Broadcom wifi drivers for Linux, some useful reference material

[utu]

Here's what I get for my Broadcom wifi, even if it doesn't have the necessary firmware:

mint@mint / $ lsmod | grep b43
b43                   387185  0 
bcma                   46670  1 b43
mac80211              596969  1 b43
cfg80211              479757  2 b43,mac80211
ssb                    57932  1 b43

If lsmod | grep b43 looks good, then the open-source part of the b43 driver is in place.
At this point one needs to know the Broadcom firmware is also available, and that there is no rfkill blockage in effect.

To see if the necessary firmware is in place:

mint@mint / $ sudo du -h /lib/firmware/b43
1.1M    /lib/firmware/b43

To see if what the rfkill states are:

mint@mint / $ rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

If there is a Soft block, then rfkill unblock should remove that impediment.
If there is a Hard block, this means a switch somewhere is set wrong.
On my Inspiron for example, Fn-F2 is a toggle which activates a hardware switch on my wifi.

For reference on rfkill, see: http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/...ntation/rfkill