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.

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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.