Wireless not working on Knoppix 6.7.1

[utu]

@ tmq

I just noticed your post.
Sorry, I had turned off my notifications on this thread.

If you are being 'asked for a pw' , then perhaps you already have installed the driver,
but are just not using the right security id for your router.

Tell us more about just what's going on.
Also see what lspci | grep BCM says, and lsmod | grep wl.

[utu]

Having reviewed this thread, I offer this summary, FWIW.

I have a Dell 1545 that's about two years old. It has a Broadcom wifi
which uses the wl driver. Knoppixes from 6.2 through 6.7.1, luckily
for me, work without any attention on my part to identify and to
install this driver. Very few other Linuxes do so without a LOT of
extra effort.

However, I observe that getting the right match for a Broadcom wifi
can be a tricky matter. I recommend the following reference in sorting
this out, at least insofar as deciding which Dells work with wl:
http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/README.txt

In my case, lspci -n | grep 14e4 gives 0c:00.0 0280: 14e4:4315 (rev 01)
and I did not need to dis-install any other drivers nor change any
blacklists.

This thread shows how Alphonsu worked through this problem for a
situation that required actually removing some conflicting drivers
as suggested in the Broadcom reference. His post #19 seems to spell-out
the secret to solving his problem.

If all else fails, perhaps a personal message to Klaus2008 may get
you some competent and patient help.

[tmq]

I greatly appreciate the help; in the end I concluded Knoppix would fit well as my desktop's 2nd linux OS. Even so, I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future

[utu]

@ tmq

Nice to hear your appreciation,
but can't imagine Knoppix as #2.
;D

[Werner P. Schulz]

Why not #2?

Knoppix cannot handle users, does not use passwords and isn't designed for security updates.

[utu]

Greetings, Werner.

I can't imagine Knoppix as my #2 Linux.
It best meets my needs & lack of expertise.

I think your comment may be the best short answer
to the question of how Knoppix & Debian are different.

I can imagine more expert Linux users, certainly commercial
and professional users, may have other first choices.

Also, I count on you, KK and a few others on this
forum to keep me out of trouble.

[ChriguK]

Hi everyone,

Tried to make Broadcom BCM43224 work on Knoppix 7.0.2 on a USB stick, but could install broadcom-sta-common using

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install broadcom-sta-common
sudo m-a prepare
sudo m-a a-i broadcom-sta

This is my buildlog:

for templ in ; do \
    cp $templ `echo $templ | sed -e 's/_KVERS_/3.3.7/g'` ; \
  done
for templ in `ls debian/*.modules.in` ; do \
    test -e ${templ%.modules.in}.backup || cp ${templ%.modules.in} ${templ%.modules.in}.backup 2>/dev/null || true; \
    sed -e 's/##KVERS##/3.3.7/g ;s/#KVERS#/3.3.7/g ; s/_KVERS_/3.3.7/g ; s/##KDREV##/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g ; s/#KDREV#/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g ; s/_KDREV_/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g  ' < $templ > ${templ%.modules.in}; \
  done
dh_clean
/usr/bin/make clean KBUILD=/usr/src/linux KVERS=3.3.7
Kernel architecture is X86_32
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
KBUILD_NOPEDANTIC=1 make -C /lib/modules/3.3.7/build M=/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta clean
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.3.7'
Wireless Extension is the only possible API for this kernel version
Using Wireless Extension API
Kernel architecture is X86_32
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.3.7'
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
/usr/bin/make  -f debian/rules kdist_clean kdist_config binary-modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
for templ in ; do \
    cp $templ `echo $templ | sed -e 's/_KVERS_/3.3.7/g'` ; \
  done
for templ in `ls debian/*.modules.in` ; do \
    test -e ${templ%.modules.in}.backup || cp ${templ%.modules.in} ${templ%.modules.in}.backup 2>/dev/null || true; \
    sed -e 's/##KVERS##/3.3.7/g ;s/#KVERS#/3.3.7/g ; s/_KVERS_/3.3.7/g ; s/##KDREV##/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g ; s/#KDREV#/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g ; s/_KDREV_/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g  ' < $templ > ${templ%.modules.in}; \
  done
dh_clean
/usr/bin/make clean KBUILD=/usr/src/linux KVERS=3.3.7
Kernel architecture is X86_32
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
KBUILD_NOPEDANTIC=1 make -C /lib/modules/3.3.7/build M=/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta clean
make[3]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.3.7'
Wireless Extension is the only possible API for this kernel version
Using Wireless Extension API
Kernel architecture is X86_32
make[3]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.3.7'
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
make[1]: Für das Ziel »kdist_config« ist nichts zu tun.
dh_testdir
dh_testroot
dh_prep
# Build and install the module
make -C /usr/src/linux M=/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.3.7'
Wireless Extension is the only possible API for this kernel version
Using Wireless Extension API
Kernel architecture is X86_32
  LD      /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/built-in.o
  CC [M]  /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/src/shared/linux_osl.o
  CC [M]  /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.o
  CC [M]  /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/src/wl/sys/wl_iw.o
  CC [M]  /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/src/wl/sys/wl_cfg80211.o
  LD [M]  /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/wl.o
  Building modules, stage 2.
Wireless Extension is the only possible API for this kernel version
Using Wireless Extension API
Kernel architecture is X86_32
  MODPOST 1 modules
  CC      /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/wl.mod.o
  LD [M]  /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/wl.ko
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.3.7'
install -D -m 0644 wl.ko debian/broadcom-sta-modules-3.3.7/lib/modules/3.3.7/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/wl.ko
dh_installdocs
dh_installchangelogs
dh_installmodules
dh_compress
dh_fixperms
dh_installdeb
dh_gencontrol -- -v5.100.82.112-7+3.3.7-10.00.Custom
dh_md5sums
dh_builddeb --destdir=/usr/src
dpkg-deb: Paket »broadcom-sta-modules-3.3.7« wird in »/usr/src/broadcom-sta-modules-3.3.7_5.100.82.112-7+3.3.7-10.00.Custom_all.deb« gebaut.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
/usr/bin/make  -f debian/rules kdist_clean
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
for templ in ; do \
    cp $templ `echo $templ | sed -e 's/_KVERS_/3.3.7/g'` ; \
  done
for templ in `ls debian/*.modules.in` ; do \
    test -e ${templ%.modules.in}.backup || cp ${templ%.modules.in} ${templ%.modules.in}.backup 2>/dev/null || true; \
    sed -e 's/##KVERS##/3.3.7/g ;s/#KVERS#/3.3.7/g ; s/_KVERS_/3.3.7/g ; s/##KDREV##/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g ; s/#KDREV#/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g ; s/_KDREV_/3.3.7-10.00.Custom/g  ' < $templ > ${templ%.modules.in}; \
  done
dh_clean
/usr/bin/make clean KBUILD=/usr/src/linux KVERS=3.3.7
Kernel architecture is X86_32
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
KBUILD_NOPEDANTIC=1 make -C /lib/modules/3.3.7/build M=/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta clean
make[3]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.3.7'
Wireless Extension is the only possible API for this kernel version
Using Wireless Extension API
Kernel architecture is X86_32
  CLEAN   /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/.tmp_versions
  CLEAN   /usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta/Module.symvers
make[3]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.3.7'
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/broadcom-sta'
Build time: 33 seconds

Also tried to install via broadcom-sta-dkms following http://http://wiki.debian.org/wl#Wheezy - but the initial ramdisk could not be updated.

The same procedure worked fine on a Debian install.

Any hints? Cheers

[utu]

Greetings, ChriguK

Your report is important for us to fully understand. Please stay with us.

First, confirm that Knoppix 7 did not automatically install a working driver
for your Broadcom wifi.

Second, why are you trying to use the STA driver? Have you used this driver
in the past and found that it worked ok for you?

[utu]

Greetings again, ChriguK.

I think I can help you. Please refer to this confusing reference:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43/

What it says is the Broadcom 43224 works with BOTH b43 and wl drivers.
You probably know the wl driver works for you and it's a lot easier to
get it working with wl. That was the case with Knoppix 6.7.
Knoppix 6.7 favored wl for this reason.

Knoppix 7 tries to accommodate all or most Broadcom units and
does so by eliminating the wl-driver category. We felt safe in doing
this based on the reference above. If you stare at the table long
enough I think it says there are NO cases which require wl that are
not, in principle, ok with b43, given the availability of the required
firmware.

The hitch I think you have run into is that if you insist on installing
wl yourself, said installation will blacklist the b43 driver that is
probably just fine for your hardware. Things just go downhill from
there.

I suggest you start over and see if Knoppix 7 can't install b43 and
get you going on your way. Forget what you know about wl.

Get back to us on this either way.