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rhumbliner
n00b
Joined: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 41
Location: Las Vegas
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 Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:40 pm Post subject: [SOLVED] Problems adding B43 Firmware |
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i've just installed gentoo 3.8.13 onto an intel mac mini with a broadcom BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] wireless chip. everything is working fine with the exception of the wireless capability. my kernel has the B43 configured as a module:
| Code: | CONFIG_B43=m
CONFIG_B43_SSB=y
CONFIG_B43_PCI_AUTOSELECT=y
CONFIG_B43_PCICORE_AUTOSELECT=y
CONFIG_B43_PIO=y
CONFIG_B43_PHY_LP=y
CONFIG_B43_HWRNG=y
CONFIG_B43_DEBUG=y
CONFIG_B43LEGACY=m
CONFIG_B43LEGACY_PCI_AUTOSELECT=y
CONFIG_B43LEGACY_PCICORE_AUTOSELECT=y
CONFIG_B43LEGACY_HWRNG=y
CONFIG_B43LEGACY_DEBUG=y
CONFIG_B43LEGACY_DMA=y
CONFIG_B43LEGACY_PIO=y
CONFIG_B43LEGACY_DMA_AND_PIO_MODE=y
# CONFIG_B43LEGACY_DMA_MODE is not set
# CONFIG_B43LEGACY_PIO_MODE is not set
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and it appears that i need to extract the firmware from the proprietary broadcom driver so i downloaded this driver and extracted the firmware:
| Code: | {~/tmp} wget http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2
--2013-05-17 18:48:21-- http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2
Resolving www.lwfinger.com... 173.254.28.119
Connecting to www.lwfinger.com|173.254.28.119|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 13514651 (13M) [application/x-bzip2]
Saving to: 'broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2'
{~/tmp} b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o
This file is recognised as:
filename : wl_apsta.o
version : 666.2
MD5 : e1b05e268bcdbfef3560c28fc161f30e
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actually, there are 3 drivers from which to choose: wl_ap.o, wl_apsta.o, and wl_sta.o but another thread i was reading recommended wl_apsta.o. unfortunately it probably doesn't matter cuz when i set up the kernel to accept the firmware:
| Code: | CONFIG_PREVENT_FIRMWARE_BUILD=y
CONFIG_FW_LOADER=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL=y
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="b43"
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware"
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when i compile the kernel i constantly run out of memory:
| Code: | AS firmware/b43.gen.o
gcc: internal compiler error: Killed (program as)
Please submit a full bug report,
with preprocessed source if appropriate.
See <http://bugs.gentoo.org/> for instructions.
make[1]: *** [firmware/b43.gen.o] Error 4
make: *** [firmware] Error 2
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i presume i've made some mistake along the way so i'd appreciate any direction someone can give me here.
tia
Last edited by rhumbliner on Sat May 18, 2013 11:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gusar
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Joined: 09 Apr 2005
Posts: 2553
Location: Slovenia
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:47 pm Post subject: |
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The firmware isn't just one file, b43 is a directory containing 30+ files. Either list them all in the kernel config (b43/file1, b43/file2, ...), or better yet, don't compile the firmware into the kernel at all, you don't need to.
Another thing, you need bcma support in your kernel. So make sure you activate bcma and that CONFIG_B43_BCMA=y is set. |
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rhumbliner
n00b
Joined: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 41
Location: Las Vegas
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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yes, i realize the folder has many files, but my understanding was that i simply need to list the folder name. in fact, /lib/firmware contains a whole bunch of sub-directories only one of which is my b43 folder.
| Code: | {~} ls /lib/firmware/
3com av7110 cis edgeport keyspan mts_edge.fw r128 tigon whiteheat.fw
acenic b43 cpia2 emi26 keyspan_pda mts_gsm.fw radeon ti_3410.fw whiteheat_loader.fw
adaptec b43legacy cxgb3 emi62 korg myricom sb16 ti_5052.fw yam
advansys bnx2 dsp56k ess matrox ositech sun ttusb-budget yamaha
atmsar11.fw bnx2x e100 kaweth mts_cdma.fw qlogic tehuti vicam
{~}
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i thought when i configure the kernel i should enter
| Code: | [*] Include in-kernel firmware blobs in kernel binary
(b43) External firmware blobs to build into the kernel binary
(/lib/firmware) Firmware blobs root directory
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am i wrong on this? should the line actually contain
| Code: | | b43/a0g0bsinitvals5.fw,b43/a0g0bsinitvals9.fw,...,b43/ucode33_lcn40.fw |
if so, there are approx 120 .fw files in this folder that i would have to list manually.
thanks, |
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Gusar
Advocate
Joined: 09 Apr 2005
Posts: 2553
Location: Slovenia
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| rhumbliner wrote: | | am i wrong on this? |
Yes.
| rhumbliner wrote: | | that i would have to list manually. |
No, you don't. It's not mandatory to put firmware into the kernel. |
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rhumbliner
n00b
Joined: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 41
Location: Las Vegas
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| then i'm really confused by this. how is this firmware eventually loaded onto the card? does modprobe do this? if so, what mechanism must i enable to make this happen? |
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Gusar
Advocate
Joined: 09 Apr 2005
Posts: 2553
Location: Slovenia
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Newest kernels load firmware themselves. If that fails, or if you're using a kernel older than 3.8, it will ask udev (or mdev if that's what you use) to do it. |
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rhumbliner
n00b
Joined: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 41
Location: Las Vegas
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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well, this has been a learning process. i've since discovered that i didn't need to do all this firmware extraction manually. it's all handled automatically with the b43-firmware package which i've since emerged. now i'm having problems loading, but i'm a little further along. i'll call this thread finished since emerging the package is the smart way to go and i'll start a new topic for the next step.
thanks! |
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