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willie_wang
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:36 am    Post subject: [HOWTO] Broadcom cards with B43 & WPA - 2.6.24 kernel Reply with quote

Note: This is still a work-in-progress. If you spot any errors in syntax, can you please reply and I'll try to get this fixed! Thanks! ~ ww

So here we are again with the famed Broadcom wireless cards. I've gone through a lot of grief trying to get these cards to work in various distros, all having to use ndiswrapper, but with the advent of the 2.6.24 series kernel, and the new B43 native linux wireless drivers, we finally have a full open-source solution to our Broadcom woes.

I have a Broadcom 4318 card, but this should work for other Broadcom cards too. Depending on your card, you may need the B43 Legacy drivers rather than the B43 drivers. If in doubt, there is a list of the supported cards here: http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

Special thanks to pappy_mcfae: reading his bug reports and forum posts have helped alot in getting my own wireless working. Thanks also to sera for helping me with the kernel configuration.


Configuring your Kernel
You need to compile your kernel with the B43 or the B43 Legacy module. If in doubt, you can look here http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43 for the specific module for your card, or you can just install both modules, and the kernel will select the appropriate module for your card.


The Firmware and b43-fwcutter
Once the kernel has been compiled and you've copied the bzimage/genkernel file to your boot folder, you then need to extract and install the firmware. The easiest way is to use wget to get the packages:
Code:
emerge wget


If you are using a 2.6.25 kernel, then you need to extract the newer firmware. Details are on the b43 homepage listed above.

Fetch the b43-fwcutter and the firmware and extract them to /usr/src:
Code:
cd /usr/src
wget http://bu3sch.de/b43/fwcutter/b43-fwcutter-011.tar.bz2
wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2
tar xvjf b43-fwcutter-011.tar.bz2
tar xvjf broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2


Compile the b43-fwcutter module:
Code:
cd b43-fwcutter-011
make && make install


Then you can use the firmware cutter to extract the firmware to /lib/firmware. To do that, the directory must exist, so create it, then extract the firmware.
Code:
mkdir /lib/firmware
b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware ../broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0/kmod/apsta.o


There you go, you now have the firmware in the correct place. If you compilied the kernel correctly, the kernel will look for the firmware where you just put it.



DHCP, Wireless tools and wpa_supplicant
You need to emerge a few packages to make your firmware operate correctly: dchpcd - for dhcp; wireless tools; wpa_supplicant for WPA protected networks. Unmask these if necessary before emerging.
Code:
emerge dhcpcd
emerge wireless-tools
emerge wpa_supplicant



Configuring wlan0 and starting at boot
you need to create a symlink from from net.lo to net.wlan0 in the init.d folder and then add it to the default run-level so it will start on boot.
Code:

ln -s /etc/init.d/net.lo /etc/init.d/net.wlan0
rc-update add net.wlan0 default



Configuring wpa_supplicant
Configure the network to recognise the wpa_supplicant module, and then configure the driver for wpa_supplicant. This is done by editing the /etc/conf.d/net file.
Code:
nano /etc/conf.d/net


Then add the following to the file:
Code:
modules=( "wpa_supplicant" )
wpa_supplicant_wlan0="-Dwext -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf"


Next you need to edit your wpa_supplicant file to recognise your wireless network.
Code:
nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf


My wpa_supplicant.conf file looks remarkably similar to this:
Code:
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel

ap_scan=1

network={
  ssid="HOME"
  proto=WPA
  key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
  pairwise=TKIP
  psk="This is my secret WPA password"
  priority=2
}



Acer Laptops - acer_acpi
If you have an acer laptop, (because they're great! mine's a 5020 series - soon to get an 8920 model! woohoo!) then you need to install acer_acpi for all kernels before 2.6.25, from kernel 2.6.25, acer_acpi is included as wmi_acer.
Code:
echo "app-laptop/acer_acpi ~amd64" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords
emerge acer_acpi
modprobe acer_acpi
echo "acer_acpi" >> /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6
echo "1" > /proc/acpi/acer/wireless

Obviously, substitute the "~amd64" for your architecture, ie. "x86" or whatever.
The last line is to enable your wireless card. This line is essential to making your wireless work on acer laptops. Enabling this once should suffice, but sometimes it may be required on each boot.

Few things to note
On loading wlan0, wpa_supplicant throws up an error message. ***INSERT ***

In my experience, this error message has not caused any problems so far, so can safely be ignored.

Also, I'm no linux genius, I've only just started using Gentoo (love it!) but if these instructions don't work, please don't hunt me down. I'll try to help as much as possible though, if you post your comments here.

So on that note, I really hopes this helps people. And happy native linux wirelessing!

:D


Last edited by willie_wang on Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good work dude!
But for some cards (eg. 4311 ) kernel patch is needed. It can be found @ linuxwireless.org
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

meal wrote:
Good work dude!
But for some cards (eg. 4311 ) kernel patch is needed. It can be found @ linuxwireless.org


Cheers! Thanks for the pointer :)
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok. After trying the B43 module for a few days now, I can confirm what pappy_mcfae has been saying in other threads.

The B43 thread is somewhat unreliable. It also has trouble connecting to WPA enterprise networks.

Once I switched to ndiswrapper and the windows drivers, the problem with low bandwidth and WPA enterprise networks was sorted out. I really hope the developers can make a better B43 module - but so far, their progress has been good. The B43 module is definitely a step up from the old BCM43xx one.

To install ndiswrapper and broadcom cards onto 2.6.24 kernels, make sure you blacklist the B43 and ssb modules in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist for ndiswrapper to work. ~ww
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great work...
Sorry but I haven't followed the develop of the broadcom driver...and I have configurated my cards long time ago...
I have a broadcom 4318 with integrated bluetooth.
Is the new bc43 driver inserted in the kernel 2.6.24?
Why have I to use b43-fwcutter?
Thank you.
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willie_wang
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fbi78 wrote:
Great work...
Sorry but I haven't followed the develop of the broadcom driver...and I have configurated my cards long time ago...
I have a broadcom 4318 with integrated bluetooth.
Is the new bc43 driver inserted in the kernel 2.6.24?
Why have I to use b43-fwcutter?
Thank you.


The b43 module is in the 2.6.24 kernel, but it is my understanding that you also need to use b43-fwcutter to extract the relevant firmware from a file (wl_apsta.o or something like that) into a folder where your kernel can find it, namely in this case, the /lib/firmware folder.

Without this firmware, the kernel module will fail to initialise your wireless device.
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you willie_w.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:30 am    Post subject: Re: [HOWTO] Broadcom cards with B43 & WPA - 2.6.24 kerne Reply with quote

Fantastic !!!!! work very well !!!

Thank you for tutorial !!
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A litle something I would like to add.

I am currently trying to get this to work. I noticed b43-fwcutter is in portage, but it is masked. To install it

Code:
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" emerge -a b43-fwcutter


Will give more if I find anything
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

using the b43legacy driver and the right firmware, I can now get my card to start. However, it will not connect.

My AP is using WEP. My current config looks like this


Code:

/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

network={
        key_mgmt=NONE
        priority=-9999999
}




ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
network={
        ssid="MYSIDHERE"
        scan_ssid=1
        key_mgmt=IEEE8021X
        eap=TLS
        identity="gohan"
        ca_cert="/etc/cert/ca.pem"
        client_cert="/etc/cert/user.pem"
        private_key="/etc/cert/user.prv"
        private_key_passwd="The passphrase I used on my router to generate my key"
        priority=2
        }



When I start wlan0, I get the following

Quote:
gohan ~ # /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start
* Starting wlan0
* Starting wpa_supplicant on wlan0 ...
ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported
WEXT auth param 4 value 0x0 - ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported [ ok ]th param 5 value 0x1 -
* Starting wpa_cli on wlan0 ... [ ok ]
* Backgrounding ...


ifconfig shows wlan0 as up, but no IP. I removed the wired card and left only the wireless, same thing.

Code:
wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0D:3A:72:6F:B8 
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)


my dhcp never sees the ip request comming, so I doupt I ever made it to my AP, who is about 1 foot away.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was able to get a litle further.

Got the card recognise and everything using wireless tools. However, the web decrypt fails with the following error

Code:
WEP decrypt failed (ICV)


any idea?
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 11:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

madchaz wrote:
I was able to get a litle further.

Got the card recognise and everything using wireless tools. However, the web decrypt fails with the following error

Code:
WEP decrypt failed (ICV)


any idea?


Hey madchaz!

How are you passing your WEP password to your router? I can't see anything in your wpa_supplicant.conf where this is passed through.

Your first line in your wpa_supplicant looks a little suspect too. Try editing your wpa_supplicant file so it looks something like this:

Code:
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel

ap_scan=1

network={
        key_mgmt=NONE
        priority=-9999999
}

network={
   ssid="static-wep-test2"
   key_mgmt=NONE
   wep_key0="abcde"
   wep_key1=0102030405
   wep_key2="1234567890123"
   wep_tx_keyidx=0
   priority=5
   auth_alg=SHARED
        }


Make sure the key matches to its corresponding key index.

It may help to post your /etc/conf.d/net file and also the results of iwlist scan. Also can you connect when your router has no wireless encryption? If you still can't when it has no encryption, then maybe your kernel configuration needs looking at a little more. ~ww
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was never able to get that far with wpa_supplicant. As I stated, I got that far with wireless tools.

Going back to wpa_supplicant.conf, the first part is actually the default in the file. Removing it changed nothing.

I am a bit lost with wep_key0 1 and 2. My AP only provides 1 key, not 3. Where am I supposed to put it?

Right now, here is what I get if I try to use the proposed conf, with key1 having been replaced by my WEP key.
Code:


 /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 restart
 * Starting wlan0
 *   Starting wpa_supplicant on wlan0 ...
ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported
WEXT auth param 4 value 0x0 - ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported                                                                                                                                       [ ok ]th param 5 value 0x1 -
 *   Starting wpa_cli on wlan0 ...                                                                                                                                                                       [ ok ]
 *     Backgrounding ...


I I get this result with or without encryption. I am sure something needs changing, I just can't figure out what...

Here is what I get from ifconfig and iwconfig

Code:

gohan ~ # iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wmaster0  no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"" 
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=off   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2346 B   
          Encryption key:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

eth0      no wireless extensions.

gohan ~ # ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:09:5B:1C:DD:32 
          inet addr:192.168.100.59  Bcast:192.168.100.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::209:5bff:fe1c:dd32/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1727 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1170 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:160345 (156.5 Kb)  TX bytes:161994 (158.1 Kb)
          Interrupt:3 Base address:0x300

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback 
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:560 (560.0 b)  TX bytes:560 (560.0 b)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0D:3A:72:6F:B8 
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

wmaster0  Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-0D-3A-72-6F-B8-38-80-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)



/etc/conf.d/net
Code:

modules=( "wpa_supplicant" )
wpa_supplicant_wlan0="-Dwext -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf"


/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
Code:

ap_scan=1

network={
        key_mgmt=NONE
        priority=-9999999
}


network={
   ssid="dbz"
   key_mgmt=NONE
   wep_key0="abcde"
   wep_key1=XXXXXXXXXXXX (real key normaly here)
   wep_key2="1234567890123"
   wep_tx_keyidx=0
   priority=5
   auth_alg=SHARED
        }


Here is the result of iwlist scan

Code:

gohan ~ # iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

wmaster0  Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0     No scan results

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.



I know the AP is in range (they are sitting next to one another) and broadcasting SSID. (I can see it using the same card and windows)
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dusted out my d-link wpa capable AP to see if I could get this to work. Upgraded the firmware to the latest version (Had put it away as it had HUGE stability issues that are apparently fixed in the latest firmware)

Got it all setup. Configured wpa_supplicant to use it. I am geting the exact same error as above when trying to start net.wlan0
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willie_wang
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, first thing's first. You're not picking up any AP scan results from your wireless card (see iwlist scan), which means that it's not actually working properly. Although the firmware must be installed (because the card shows). Have you got a wireless switch anywhere on your machine, if so, just double check if you've switched it on. The results of
Code:
dmesg | grep b43
might help us determine what's wrong with your setup. Please could you post the results?

Ok, I'm not a router expert, but I'm pretty sure when you set your WEP key, then you usually have 4 text input slots, sure and safe method would be to put the same key in all of the key fields on your router then format the relevant bit in your wpa_supplicant.conf so it looks like below,

network={
ssid="My-Home"
key_mgmt=NONE
wep_key0=ABCDEF01234
wep_tx_keyidx=0
priority=5
}


This code:
Code:
ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported
WEXT auth param 4 value 0x0 - ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported                                                                                                                                       [ ok ]th param 5 value 0x1 -
 *   Starting wpa_cli on wlan0 ...                                                                                                                                                                       [ ok ]

is okay. It's exactly the same as what I get when I use B43, but my wireless works fine, so I'd ignore this.

Also, just have a look at your dmesg output to see if there's anything strange going on there.
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for your help, it is very appreciated

The card is PCMCIA, not internal, so no switch.

My router only asks for a "passphrase" that it then changes into an HEX value that I use to authenticate. This HEX number is what I input under windows to get the card to connect. (for the WEP one)

dmesg does not give much. Ran this after having tried to restart net.wlan0

Code:
gohan ~ # dmesg | grep b43
b43legacy-phy0: Broadcom 4306 WLAN found
b43legacy-phy0: Radio turned off by software

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't see either the B43 or the B43 legacy drivers anywhere in the menuconfig menus (nor the bcm43xx). Is there something else I need to enable to get them to show up? I can see the drivers in drivers/net/wireless directory but it doesn't appear that they've ever been built (no .o/.ko files).
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 1:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mage2k06 wrote:
I don't see either the B43 or the B43 legacy drivers anywhere in the menuconfig menus (nor the bcm43xx). Is there something else I need to enable to get them to show up? I can see the drivers in drivers/net/wireless directory but it doesn't appear that they've ever been built (no .o/.ko files).
Ok, nevermind, I just figured out that I can backtrack kernel dependencies by crossreferencing the Kconfig files with the .config file. I'll be back here if I have any more issues.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mage2k06 wrote:
mage2k06 wrote:
I don't see either the B43 or the B43 legacy drivers anywhere in the menuconfig menus (nor the bcm43xx). Is there something else I need to enable to get them to show up? I can see the drivers in drivers/net/wireless directory but it doesn't appear that they've ever been built (no .o/.ko files).
Ok, nevermind, I just figured out that I can backtrack kernel dependencies by crossreferencing the Kconfig files with the .config file. I'll be back here if I have any more issues.


or while in "make menuconfig", you can just hit the "/" button and type in "b43" and it'll tell you where to find the module and what it depends on. ;)
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

willie_w wrote:
mage2k06 wrote:
mage2k06 wrote:
I don't see either the B43 or the B43 legacy drivers anywhere in the menuconfig menus (nor the bcm43xx). Is there something else I need to enable to get them to show up? I can see the drivers in drivers/net/wireless directory but it doesn't appear that they've ever been built (no .o/.ko files).
Ok, nevermind, I just figured out that I can backtrack kernel dependencies by crossreferencing the Kconfig files with the .config file. I'll be back here if I have any more issues.


or while in "make menuconfig", you can just hit the "/" button and type in "b43" and it'll tell you where to find the module and what it depends on. ;)
Even better :)
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madchaz
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Joined: 01 Jul 2003
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PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bump

still can't get it to work ...
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willie_wang
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Joined: 02 Apr 2008
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PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2008 5:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

madchaz wrote:
Bump

still can't get it to work ...


Have you tried connecting with an open AP, i.e. no encryption? Try that, if you can connect with no encryption, then it's a problem with your wpa_supplicant info.

If you can't, then it'll be the way you set up your hardware. Check your kernel configuration. In kernels before 2.6.25, check that networking > wireless > networking stack > then the various decryption options are compiled.

Then double check your wpa_supplicant - look at the howtos on the wiki - they got me up and running.

Hope this helps - if you still can't get this set up, then I suppose ndiswrapper'll be your next best friend ;)
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pilla
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PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2008 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Moved from Networking & Security to Documentation, Tips & Tricks.
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NixdorfZippaHed
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PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2008 12:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

willie_wang wrote:
To install ndiswrapper and broadcom cards onto 2.6.24 kernels, make sure you blacklist the B43 and ssb modules in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist for ndiswrapper to work. ~ww


I haven't been able to get ndiswrapper working on my laptop (I have an acer ferrari 3400 with an amd64 processor) for any of the 2.6.24- line of kernels. I have been using ndiswrapper with a Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 03) since 2005 (1118404930: Started emerge on: Jun 10, 2005 12:02:10). Did you have to change any of your kernel settings when you went to the 2.6.24 line of kernels? When I build my kernel I do not build any of the bcm modules. Should I?

Thanks.
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IvanMajhen
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Joined: 10 Jun 2006
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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 5:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

madchaz wrote:
Thanks for your help, it is very appreciated

The card is PCMCIA, not internal, so no switch.

My router only asks for a "passphrase" that it then changes into an HEX value that I use to authenticate. This HEX number is what I input under windows to get the card to connect. (for the WEP one)

dmesg does not give much. Ran this after having tried to restart net.wlan0

Code:
gohan ~ # dmesg | grep b43
b43legacy-phy0: Broadcom 4306 WLAN found
b43legacy-phy0: Radio turned off by software


Do you have RFKILL=y selected?
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