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#1 2013-04-17 13:58:56

ryan0270
Member
Registered: 2010-08-31
Posts: 25

b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

Up until now I've been using the brcmsmac driver which works fine for connecting to networks, but I want to enable access point mode which doesn't seem supported by brcmsmac as of yet. Instead, then, I'm trying to get the b43 driver working. I installed b43-firmware and I can load the module without any errors, as far as I can tell, but there is no wlan0 device created.

Searching around, other people have reported some problems with b43 but usually it's with a different chipset (BCM4312 [14e4:4315]) and at a different point in the process so I haven't been able to apply any of their solutions.

Any ideas on what's wrong?

Here's the relevant info I can think of.

[root@lappy ryantr]# lspci -vnn -d 14e4:
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM43225 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4357] (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:145e]
        Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 16
        Memory at da100000 (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-fe-ff-ff-33-c4-17
        Capabilities: [16c] Power Budgeting <?>
[root@lappy ryantr]# uname -r
3.8.5-1-ARCH
[root@lappy ryantr]# pacman -Q b43-firmware
b43-firmware 5.100.138-2
[root@lappy ryantr]# modprobe b43
[root@lappy ryantr]# dmesg | tail
[13479.739556] bcma: bus0: Core 1 found: IEEE 802.11 (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x812, rev 0x17, class 0x0)
[13479.739693] bcma: bus0: Core 2 found: PCIe (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x820, rev 0x0F, class 0x0)
[13479.753827] bcma: bus0: Bus registered
[13479.760429] Broadcom 43xx driver loaded [ Features: PMNLS ]
[14634.502255] bcma: bus0: Found chip with id 0xA8D9, rev 0x01 and package 0x08
[14634.502338] bcma: bus0: Core 0 found: ChipCommon (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x800, rev 0x22, class 0x0)
[14634.502393] bcma: bus0: Core 1 found: IEEE 802.11 (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x812, rev 0x17, class 0x0)
[14634.502520] bcma: bus0: Core 2 found: PCIe (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x820, rev 0x0F, class 0x0)
[14634.516543] bcma: bus0: Bus registered
[14634.523528] Broadcom 43xx driver loaded [ Features: PMNLS ]
[root@lappy ryantr]# ip link
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT 
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP mode DEFAULT qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:26:9e:ec:d9:5f brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

Last edited by ryan0270 (2013-04-18 01:56:05)

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#2 2013-04-17 14:49:19

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,739

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

That is interesting.  My dmesg has a lot more interesting stuff after the 43xx driver loaded message; notably that it downloading the firmware hmm

Is there a chance there is another module that is already using the hardware (look through lsmod)  ??


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
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#3 2013-04-17 15:47:48

ryan0270
Member
Registered: 2010-08-31
Posts: 25

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

I rmmod'd the obvious modules (brcmsmac, bcma, etc). I'm not sure what other modules might affect it.

Here is the full lsmod if you want to look through

[root@lappy ryantr]# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
b43                   362732  0 
bcma                   32990  1 b43
mac80211              467685  1 b43
cfg80211              433688  2 b43,mac80211
ssb                    55056  1 b43
pcmcia                 46292  2 b43,ssb
pcmcia_core            14173  1 pcmcia
hid_logitech_dj        10285  0 
usbhid                 41357  1 hid_logitech_dj
uvcvideo               73877  0 
videobuf2_vmalloc       3400  1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops        2335  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core         27873  1 uvcvideo
videodev              105111  2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
hid                    87118  2 usbhid,hid_logitech_dj
media                  10437  2 uvcvideo,videodev
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     27848  4 
snd_hda_codec_idt      55567  1 
snd_hda_intel          34194  1 
snd_hda_codec         102453  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
ir_lirc_codec           4731  0 
lirc_dev               11471  1 ir_lirc_codec
ir_mce_kbd_decoder      4822  0 
ir_sanyo_decoder        2893  0 
ir_sony_decoder         2411  0 
ir_jvc_decoder          2569  0 
joydev                  9727  0 
ir_rc6_decoder          3497  0 
snd_hwdep               6428  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                78146  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
nvidia               9122517  32 
ir_rc5_decoder          2505  0 
acpi_cpufreq           10630  1 
snd_page_alloc          7426  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_timer              18934  1 snd_pcm
ir_nec_decoder          3209  0 
mperf                   1267  1 acpi_cpufreq
rc_rc6_mce              1380  0 
ene_ir                 18456  0 
i2c_i801               11077  0 
jmb38x_ms              11265  0 
memstick                7528  1 jmb38x_ms
snd                    60156  9 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
hp_wmi                  8058  0 
sparse_keymap           3088  1 hp_wmi
coretemp                6198  0 
rfkill                 15996  2 cfg80211,hp_wmi
r8169                  57619  0 
video                  11363  0 
battery                 7098  0 
processor              27431  1 acpi_cpufreq
thermal                 8577  0 
rc_core                16768  11 ir_lirc_codec,ir_rc5_decoder,ir_nec_decoder,ir_sony_decoder,ene_ir,ir_mce_kbd_decoder,ir_jvc_decoder,ir_rc6_decoder,ir_sanyo_decoder,rc_rc6_mce
i7core_edac            17989  0 
pcspkr                  1995  0 
i2c_core               23171  3 i2c_i801,nvidia,videodev
edac_core              42614  1 i7core_edac
hp_accel               16520  0 
lis3lv02d              11603  1 hp_accel
psmouse                76175  0 
evdev                  10136  17 
serio_raw               5105  0 
button                  4701  0 
input_polldev           2914  1 lis3lv02d
iTCO_wdt                5447  0 
iTCO_vendor_support     1929  1 iTCO_wdt
ac                      2568  0 
lpc_ich                11601  0 
wmi                     8379  1 hp_wmi
kvm_intel             124204  0 
soundcore               5442  1 snd
kvm                   392222  1 kvm_intel
crc32c_intel           14313  0 
mii                     4091  1 r8169
microcode              14465  0 
ext4                  478338  3 
crc16                   1359  1 ext4
jbd2                   78013  1 ext4
mbcache                 6026  1 ext4
sr_mod                 14823  0 
cdrom                  35520  1 sr_mod
sd_mod                 31258  4 
ahci                   22160  3 
libahci                20906  1 ahci
libata                168683  2 ahci,libahci
ehci_pci                4120  0 
firewire_ohci          32357  0 
ehci_hcd               47467  1 ehci_pci
sdhci_pci              11412  0 
firewire_core          53301  1 firewire_ohci
sdhci                  28375  1 sdhci_pci
scsi_mod              130797  3 libata,sd_mod,sr_mod
mmc_core               91956  4 b43,ssb,sdhci,sdhci_pci
crc_itu_t               1363  1 firewire_core
usbcore               175029  4 uvcvideo,ehci_hcd,ehci_pci,usbhid
usb_common               954  1 usbcore

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#4 2013-04-17 16:17:37

Gusar
Member
Registered: 2009-08-25
Posts: 3,605

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

You'll need to recompile the kernel if you want to use b43. To avoid driver conflicts for cards supported by both drivers, the Arch kernel does not set CONFIG_B43_BCMA_EXTRA, meaning the brcmsmac driver will always be used. The only way to use b43 is to compile your own kernel with that option set.

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#5 2013-04-17 17:18:55

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,739

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

Gusar wrote:

You'll need to recompile the kernel if you want to use b43. To avoid driver conflicts for cards supported by both drivers, the Arch kernel does not set CONFIG_B43_BCMA_EXTRA, meaning the brcmsmac driver will always be used. The only way to use b43 is to compile your own kernel with that option set.

Okay, I am clearly missing something here and have some research to do hmm  I will defer to Gusar.


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

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#6 2013-04-17 18:00:31

nomorewindows
Member
Registered: 2010-04-03
Posts: 3,362

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

Gusar wrote:

You'll need to recompile the kernel if you want to use b43. To avoid driver conflicts for cards supported by both drivers, the Arch kernel does not set CONFIG_B43_BCMA_EXTRA, meaning the brcmsmac driver will always be used. The only way to use b43 is to compile your own kernel with that option set.

I thought this could be disabled with /etc/modprobe.d/some-blacklisted-module.conf


I may have to CONSOLE you about your usage of ridiculously easy graphical interfaces...
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#7 2013-04-17 18:14:46

Gusar
Member
Registered: 2009-08-25
Posts: 3,605

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

nomorewindows wrote:

I thought this could be disabled with /etc/modprobe.d/some-blacklisted-module.conf

You though wrong smile. The b43 driver does not contain support for those cards (there's two of them, BCM43224 and BCM43225) without CONFIG_B43_BCMA_EXTRA set.

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#8 2013-04-17 18:29:08

nomorewindows
Member
Registered: 2010-04-03
Posts: 3,362

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

Gusar wrote:
nomorewindows wrote:

I thought this could be disabled with /etc/modprobe.d/some-blacklisted-module.conf

You though wrong smile. The b43 driver does not contain support for those cards (there's two of them, BCM43224 and BCM43225) without CONFIG_B43_BCMA_EXTRA set.

Could be, the BCM43224/5 is not just b, not just g, it's a n card.  So maybe that's why.


I may have to CONSOLE you about your usage of ridiculously easy graphical interfaces...
Look ma, no mouse.

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#9 2013-04-17 22:25:57

ryan0270
Member
Registered: 2010-08-31
Posts: 25

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

Ah, recompiling the kernel is more work than I want at this point. I assume, then, that the broadcom-wl driver also would not work?

Also, shouldn't the wiki be updated to reflect this? I didn't see any mention of a kernel recompile.

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#10 2013-04-18 01:51:16

Gusar
Member
Registered: 2009-08-25
Posts: 3,605

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

ryan0270 wrote:

Ah, recompiling the kernel is more work than I want at this point. I assume, then, that the broadcom-wl driver also would not work?

broadcom-wl would work. But it's useless in your case because it doesn't support AP mode. It does support Ad-Hoc, maybe that's good enough for your use-case. However, wl brings with it the possibility of kernel panics.

AP mode is coming to brcmsmac, patches here: http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-wire … 05229.html. I haven't checked, but it's very possible they'll make kernel 3.10


nomorewindows wrote:

Could be, the BCM43224/5 is not just b, not just g, it's a n card.  So maybe that's why.

It has nothing to do with that. It's that two drivers support those cards, which is a conflict (both drivers would try to claim the same hardware). CONFIG_B43_BCMA_EXTRA was introduced to resolve that conflict.

Last edited by Gusar (2013-04-18 01:55:41)

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#11 2013-04-18 01:58:21

ryan0270
Member
Registered: 2010-08-31
Posts: 25

Re: b43 driver doesn't create wlan0 device [SOLVED]

Ad hoc might be good enough. I'll go ahead and give broadcom-wl a try.

I'm marking this as SOLVED since, although I can't get b43 to work, at least the cause is clearly defined and solution requires upstream work.

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