How To: Using the Broadcom STA wireless drivers

[trulan]

This is how I got it working on a dell laptop with a built-in Broadcom 4311 wireless card.

Most of this info was adapted from here:
http://wiki.debian.org/wl
I've tried to make it as simple as possible, only including what is necessary for use in AVLinux 3.0R1.  I have successfully done this procedure several times, but this guide should still be considered a work in progress.  You'll need a working ethernet connection to download a few things:

1. Add necessary repositories:
Open Synaptic.  In the menu, under settings/repositories/third party software, check the box to enable 'sid main non-free contrib'.  Close the settings window and reload your package information.

2. Install these two packages:
broadcom-sta-common
broadcom-sta-source
And remove this one:
b43-fwcutter

3. Build the module:
Open a root terminal and run

Code:

m-a a-i broadcom-sta

You should see the module build successfully.

4. Fix wicd settings:
Open wicd.  Click on the preferences tab.  Change the 'wireless interface' from 'wlan0' to 'eth1'

5. Deal with conflicting modules: (in case it doesn't work)
The modules are supposed to be sorted out by /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf.  However, this still doesn't seem to get it quite right, so I add this work-around:

Code:

gedit /etc/rc.local

add the following lines, anywhere above exit=0:

Code:

# correctly load the broadcom wireless drivers
rmmod b44 ssb
modprobe wl
modprobe b44

save and exit.

7. Reboot.  You should now have working wireless networking, including being able to use the Fn+F2 hotkey switch to turn the card on and off.  Like I said at the beginning, this guide should be considered a work in progress and any input is welcome.

[canezila]

This worked great for 3.01.  I have not got 4.0 to work yet following the above instructions.  Does anyone know what may be different and what to try next?

Thanks!

[trulan]

For one thing, the edits to rc.local are no longer necessary for me (except maybe modprobe wl).  That may be due either to a newer version of the drivers or due to the fact that my new laptop doesn't call the ssb module anymore.

Is it failing to build the module, or is the module failing to load?  If you could post some error messages that might be helpful too.

[canezila]

trulan,

Very glad to see you here.  I have faith it will work now! 

It seems to build everything fine.  But after rebooting and modprobing... and changing the wireless name to wlan0, wlan1, eth1, eth2, eth3 .... nothing changed the wifi light.  So I will have to go back and get some detailed information for you.   

[canezila]

OK.  I am not sure of the exact fix.. but I think it was not a fix... but rather a slipup and fix on my end. 

First, and probably not it, I removed the rc.local edit.

rebooted

Second, I changed the wireless to eth2.  My problem was that when I first installed AV_4, I had an eth-usb adapter plugged into my usb-hub out_of_sight.  It just changed the order of devices and I found it this time... BUT the one unanswered question is: Why did it not work the first time that I tried this eth2?  But I really dont care to pursue it unless there is some other reason that might help someone else... but on my end, I am very happy it is working again!!  Now I have the perfect netbook OS. 

[trulan]

Glad it's working!

The rc.local edits are only necessary if your system likes to call the ssb module, which can be rather obstinate about being removed apparently.  My old laptop used the b44 module for the ethernet card, and the b44 module seems to insist on calling the ssb module even though it doesn't seem to actually need it.  On my new laptop the tg3 module is used for ethernet and ssb is never called, so no need to manually reload the modules like I have been doing.

Sorry for rambling...