Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

Wilco · 2012-02-24 21:15:24

My netbook has a broadcom BCM4313 chipset. Kernel module: brcmsmac. The latest arch installer can't properly configure my network and I don't have a wired connection at this location. The system keeps spamming messages like this on the terminal every few seconds:

ieee80211 phy1: wl_ops_bbs_info_changed: qos enabled: false (implement)
ieee80211 phy1: brcmsmac: wl_ops_bss_info_changed: disassociated
ieee80211 phy1: wl_ops_bbs_info_changed: arp filtering: enabled false, count 0 (implement)

Is it even possible to install arch linux on a system with a broadcom chipset? Or is the kernel too old, should I use another module?
Thanks for your help!

graysky · 2012-02-24 21:16:37

Are you sure that chipset doesn't use the broadcom-wl driver in the AUR?

KingX · 2012-02-24 21:26:07

You need to enable the b43 module and grab this firmware from the AUR. My laptop has the same Broadcom chipset.

Wilco · 2012-02-24 21:37:02

Thanks, is it possible to user the AUR firmware when using the installer? Can't add packages in the installer without a network...

Gusar · 2012-02-24 21:53:48

b43 doesn't support this chip. It supports pretty much everything else from Broadcom, but not this one.

There's these two patches for brcmsmac - http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ker … eral/85902, but I have no clue if they solve this issue or what exactly they're for.

graysky · 2012-02-24 22:56:37

Wilco wrote:

Thanks, is it possible to user the AUR firmware when using the installer? Can't add packages in the installer without a network...

If you pre-build the package you should be able to install via pacman -U /path/to/archive.tar.xz ... may need to include the deps too. Kinda messy. Can you just copy over a functional Arch filesystem to the box? See the 'install existing linux' article. Perhaps you can do it from a live ubuntu CD?

Last edited by graysky (2012-02-24 22:57:09)

aesiris · 2012-02-25 10:50:51

I had this problem when I installed arch a month ago.
The newer kernels have the correct driver (brcmsmac)

So I installed arch without network and then pacman -U the kernel and firmware package with dependecies.
If I remember correctly I downloaded everything starting from www.archlinux.org/packages

Wilco · 2012-02-25 12:56:19

The brcmsmac does not work on my system, so I'll try the b43 module after I figure out the firmware stuff

Gusar · 2012-02-25 13:20:19

Wilco wrote:

The brcmsmac does not work on my system

It should. So rather than a "doesn't work", you should provide info that would allow us to help find a solution.

Wilco wrote:

so I'll try the b43 module after I figure out the firmware stuff

Read what I said above: b43 *does not* support this chip. So short of you providing lots of code adding support, you won't get it to work.

There's a third driver - wl. It supports BCM4313. But the planets have to align properly for it to work without causing kernel panics.

Last edited by Gusar (2012-02-25 13:38:52)

Wilco · 2012-02-25 13:37:29

I installed the b43-firmware package from aur and then called modprobe b43. There is no device showing with iwconfig. The brcmsmac does not work, the broadcom wl driver works but is very slow and is very unstable. Any other suggestions or is this card to new?

Edit 1:
@Gusar: the brcmsmac driver has this problem so I think it's a driver bug with newer BCM4313 chipsets:
http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-wire … 85179.html

Edit 2:
According to KingX the b43 driver should support the 4313 chipset (although the kernel wireless site disagrees...)

Last edited by Wilco (2012-02-25 13:41:57)

Gusar · 2012-02-25 14:26:38

Wilco wrote:

@Gusar: the brcmsmac driver has this problem so I think it's a driver bug with newer BCM4313 chipsets:
http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-wire … 85179.html

Yeah, it does seem like a real driver bug. Well then, you're screwed . The drivers are either crap (wl), lack support (b43), or currently buggy (brcmsmac).

You could try an earlier kernel, like say 3.1, see if brcmsmac works better there.

Last edited by Gusar (2012-02-25 14:27:22)

aesiris · 2012-02-25 17:26:49

Wilco wrote:

...
@Gusar: the brcmsmac driver has this problem so I think it's a driver bug with newer BCM4313 chipsets:
http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-wire … 85179.html
...

in that post you can read:

I have just started testing brcmsmac with my BCM43224 card. I find it rather
unstable.

So that does not apply to you, you said you have 4313, is that true? What is the output of "lscpi -knn"?
If you have 4313, which has id [14e4:4727], brcmsmac will work with it.
You'll just need a 3.2 kernel and a recent firmware package.

Gusar · 2012-02-25 17:31:06

aesiris wrote:

in that post you can read:
I have just started testing brcmsmac with my BCM43224 card. I find it rather
unstable.
So that does not apply to you, you said you have 4313, is that true?

It's the same driver, so the chance that it has the same bug regardless of exact chipset are extremely high.

Wilco · 2012-02-25 21:57:34

Some errors I get when using the brcmsmac driver:

ieee80211 phy2: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: qos enabled: true (implement)
ieee80211 phy2: brcmsmac: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: associated
ieee80211 phy2: changing basic rates failed: -22
ieee80211 phy2: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: arp filtering: enabled true, count 0 (implement)
ieee80211 phy2: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: qos enabled: false (implement)
ieee80211 phy2: brcmsmac: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: disassociated
ieee80211 phy2: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: arp filtering: enabled false, count 0 (implement)

The wl driver runs pretty well, considering all the horror stories that circulate about it. Every two seconds I get this error though:

ERROR @wl_cfg80211_get_station : Could not get rssi (-1)

but it runs ok, speeds are low but it works for now until the brcmsmac driver gets fixed eventually

KingX · 2012-02-25 22:06:37

Wilco wrote:

According to KingX the b43 driver should support the 4313 chipset (although the kernel wireless site disagrees...)

I should've checked before I said that. My chipset is actually 4318 and that works with b43 and the firmware i mentioned from aur. Sorry didn't mean my post to be misleading.

treadlefish · 2012-02-26 02:39:11

Neither the brcmsmac nor the wl driver work on my Acer Aspire netbook. the former just flat didn't work and the later locked up my system when attempts were made to activate the wireless. My solution? I ordered an Atheros wifi card and will swap the offending broadcom card out as soon as it gets here. In the meantime I would love to get the broadcom working just on general principle.

Has anybody tried using a windows driver with ndiswrapper?

Wilco · 2012-02-26 07:45:36

The WL driver seems to work pretty well as long as I also blacklist brcmsmac (which is not blacklisted by default when using the WL driver). I dont' activate or deactive WiFi with a button on the laptop, I just always leave it on. This is my blacklist mod for the wl driver:

blacklist brcmsmac
blacklist b43
blacklist bcma
blacklist ssb

treadlefish · 2012-02-26 17:23:44

Wilco, I tried that didn't work for me. Been fighting this for a few days. I brought Windows up once before I blew it away to check all the hardware. The card was working, so I know its ok. I just wish I could custom build my laptops like I used to do with desktops.

I bought the netbook as a travel laptop, so I reall need a working wifi. Tjar's why I am replacing the card.

KingX · 2012-02-26 17:49:02

treadlefish you should've opened up a new thread, but seems like your wifi card might've gotten disabled. Install rfkill using pacman (if you dont already have it) and then run rfkill -list and it will tell you the state of your device. This shows how to use it. Hope this helps.

Wilco · 2012-02-27 10:38:53

treadlefish could you post the wifi info from "lspci -vnn"? Then I can check if we have the same card.

edit, here is mine:

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4727] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1795]
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
	Memory at f0200000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [58] Vendor Specific Information: Len=78 <?>
	Capabilities: [48] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
	Capabilities: [d0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
	Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel
	Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
	Capabilities: [16c] Power Budgeting <?>
	Kernel driver in use: wl

Last edited by Wilco (2012-02-27 22:03:37)

brain0 · 2012-02-28 13:07:27

The latest installer is old. Use a recent snapshot.

treadlefish · 2012-02-29 19:58:09

The problem appears to be a bug in the bios. I got my Atheros card and swapped out the Broadcom. As long as I had the ethernet cable plugged in, once the machine booted I could use the wireless. As soon as I unplugged the wire, machine locked up. If I booted with no wire, machine locked up as soon as any attempt was made to activate the wireless.

In digging around the internet, I found an old forum message concerning this. I had already blacklisted the acer_wmi module as indicated. Now I tried rearranging the boot sequence so that the netbook option was number 1. Worked. We are now wire-free.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I learned A LOT!!

Arch Linux

#1 2012-02-24 21:15:24

Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#2 2012-02-24 21:16:37

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#3 2012-02-24 21:26:07

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#4 2012-02-24 21:37:02

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#5 2012-02-24 21:53:48

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#6 2012-02-24 22:56:37

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#7 2012-02-25 10:50:51

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#8 2012-02-25 12:56:19

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#9 2012-02-25 13:20:19

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#10 2012-02-25 13:37:29

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#11 2012-02-25 14:26:38

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#12 2012-02-25 17:26:49

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#13 2012-02-25 17:31:06

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#14 2012-02-25 21:57:34

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#15 2012-02-25 22:06:37

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#16 2012-02-26 02:39:11

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#17 2012-02-26 07:45:36

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#18 2012-02-26 17:23:44

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#19 2012-02-26 17:49:02

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#20 2012-02-27 10:38:53

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#21 2012-02-28 13:07:27

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

#22 2012-02-29 19:58:09

Re: Possible to install arch on a system with Broadcom wireless?

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