Which Broadcom STA driver do I install from the ones listed in Synaptic?

[winger9]

Hi, (Please feel free to laugh. I've never actually posted a message before - ever. And I don't actually know what a Thread is. Also, apologies if my earnest enquiry is in the wrong forum. I'll get better - honest. Couldn't find the right "How to" in "Help".)

I would be most grateful if someone could help me with a Broadcom wifi problem please.

I've got knoppix 7.0.2 (DVD version) installed on my hard drive (Acer Aspire 5750 laptop). But the wifi isn't enabled. The wifi works fine with Windows 7 that came with the Acer. When I boot Windows, the orange wifi light comes on, and you can toggle it on and off with the blue Fn + F3 key. But in Knoppix, there's no such functionation :-) (yes, I AM English :-) ).

I've looked high and low for a solution to the wifi problem, and am finding things very difficult because I'm very new to Linux and Knoppix. What I'd presently like to know is this. In Synaptic Package Manager I've found what appear to be the right Broadcom wifi package(s) (driver) for the Broadcom wifi card (BCM43227) in my laptop.

The Synaptic packages are listed as follows:

a) broadcom-sta-common Common files for the Broadcom STA Wireless driver
b) broadcom-sta-dkms dkms source for the Broadcom STA Wireless driver
c) broadcom-sta-modules-3.2.4 broadcom-sta modules for Linux (kernel 3.2.4)
d) broadcom-sta-modules-3.2.4-64 broadcom-sta modules for Linux (kernel
e) broadcom-sta-source Source for the Broadcom STA Wireless driver

They're all presently uninstalled.

I read in a README.txt (mentioned below) that if you have something called a "pre-compiled driver" then you follow the instructions it gives in that README.txt ("HOW TO INSTALL A PRE-COMPILED DRIVER"). This seems like an easier route to take, so I wondered if one of the above 5 Broadcom packages IS a pre-compiled driver, and perhaps I just install THAT (using Synaptic).

(The README.txt also goes into things like "building the driver" using command-line instructions, but this is far too advanced for me.)

Regarding my thought above about "perhaps I just install THAT", I don't want to just GUESS what to do with the above packages. I don't want to just blindly install them all for example. I'd rather know what I'm doing.

(THIS IS MY MAIN QUESTION):
I would be most grateful if a kind member could tell me WHICH OF THE ABOVE PACKAGES TO INSTALL, and what that actually achieves. Will that then make my wifi work? And will pressing Fn + F3 then toggle the orange light on and off? I'm sorry for being so long winded.

Many thanks if you can help me. John.

------------------------

The following is a Broadcom site that I found which might help others who need a driver for a Broadcom wifi card of the type mentioned below. The site is

http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php/

The site provides downloadable drivers, and says "These packages contain Broadcom's IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n hybrid Linux® device driver for use with Broadcom's BCM4311-, BCM4312-, BCM4313-, BCM4321-, BCM4322-, BCM43224-, and BCM43225-, BCM43227- and BCM43228-based hardware."

The site also provides a detailed README.txt.

[utu]

Greetings, John

I'd like to help you with your b43 functionation.
For background, you should know the following.
Klaus K made a strong effort in Knoppix 7 to solve a long-standing Linux
problem in handling Broadcom wifi drivers. As you probably already know,
some (usually) work with the STA driver set and some don't. Trouble is,
if an installer guesses wrong, it may 'blacklist' the correct choice.
Here in the Colonies we would refer to that as a 'Catch 22'.

To make a long story shorter, we had hoped that now all Broadcom drivers
might be automatically installed correctly by Knopppix, starting with
Knoppix 7.0 and later. AFAIK most are b43s and none should any longer
require the STA driver. The STA driver was unique in that it provided the
necessary proprietary firmware to make SOME b43s work. Knoppix 7 should now
do that for MOST b43s. I don't think your BCM43227 should be an exception.

My initial guess is that you may have somehow told Knoppix 7 to install
an STA driver and inadvertently blacklisted Klaus K's new approach in
the process. In trying to sort this out, there are some things you might do.

0. Don't install anything just yet, let's just see where we are.

0.5 Check the wifi toggle situation; I've inadvertently toggled mine off
on occasion.

1. If you made a LiveCD, boot that up, and see if it doesn't install a
working wifi UN-assisted.

2. Just how do you have Knoppix on a hard drive? Poor man's install or 0wn?
Is this functioning as Linux, just no wifi, or what?

3. If your Knoppix 7 is 'working, just no wifi', then check the blacklist
situation: tell us what you get for /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-knoppix.conf

4ab&c What do you get for lspci|grep BCM and for both lsmod|grep b43
and lsmod|grep wl.

Also, please stay with us on this, we'd like to make sure we have the
BCM43227 covered.

[utu]

...will pressing Fn + F3 then toggle the orange light on and off? I'm sorry for being so long winded.

I missed this.
If the light is toggling off and on, maybe you're all set.

Do you have a Network Manager icon on your task bar?
Have you chosen a network and given it WEP parameters?
It isn't clear to me what state your Knoppix is in.

[klaus2008]

@winger9

What is the output of the command
sudo rfkill list all issued in a terminal?

You have to create a kernel module yourself if you really need a special one for you WLAN adaptor, but I am not sure that the module source package broadcom-sta-source from the testing (wheezy) or unstable (sid) package repositories is compatible with the Linux kernel 3.3.4 of Knoppix 7.0.2. Creating a module package is easy if you can use the module assistant (m-a). Your first steps could be
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -t testing install broadcom-sta-source
sudo m-a build broadcom-sta If everything goes fine you will get a new package in the /usr/src directory that could be installed with the dpkg program or
sudo m-a install broadcom-staI hope that helps.

[utu]

@klaus2008

I think Klaus K would like to see if his new b43 approach can be made to work
without exception for the wl alternative.

I can't tell from John's material if his BCM43227 represents an exception or not.
There is other evidence, e.g. Ubuntu, that says it works with the wl driver.

We'd not like wl to present any new problems in Linux.
You may recall 6.4 favored b43 and 6.7 favored wl; we're trying to get beyond that.

Otherwise, please stick with us to see if we can unravel this.

[winger9]

Hi utu

Yes it's me. You thought I'd been swallowed by a black hole. No, just by
life's furculations.

(A) Thanks very much for your reply to my enquiry. ("Which Broadcom STA
driver do I install from the ones listed in Synaptic?", 20Aug12).

What an exceptionally clever man you are, having such a depth of knowledge, AND
insight.

I'm sorry for my inability to describe things briefly. Why write one word when
twenty will do? :-)

(B) Could I make clearer something in my original post. In the list of Broadcom
packages in Synaptic that I gave, ( a) to e) ), knoppix.net seems to have
changed my tabs into single spaces in the posting. So the package names run
straight into their descriptions. So I've re-done the list below to make
it clearer. Also please note that I'd missed a bit off the end of entry "d)"
(asterisked) (now complete).

a) broadcom-sta-common Common files for the Broadcom STA Wireless driver
b) broadcom-sta-dkms dkms source for the Broadcom STA Wireless driver
c) broadcom-sta-modules-3.2.4 broadcom-sta modules for Linux (kernel 3.2.4)
* d) broadcom-sta-modules-3.2.4-64 broadcom-sta modules for Linux (kernel
3.2.4-64)
e) broadcom-sta-source Source for the Broadcom STA Wireless driver

(C) Here's the info that you asked me for, using your fine numbering order:

0.5 No, the wifi orange LED doesn't come on AT ALL in knoppix. Once knoppix has
booted, when I press the blue Fn + F3 combination (which should toggle the wifi
LED on and off, and presumably the radio signal) the LED never comes on (as it
dutifully did in windows 7).

1. I booted up my LiveDVD, but the same no-wifi-at-all scenario still exists.

2. I used 0wn to install knoppix from the DVD to hard drive. I recall
opting NOT to use the GRUB/GRUB2 bootloader (I didn't want it to overwrite the
Master Boot Record). Windows 7 is still on the same hard drive (separate
partitions), and I have a dual-boot setup (Windows 7 and Knoppix, although the
bootloader won't boot Windows at the moment).

Re your 2nd question under "2.", I wasn't quite sure what you were asking me
("Is this functioning as Linux, just no wifi, or what?"). So here's my stab at
sussing ("working out", in case that doesn't translate to your fine part of the
world) what you're asking me. My hard drive Knoppix IS running as Knoppix, and
seems to run OK, but the wifi isn't working. Once booted, it's in LXDE
(Lightweight X DEsktop (in case any new users like me are reading this)).

3. Yes, "Knoppix 7 is 'working, just no wifi'". What a genius you are, knowing
all the following commands, and WHERE various important files are. My mind is
boggled at your prowess.

Here are the contents of /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-knoppix.conf :

# modprobe blacklist for KNOPPIX

# HP Mini 110 PC wifi w/wl.ko breaks if ssb is loaded,
# but b43* requires ssb
# blacklist ssb

# if b43* are used, wl.ko should NOT be auto-loaded
blacklist wl

# graphics/KMS drivers should not get autoloaded by udev
blacklist nvidia
blacklist nouveau
blacklist nvidiafb
blacklist intelfb
blacklist mbp_nvidia_bl.ko
blacklist rivafb
blacklist i915
blacklist radeon

4. Here is the info you want for a,b,c.:

a)

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lspci|grep BCM
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57785 Gigabit
Ethernet PCIe (rev 10)
02:00.1 SD Host controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM57765 Memory Card
Reader (rev 10)
03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43227 802.11b/g/n
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

b)

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lsmod|grep b43
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

(No output returned. John.)

c)

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lsmod|grep wl
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

(No output returned. John.)

-------------------------------------------------

Just for belt and braces, here's the complete lsmod output:

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
parport_pc 23255 0
ppdev 4143 0
lp 6122 0
parport 21794 3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
ipv6 205277 46
uvcvideo 50081 0
videobuf2_vmalloc 1476 1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops 1250 1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core 13842 1 uvcvideo
videodev 59186 1 uvcvideo
media 7012 2 videodev,uvcvideo
acer_wmi 16111 0
sparse_keymap 1996 1 acer_wmi
battery 8393 0
ac 2369 0
wmi 5907 1 acer_wmi
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 18271 1
snd_hda_codec_realtek 77224 1
tg3 104674 0
snd_hda_intel 16731 4
snd_hda_codec 50923 3
snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_ hdmi
i2c_i801 6174 0
joydev 6678 0
i915 309222 3
drm_kms_helper 18353 1 i915
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

-----------------------------------------------------------
(End of data that you wanted.)

(D) Thanks very much for leaping on my problem for me. It's very unusual in
this world to find someone who actually WANTS to help someone else in such a
detailed way.

Prior to coming to you fine chaps at knoppix.net, I spent a long time trawling
the Internet to find a solution to why my knoppix wifi isn't working. So it
might be relevant to describe some significant things that I've found out.

(E) One contributor said that with Broadcom cards, the wifi problem isn't
distro specific, and that you have to actually obtain the appropriate driver
for your card, AND place it in the CORRECT directory in Linux (when I say
"Linux", I mean any distro of Linux).

(F) I spent a long time trawling the Internet to find a driver for MY
particular Broadcom card (BCM43227 802.11b/g/n). I finally found a site that
seemed to have it (http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php/). This
is the site I mention in my original post.

The site provides downloadable drivers, and says "These packages contain
Broadcom's IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n hybrid Linux® device driver for use with
Broadcom's BCM4311-, BCM4312-, BCM4313-, BCM4321-, BCM4322-, BCM43224-, and
BCM43225-, BCM43227- and BCM43228-based hardware."

My Broadcom card is BCM43227 (which is included in the above list).

(G) Before finding this site, the nearest drivers to my card that I could find
were called Broadcom "B43" and "B43 legacy". At that point, I sort of felt that
they wouldn't actually be the correct drivers for MY particular card. But I
considered downloading them (particularly the b43) to try them out, and placing
them in the directory specified by the chap at (E).

But then I found the following directories on my knoppix system, which suggested
to me that those drivers were ALREADY on my system:
/lib/firmware/b43
/lib/firmware/b43legacy
/lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43
/lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43legacy
/lib/modules/3.3.7-64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43
/lib/modules/3.3.7-64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43legacy

SO I FIGURED THAT KNOPPIX WOULD BE USING THESE DRIVERS ALREADY IF THEY WERE THE
RIGHT ONES. BUT OF COURSE MY WIFI DOESN'T WORK, SO THE APPARENT PRESENCE OF
THESE DRIVERS APPEARS TO MAKE NO DIFFERENCE.

(H) So when I found a driver at
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php/
that SPECIFICALLY covers my BCM43227 card, it seemed that this MIGHT BE THE
RIGHT DRIVER.

For some reason, I looked in Synaptic Package Manager and found the driver
packages listed at (B) above. THESE SEEMED TO HAVE A CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE
DRIVER DESCRIBED AT http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php/, and
in the README.txt at that site.

(I) So I concluded that these Synaptic driver packages might actually BE the
same driver as offered for download at
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php/ .

*** So I thought, perhaps all I need to do is install THE CORRECT ***
*** Synaptic PACKAGE (OR PACKAGES) and perhaps then my wifi might ***
*** work. ***

That's when I posted my original enquiry "Which Broadcom STA driver do I
install from the ones listed in Synaptic?", 20Aug12".

(J) Re your kind addendum question:
There IS a networking icon on the taskbar. If I right-click it, you can then
click on "Edit Connections" which fetches up sotware called "Network
Connections". Some while ago I selected it and set up WIRELESS parameters
(which I seem to recall had no existing entry).

I had to ask my ISP (the rooting tooting Post Office) to suggest what parameters
to enter. For "wireless security" I've selected "WPA & WPA2 Personal" as
opposed to WEP because the Post Office say that the former is more secure.

Presumably, having these wireless parameters set up, isn't significant yet, in
that the wifi hardware isn't being kicked into life yet by good old knoppix.

Well I think that's it (for now). Thanks very much utu for your kind and expert
attention to my problem.

John


------------------------
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WPS

[utu]

Greetings, John.

From what I see here, 43227 may be a Broadcom exception not handled
correctly by Knoppix 7. Neither b43 nor wl drivers were loaded. Also,
wl was blacklisted.

We know the 43227 will work with a wl driver; Knoppix 7.0.2 may provide one,
but it would need to compile one from source material. Perhaps Synaptics will
do that, but the kernel used to compile must match that of 7.0.2. Klaus2008
can help you if you want to go that way.

The easiest solution here might be to make a Knoppix 6.7.1 LiveCD. Using 6.7.1,
My Broadcom wifi, which works with either wl or b43, automatically sets up with
the wl driver.

We also know a b43 driver should also work if it gets the correct Broadcom firmware.
It does so using a program called b43-fwcutter.
Knoppix 7.0.2 should build a b43 driver module correct for its specific kernel.
We know it didn't install one. Did it build one?

root@Microknoppix:/etc/modprobe.d# modprobe --first-time -v b43
ERROR: could not insert 'b43': Module already in kernel
root@Microknoppix:/etc/modprobe.d# lsmod | grep b43
b43 298744 0
bcma 16433 1 b43
mac80211 283250 1 b43
cfg80211 116931 2 b43,mac80211
rng_core 2363 1 b43
ssb 35297 1 b43
pcmcia 25367 2 b43,ssb

In my case it did and it works and it was all automatic.

So, you might decide to try building your own wl; or switch to 6.7.1;
or we can continue to diagnose your 7.0.2 to see if it'll work with b43.

If the latter, do Klaus2008's test (see post #4)
to make sure your wifi isn't disabled, then
1. look in Synaptic and see if b43-fwcutter is installed; then, if it is,
2. do modprobe --first-time -v b43, and lsmod | grep b43 again.
Get back to us with your progress anyway.
________________

You may note that there is a mail/news reader program in Synaptic called wl.
wl is also the designation of a Broadcom wifi kernel module. They are quite different.
________________

Also, note you are giving Werner fits having to re-format your postings.
I suspect that you need to let NoScript know that knoppix.net is an exception.
Also, you can preview your posts before you post them to see how they'll look.
They usually look pretty bad if NoScript eats all your whitespace.

[utu]

Greetings, John

Try the following:
Install, using Synaptic, in addition to what's already there,
firmware-b43-lpphy-installer
Some Ubuntu folks find this helps some Broadcom wifis find the
right b43 firmware for 'low power' wifis.

The first test is to see if b43 shows up in lsmod|grep b43.

[utu]

John, Klaus2008

At present, it may not be possible to easily find a wl driver for the 3.4.9 kernel.
There is a bug report on broadcom-sta-dkms filed in June. See:
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=677193

Still doesn't work for me forcing dkms to 2.2.0.3-1.1. Bummer.
Better hope b43 works out for us.

[klaus2008]

Hi, utu!

I tried to build the broadcom-sta-module package as I had described above. I was successful with Knoppix 7.0.3, but in Knoppix 7.0.4 the directory /usr/src/linux-headers-3.4.9/include/asm-x86 is missing. Therefore the compiler does not find the include file asm/system.h and the build process fails.

The version numbers of the two packages broadcom-sta-source and broadcom-sta-dkms seem to be identical. Therefore I don't expect that one can use dkms instead of the module assistant.

[klaus2008]

I was successful with Knoppix 7.0.3This is false because I used Knoppix 7.0.2. Sorry.
The compiler did not find the kernel header file asm/system.h when I used Knoppix 7.0.3 CD.

[utu]

Greetings, Klaus2008.

Klaus K suspects your rfkill idea may be the key to John's problem.
I've also found two new references that seem to say John's wifi should
work with b43.

On the wl front, I've found several other distros also find problems compiling wl
for kernels 3.4 and 3.5. Also two work-arounds. If you are interested
you might look at these. I've found no Debian solutions yet.

http://www.mindwerks.net/2012/06/wireless-bcm4312-with-the-3-4-and-3-5-kernel/
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archive/index.php/t-280821.html

I think patching is beyond my level, so I'm not going that way.

[winger9]

Re your post #7 utu:
"So, you might decide to try building your own wl; or switch to 6.7.1;
or we can continue to diagnose your 7.0.2 to see if it'll work with b43."

Hi utu

(Thanks also to you klaus2008 for your help).

(A) I would have preferred to just find out which of the 5 Synaptic packages to
install (broadcom-sta-source, etc) that I mentioned in my 1st post, but I've
had a think, and, to stop sparks coming out of my brain, I thought it perhaps
makes sense to just follow your kind step-by-step directions utu, and hopefully
quickly get my wifi working.

(In the meantime, sincere thanks to all others who are offering me help as
well.)

(B) Re your post #7 utu:
"So, you might decide to try building your own wl; or switch to 6.7.1;
or we can continue to diagnose your 7.0.2 to see if it'll work with b43."

... I'll go for the latter: "... continue to diagnose your 7.0.2 to see if it'll
work with b43."

Even if my wifi doesn't work with b43, at least you'll know what my system
looks like, and hopefully will be in a better position to guide me through
installing the Broadcom-sta driver.

(C) So next I'll fill you in on what you asked for as per:
"If the latter, do Klaus2008's test (see post #4)
to make sure your wifi isn't disabled, then
1. look in Synaptic and see if b43-fwcutter is installed; then, if it is,
2. do modprobe --first-time -v b43, and lsmod | grep b43 again.
Get back to us with your progress anyway."

0. My results for klaus2008's test:

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ rfkill list all
0: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

1. Yes, b43-fwcutter IS installed.

2. My results for your 2.:

a)
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ modprobe --first-time -v b43
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko
ERROR: could not insert 'b43': Operation not permitted
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

[Then I cautiously guessed that perhaps you wanted me to be a superuser, so I
repeated it:]

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ sudo modprobe --first-time -v b43
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/char/hw_random/rng-core.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/ssb/ssb.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/bcma/bcma.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.ko
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

b)
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lsmod | grep b43
b43 290652 0
bcma 15000 1 b43
mac80211 264810 1 b43
cfg80211 114298 2 mac80211,b43
ssb 34520 1 b43
rng_core 2328 1 b43
pcmcia 24848 2 ssb,b43
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

(D) By the way, thanks for the gracious way you pointed out that Werner was
having to reformat my postings. I had no idea that my text was coming through
strangely. All I've been doing is copying my text from the Kate text editor and
pasting it into the posting text area. I'll follow your instructions about
checking the formatting.

(E) In actually IMPLEMENTING things on my system, I'd rather go the GUI
approach (eg using Synaptic Package Manager) if that's physically possible. But
if the only way is to type commands, I wonder if you could put a one-line
description of what each command is doing, so that I actually KNOW what I'm
doing.

Don't worry if that's asking too much. I'm just very grateful for your expert
direction.

Bye for now. John.


-----------
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Why don't you use QUOTE tags for quotations or CODE tags for console outputs? There are many other formatting helpers - give them a chance.
WPS

[utu]

0. My results for klaus2008's test:

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ rfkill list all
0: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

1. Yes, b43-fwcutter IS installed.

2. My results for your 2.:

a)
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ modprobe --first-time -v b43
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko
ERROR: could not insert 'b43': Operation not permitted
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

[Then I cautiously guessed that perhaps you wanted me to be a superuser, so I
repeated it:]

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ sudo modprobe --first-time -v b43
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/char/hw_random/rng-core.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/ssb/ssb.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/bcma/bcma.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.ko
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

b)
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lsmod | grep b43
b43 290652 0
bcma 15000 1 b43
mac80211 264810 1 b43
cfg80211 114298 2 mac80211,b43
ssb 34520 1 b43
rng_core 2328 1 b43
pcmcia 24848 2 ssb,b43
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$


Outstanding, John.
Thanks for confirming b43 gets installed. Klaus K will be happy.
rfkill doesn't seem to be a problem. Often it is.
You've done all the hard work.

We'll have to mull over what else could be wrong.

Need to understand the insmods. Did you do the insmods
of was that a result of modprobe as root?

How are you communicating with us, anyway?

What do you get for ifconfig & iwconfig when using 702?

[winger9]

Hi utu

Thanks for the complement. I can cancel my subsription to plonkers anonymous
now. Let me know when any of my colloquialisms sound like double-dutch to you.

Does "modprobe --first-time -v b43" add the "b43" module to the kernel
(as if I know what I'm talking about). Is this the SAME thing as INSTALLING the
b43 driver? Is the b43 module a driver or is it firmware?

After doing the above modprobe, I rebooted to see if the wifi was working but
the orange wifi LED still doesn't come on, even when I toggle Fn + F3.

The answers to your 3 questions:
1. Communication: I've got an ethernet cable running between my laptop and my
router. Router is connected to phone socket on skirting board, which goes to the
outside telegraph pole of course. I think we were much better off with two tin
cans and a piece of string don't you.

2.
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ ifconfig

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr dc:0e:a1:07:fa:4a
inet addr:192.168.1.33 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::de0e:a1ff:fe07:fa4a/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:4028 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:3969 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:3427662 (3.2 MiB) TX bytes:536187 (523.6 KiB)
Interrupt:16

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:440 (440.0 B) TX bytes:440 (440.0 B)

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

3.
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

I'm glad that YOU know what these outputs mean because i haven't the faintest.
I've started using lower case "i" for "I" - a sure sign that I've been
assimilated :-).

Would you be good enough to tell me something? To get wifi working, is it
normally just a matter of installing the correct wifi device driver in Linux,
and then should the wifi work from that point onwards (you know - press Fn +
F3 (in my case) and the wifi LED comes on)? (I realise that after that you have
to select appropriate wireless settings in network manager to communicate with
the router.)

In Linux, what are the actual STEPS in setting up the wifi. I WOULD like to
know. At the moment I haven't even got a mental picture of what goes off -
just a confused mush. In Windows for example, I presume that what one would do
is, in Control Panel, select the correct wifi driver for the wifi circuit-board
in your PC. Then any software that communicated via the wifi would communicate
with the wifi circuit-board via the wifi driver.

Ta ta for now. John.

[utu]

Greetings again, John

If b43 is installed already and you command 'modprobe b43',
you get no response, and no information.

If b43 is installed already and you command 'lsmod|grep b43',
you should get the response
b43 298744 0
bcma 16433 1 b43
ssb 35297 1 b43
rng_core 2363 1 b43
pcmcia 25367 2 b43,ssb
mac80211 283250 2 b43
cfg80211 116931 3 b43,mac80211

If b43 is installed already and you command 'modprobe --first-time -v b43',
you get the response "ERROR: could not insert 'b43': Module already in kernel"

If b43 is available and NOT already installed and you command 'modprobe --first-time -v b43'
THEN, I think you get all the insmods, as you did, bringing in all the modules listed above.
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ sudo modprobe --first-time -v b43
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/char/hw_random/rng-core.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/ssb/ssb.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/bcma/bcma.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.ko

It looks like you have b43 available but it is not being AUTOMATICALLY installed.
Since we know b43 is available, you can do a modprobe b43 to install the drivers YOURSELF
and see then if the wifi is recognized by network manager, the icon on lxpanel.
A left-click on this icon shows your choices for ethernet and wifi'
a right-click show your choices to enable/disable these choices.

If you have a wifi CHOICE and it's enabled, a right-click should either
connect you to this choice or present you with (at least) a query about WEP
or WAP parameters. Other parameters may also be needed.
The same choices that worked for a Windows handshake work here.

In my case, my wifi choice is a Verizon router which answers on 192.168.1.1 which
automatically assigns me a local 192.168.1.x address and does DNS look-up
service for the internet. All I have to know is its assign NAME and mac address.
The NAME shows up in the CHOICE previously mentioned.

Your router, WEP/WAP and DNS situation may be different than mine.

I'm hoping you just need to struggle your way through this hand-shaking process.
We need your confirmation that b43 works for you, so hang in there.

[winger9]

I had just started reading your #16, then for my own information, i tried

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ modprobe --dry-run -v b43
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/char/hw_random/rng-core.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/ssb/ssb.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/bcma/bcma.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.ko
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lsmod|grep b43
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

I used "--dry-run" because I believe it's just a simulation and doesn't actually do anything. I thought this would be a safer way of just trying it again.

BUT BUT BUT
i thought that the other day we established that i had just ADDED b43 to the kernel (post #13). But the above code now indicates to me that b43 IS NO LONGER IN THE KERNEL.

So I wonder if the Linux system is REMOVING b43 at each bootup (if it's in the kernel).

Here's the current blacklist-knoppix.conf if it's useful:

# modprobe blacklist for KNOPPIX

# HP Mini 110 PC wifi w/wl.ko breaks if ssb is loaded,
# but b43* requires ssb
# blacklist ssb

# if b43* are used, wl.ko should NOT be auto-loaded
blacklist wl

# graphics/KMS drivers should not get autoloaded by udev
blacklist nvidia
blacklist nouveau
blacklist nvidiafb
blacklist intelfb
blacklist mbp_nvidia_bl.ko
blacklist rivafb
blacklist i915
blacklist radeon

Hope this is useful information.

[utu]

Simplified Post #16

1. simply boot up
2. do, as root, modprobe b43
3. check lsmod|grep b43
4. If you get b43 and all its dependent elements as you once did,
start on all the hand-shake stuff I gave you.

[utu]

Greetings again, John.

I see your situation as having several hurdles to get over

0. Is our assumption correct that b43 should work with your wifi?
1. Does your Knoppix 7 install have its basic integrity or is it broken somewhere?
2. Were b43 and its supporting driver modules provided to the kernel by Knoppix?
3. Is your wifi hardware in working condition?
4. Have you provided workable hand-shake parameters to Network Manager?
5. Is your router or other network connection in working order;

0a. Is what Klaus K and I would like to know for sure.
0b. We are aware the wl driver works for your wifi; we weren't aware Knoppix 7 would not
provide wl as a backup alternative. There was a new kernel conflict we hadn't expected.
1. I'm not sure. I'd like to see what you get for testDVD on your DVD.
2a. I think we established that they are available, but may not be automatically installed.
2b. We can probably fix the automation rather easily.
3. You can verify or have verified this with your Windows set-up.
4a. Same as answer 3, simply use identically the same parameters as for Windows.
4b. An excursion to some new set of 'Post Office' parameters is not recommended.
5. Same as answer 3.

If things aren't working just yet, then there are things for you to do in 1, 3, 4 and 5.
I'll help you improve on 2 after you tackle the others successfully.

If you get stuck somewhere, tell us where you need help.

[winger9]

Hi utu

Re your question at #14:

"Need to understand the insmods. Did you do the insmods
of was that a result of modprobe as root?"

Sorry I missed it. The answer is: No, I didn't do the insmods. What you see there, was the actual output from the "sudo modprobe --first-time -v b43"
(ie "insmod /lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/pcmcia/pcmcia.ko " etc).

John

[utu]

There is other evidence, e.g. Ubuntu, that says it works with the wl driver.
@John & Klaus2008

That was a comment of mine earlier in this thread.

I've gone back over my notes, and I now think my reading of the Ubuntu reference example was not correct.
I'll have to say I have found no firm evidence that anyone has got BCM43227 to work with anything but wl.
I'd be glad to have someone else come up with an example that shows b43 is a viable solution.

For anyone that's interested, the most authoritative discussion of Linux drivers for Broadcom wifis seems (to me) to be:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware
It shows BCM43227 as 'not tested', meaning not tested with b43.

[winger9]

Hi utu

After my #17, I continued to read your #16 and decided to follow your
suggestions in #16.

Re your
"Since we know b43 is available, you can do a modprobe b43 to install the
drivers YOURSELF":

I did that as follows

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lsmod|grep b43
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ sudo modprobe b43
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ lsmod|grep b43
b43 290652 0
bcma 15000 1 b43
mac80211 264810 1 b43
cfg80211 114298 2 mac80211,b43
ssb 34520 1 b43
rng_core 2328 1 b43
pcmcia 24848 2 ssb,b43
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

Note, the first line (lsmod|grep b43) indicates that b43 ISN'T in the kernel
at that point. But note that the second line (sudo modprobe b43) gives NO
OUTPUT. According to your kind #16,
"If b43 is installed already and you command 'modprobe b43',
you get no response, and no information."

For some reason, that doesn't fit with what occurred above. But in any event,
the above seems to have added b43 (again) to the kernel (even though this seems
to be a TEMPORARY addition, as I've mentioned at #17).

Should the wifi be physically operating at this point (assuming b43 works and I
don't need the sta driver)? I toggled Fn + F3 at least twice, but the orange
wifi LED still doesn't come on.

But I continued following your instructions and left-clicked on the network
manager icon, which shows:

Wired Network (greyed)
Auto Ethernet (bold)
Disconnect
VPN Connections

I then right-clicked the network manager icon, which shows:

Enable Networking (ticked)
Enable Notifications (ticked)
Connection Information
Edit Connections...

There is NO choice offered to select wifi. What I tend to do in day-to-day use
is use the "Enable Networking" entry to enable/disable the networking when I
want it on or off. Doing this, by the way, doesn't turn the orange wifi LED on
or off, but no doubt you knew that.

Clicking on "Connection information" says:
Active Network Connections (Heading)
Auto Ethernet (default) (a single tab)
... followed by details (eg "General, IPv4")

-----------------------------------------------

Finally. I've just read your #18 & #19. I'll report back with the info you
want, when I can. My priority is still working out the meaning of life, so I
have to control how much attention I give knoppix. :-)

Take it steady, John.

[utu]

Greetings again, John.

You've been pretty patient; sorry things aren't going so well for you.
I think you've shown your Knoppix 7.0.2 can be made to install b43
as a kernel module, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work as we'd hoped.

Why your 7.0.2 requires manual intervention is an additional puzzlement,
but not as crucial a finding.
Two of your symptoms in trying to get your BCM43227 wifi to work with b43
driver don't bode well: the orange light doesn't behave as you'd expect;
and the fact network manager doesn't ask you for wifi handshaking parameters.

Not having a working wl driver alternative is also unfortunate. Knoppix 7 uses
a 3.4 Linux kernel. Debian source for wl for the 3.4 kernel has some error
which causes it to fail to compile. This can be a problem for other Broadcom
wifis as well. A few other distributions have also found this to be the case
and have achieved some work-arounds. Such work-arounds are beyond my skills.
Debian can be expected to take care of this in time.

Lucky you can use the ethernet to exercise your Knoppix 7.
We appreciate your efforts to help us sort this out.

[klaus2008]

@winger9
The rfkill command told that the acer-wireless was neither soft blocked nor hard blocked. Even if the orange WiFi LED does not shine I would try the sta driver.

On Broadcom's website you can find the documentation README.txt (http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/README.txt) which you should read carefully.

While being connected to the internet I would open an LXTerminal and issue

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -t testing install broadcom-sta-source
sudo m-a build broadcom-sta
sudo dpkg -i /usr/src/broadcom-sta-modules-3.3.7_5.100.82.112-7+3.3.7-10.00.Custom_all.deb
sudo apt-get -t testing install broadcom-sta-common
sudo rmmod b43
sudo rmmod ssb
sudo rmmod bcma
sudo rmmod wl
sudo leafpad /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-knoppix.conf
I think that the configuration file should look like the following.

# modprobe blacklist for KNOPPIX
# some blacklisted modules are in the configuration file /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf

# graphics/KMS drivers should not get autoloaded by udev
blacklist nvidia
blacklist nouveau
blacklist nvidiafb
blacklist intelfb
blacklist mbp_nvidia_bl.ko
blacklist rivafb
blacklist i915
blacklist radeon
After you have made the changes you should save the file and close the text editor. It should be possible to load the wl kernel module. I would disconnect from the network and reboot the system.

If the wl kernel module was not loaded at boot time you could open a terminal and issue

sudo modprobe cfg80211
sudo modprobe wl I hope that helps.

[utu]

Greetings, Klaus2008

Nice posting, thanks.

If John, or anyone else, succeeds in compiling wl for the 3.4.9 kernel in
Knoppix 7.0.4, I hope their result will get posted to the alioth depository,
which Klaus K sometimes uses, for others to access until Debian gets their
problem solved.

[winger9]

Dear utu

Thanks everso much for your continuing help. Just right now, I'm keen to try
klaus2008's suggestion at #4 (m-a build broadcom-sta, etc). I hope you don't
mind.

You see, before I approached you fine chaps at knoppix.net, I had spent a
lot of time looking on the Internet for how to make my wifi work in
Linux/knoppix with MY PARTICULAR Broadcom card. And it became evident to me
that the "b43" or "b43 legacy" driver/firmware is for earlier types of
Broadcom card in that series. (I apologise if I'm wrong about that).

So i felt back then (and still do now) that i need a newer driver that has come
out since the b43, and that covers my BCM43227 card. To cut a long story short,
I found a driver that does cover my BCM43227, at

http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php/ (as I mentioned
before).

BUT AFTER THAT I discovered in Synaptic that there appeared to be the same (or
equivalent) driver already available for download from the Linux repository. So
that's what led to my first post in this thread, asking if someone could tell me
WHICH of the 5 Synaptic modules ("broadcom-sta-...") to install.

In Synaptic, the first part of the FULL description of ALL 5 packages is as
follows:

"Broadcom STA is a binary-only device driver to support the following IEEE
802.11a/b/g/n wireless network cards: BCM4311-, BCM4312-, BCM4313-,
BCM4321-, BCM4322-, BCM43224-, BCM43225-, BCM43227-, and BCM43228-based
hardware."

So this shows clearly that my BCM43227 is accommodated by these packages.

I could tell utu, that you (and Klaus K) were keen to see if Knoppix 7.0.2
already covered my BCM43227. So I tried to help out, and went in that direction
for your good selves.

But having had no success with that thus far, I'd like to switch (at least for
the time being) to trying klaus2008's suggestion at #4, which is I believe going
down the route of my Synaptic "broadcom-sta..." packages, that I've mentioned
above.

By-the-way, I'm trying to tell myself not to be so wordy. So if my future posts
are brief and pithy, I'd just like you to know that i hold you fine chaps in
high regard, and that no offense is meant whatsoever by my brief wording.

Take care. John.

[winger9]

To klaus2008 (and utu for your info)

Reply to your posts klaus, #4 & #24.

Thanks immensely. THE ORANGE WIFI LED LIGHT HAS JUST COME ON!

Skipping all the details, I have just entered the following commands:

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ sudo modprobe cfg80211
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ sudo modprobe wl
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

Immediately after the second of the above 2 commands, the wifi LED came on! And I can now toggle the LED on and off with Fn + F3!

I've still got to check some things, but thought I'd let you know this promising progress.

John

[utu]

Good work, John.

I think all you need now is to set up the handshake just like
you do for Windows and you should be all set. You can do this
by working with the network manager icon on the lxpanel.

[klaus2008]

@winger9

You can edit the file /etc/modules and add the two modules cfg80211 and wl if you want to load them at boot time.

[utu]

Greetings, Klaus2008.

I tried to use your fine instructions at post #24 with my Knoppix 7.0.4,
and it fails in the third step 'sudo m-a build broadcom-sta'.

Steps 1 and 2 took some time, but completed without noting any errors.

I presume it likely that the fact the 7.0.4 kernel is 3.4.9, where the
7.0.2 kernel is 3.3.7 is at the heart of the problem, but I don't know how
to adjust your instructions to account for this.

I have a new wifi which works with b43 and allegedly works as well with wl.
I'd hoped to try that out. Any suggestions?

[klaus2008]

Greetings, utu!

In post #12 you wrote that you found out where to find patches for the source files of the wl kernel module. I think that you should try these patches. In principle the only new steps are the download of the patch files and the creation of a new source tar ball. I can't say whether these instructions are sufficient because I do not own a Broadcom WLAN card myself.

I would suggest that you open an LXTerminal and issue the following commands while being connected to the internet.

1. Install the source files.


sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install broadcom-sta-source
2. Download the patches: bc_wl_abiupdate.patch and switch_to.patch


sudo wget -O /usr/src/bc_wl_abiupdate.patch http://www.mindwerks.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bc_wl_abiupdate.patch
sudo wget -O /usr/src/switch_to.patch http://www.mindwerks.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/switch_to.patch
If wget does not find the patch files you have to open the webpage you found in a web browser and correct the URLs.
3. Extract the sources:


cd /usr/src
sudo tar xjf broadcom-sta.tar.bz2
4. Patch the source, save the old source archive and create a new tar archive.


sudo patch -p0 modules/broadcom-sta/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c < /usr/src/switch_to.patch
sudo patch -p0 modules/broadcom-sta/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c < /usr/src/bc_wl_abiupdate.patch
sudo mv broadcom-sta.tar.bz2 broadcom-sta.tar.bz2.old
sudo tar cjf broadcom-sta.tar.bz2 modules/broadcom-sta
sudo rm -rf modules/broadcom-sta
5. Build the module with the module assistant.


sudo m-a build broadcom-sta
6. Install the new package and the missing broadcom-sta-common.


sudo dpkg -i broadcom-sta-modules-3.4.9_5.100.82.112-7+3.4.9-10.00.Custom_all.deb
sudo apt-get install broadcom-sta-common
7. Edit the configuration file.


sudo leafpad /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-knoppix.conf
I think that file should look like the following.


# modprobe blacklist for KNOPPIX
# some blacklisted modules are in the configuration file /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf

# graphics/KMS drivers should not get autoloaded by udev
blacklist nvidia
blacklist nouveau
blacklist nvidiafb
blacklist intelfb
blacklist mbp_nvidia_bl.ko
blacklist rivafb
blacklist i915
blacklist radeon
After you have made the changes you should save the file and close the text editor.

8. Reboot your system and try to load the kernel modules cfg80211 and wl.


sudo modprobe cfg80211
sudo modprobe wl
If everything works fine you can add these kernel modules to the configuration file /etc/modules.

I hope that helps. Comments and corrections are always welcome.

[utu]

Thanks, Klaus2008.

Tried your instructions in post #31. Things failed at Step #5
Hoping to include the last screen as an attachment.

[klaus2008]

I think step #5 has finished and you were trying to install the new package using
sudo m-a install broadcom-sta-source Did you also try the instructions I gave at step #6?

I think that you could also try
sudo apt-get install broadcom-sta-common
sudo m-a install broadcom-sta-source