Broadcom 4306/2 - Can't get it to work

AndrewK · 2015-12-18 07:17:48

I've installed Arch on a Latitude D800 lap-top. Most things seem fine, but the Bcm 4306 (WiFi) doesn't work. I've tried several approaches. b43legacy is often mentioned on the net. It seemed to get most of the way to working, but it wouldn't associate with the AP, although it could see it.

I then tried to use ndiswrapper as the driver, as mentioned here. The D800 is a 32-bit machine, however, so I'm following (sort-of) a recipe from the Ubuntu world. This didn't work at all. The iw command didn't see the device. There has been some mention that this is a symptom of missing or incorrect device firmware.

Does this ring any bells with anyone? I'm getting frustrated and hope someone can help me diagnose the problem, instead of just trying things to see if they work.

Wilco · 2015-12-18 10:29:05

The broadcom drivers are very bad. One of my old systems would sometimes work with the kernel drivers but fall to 1kbit/s after a few seconds. You can try the broadcom-wl drivers (don't know if your chipset is supported though) or just try different drivers until one works.

Gusar · 2015-12-18 15:01:28

iw works exclusively with nl80211 drivers, but ndiswrapper is a wext (wireless extensions) driver, so that combination won't work. You need to use wireless_tools with ndiswrapper. wpa_supplicant supports both nl80211 and wext. You shouldn't need ndiswrapper though - I also have a 4306/2, but the b43legacy driver works well for me.

Just checking, did you install the correct firmware (b43-firmware-legacy from AUR)? What encryption does the AP use, WEP, WPA(2)/TKIP, WPA(2)/AES? Try no encryption, just for a test.

AndrewK · 2015-12-20 18:41:04

Thanks, Gusar. You seem to understand more than me. It seems there are layers of modules with the nl80211 being a layer above b43legacy, which is the lowest level, talking directly to the hardware. Is that right? If you can tell me where to look, I'll learn this stuff myself instead of asking you questions. Where did you learn it? Your guidance is appreciated.

I will try again with b43legacy using only AUR firmware and see where we get.

AndrewK · 2016-02-04 23:08:51

I have gotten it to work. The problem was simply low antenna gain. By moving it away from metal objects and turning it sideways, up-side down, etc, it was possible to make a connection. Simple solutions are best.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-12-18 07:17:48

Broadcom 4306/2 - Can't get it to work

#2 2015-12-18 10:29:05

Re: Broadcom 4306/2 - Can't get it to work

#3 2015-12-18 15:01:28

Re: Broadcom 4306/2 - Can't get it to work

#4 2015-12-20 18:41:04

Re: Broadcom 4306/2 - Can't get it to work

#5 2016-02-04 23:08:51

Re: Broadcom 4306/2 - Can't get it to work

Board footer