but maybe everything will be better when the new kernel gets out of the testing repository

arew264 · 2008-02-07 06:22:14

The bcm43xx driver is in the current kernel. Ndiswrapper is no longer needed.

Last edited by arew264 (2008-02-07 06:22:39)

Stoffi · 2008-02-07 07:54:33

I know, I use the driver that is in the current kernel, but as I have understood it, it is a new driver in the new kernel, which works with even more cards.

arew264 · 2008-02-07 12:56:32

I think I see it, now we have bcm43xx, and the new driver is b43. I'll have to try the testing kernel then

stylopath · 2008-02-07 13:57:42

Iam running 2.6.24 with B43 on my compaq laptop (nx6325) without any problems. well, it took a time to find the right driver file (i extracted the original compaq-driver and a dell driver and tried ALL driver files until i found one that was working) but now everything works fine.

The b43-fwcutter-package can be found in the AUR, but it's possible that it's also in the community-repo already. Via b43-fwcutter -i path_to_driver_file you can identify your driver files and pick the right one (one that is supposed to be supported).

good luck

arew264 · 2008-02-08 03:13:24

I assume you're using the Dell driver because b43-fwcutter spits at all the compaq drivers. I'll look for the Dell, but do you know where to find it?

arew264 · 2008-02-08 04:07:44

AHA! I have wireless!
Whether it actually works, I'm not sure.
I used the driver at http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/br … .0.tar.bz2
It was basically recommended... everywhere.

zamolxis · 2008-05-02 10:32:47

I tried the BCM4318 with the b43 driver - and although it installed fine and worked ok, the speed was much slower than via the wired connection. (~140-150 vs ~600-800).

Therefore I uninstalled the b43 driver and tried .... ndiswrapper with the windows driver - and that works as expected - much faster, with speeds similar to the wired connection. Thus although I would like to use the so called "native" solution - it still doesn't perform in my experience as well as the ndiswrapper alternative.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-02-07 05:54:51

Broadcom Driver Issue

#2 2008-02-07 06:12:35

Re: Broadcom Driver Issue

#3 2008-02-07 06:22:14

Re: Broadcom Driver Issue

#4 2008-02-07 07:54:33

Re: Broadcom Driver Issue

#5 2008-02-07 12:56:32

Re: Broadcom Driver Issue

#6 2008-02-07 13:57:42

Re: Broadcom Driver Issue

#7 2008-02-08 03:13:24

Re: Broadcom Driver Issue

#8 2008-02-08 04:07:44

Re: Broadcom Driver Issue

#9 2008-05-02 10:32:47

Re: Broadcom Driver Issue

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