Wireless: Broadcom Wireless

[VK6FUN]

after a good workout on the digital gym, I got the card working again.

GuyKL, does the new Network setup wizard find your broadcom card at all?

Mine gets found, but there is a bug in the way the module loads.

bcm43xx needs to load blkcipher_crypto, but this puppy does not uncompress it, so I do it by hand......

(I found /lib/modules/2.6.25.16/initrd/kernel/crypto/crypto_blkcipher.gz with ROX

then I double-clicked it and said yes unzip it here and delete the original.

Then I opened another ROX at /lib/modules/2.6.25.16/kernel/crypto/

drag and drop the freshly uncompressed module and say "move"

now use network wizard to unload and then reload bcm43xx.

This all looks frightening to a beginner and it is. I say give it a go you have nothing to lose. We'll have you bashing in no time....

cheers
73deVK6FUN
Pete

[GuyKL]

after a good workout on the digital gym, I got the card working again.

GuyKL, does the new Network setup wizard find your broadcom card at all?

Mine gets found, but there is a bug in the way the module loads.

bcm43xx needs to load blkcipher_crypto, but this puppy does not uncompress it, so I do it by hand......

(I found /lib/modules/2.6.25.16/initrd/kernel/crypto/crypto_blkcipher.gz with ROX

then I double-clicked it and said yes unzip it here and delete the original.

Then I opened another ROX at /lib/modules/2.6.25.16/kernel/crypto/

drag and drop the freshly uncompressed module and say "move"

now use network wizard to unload and then reload bcm43xx.

This all looks frightening to a beginner and it is. I say give it a go you have nothing to lose. We'll have you bashing in no time....

cheers
73deVK6FUN
Pete

It can't even detect my Broadcom.

BTW, I not sure I understand what you mean in the post. Hope you can elaborate to my level. Total Newbie here.

[EditionLocus]

after a good workout on the digital gym, I got the card working again.

GuyKL, does the new Network setup wizard find your broadcom card at all?

Mine gets found, but there is a bug in the way the module loads.

bcm43xx needs to load blkcipher_crypto, but this puppy does not uncompress it, so I do it by hand......

(I found /lib/modules/2.6.25.16/initrd/kernel/crypto/crypto_blkcipher.gz with ROX

then I double-clicked it and said yes unzip it here and delete the original.

Then I opened another ROX at /lib/modules/2.6.25.16/kernel/crypto/

drag and drop the freshly uncompressed module and say "move"

now use network wizard to unload and then reload bcm43xx.

This all looks frightening to a beginner and it is. I say give it a go you have nothing to lose. We'll have you bashing in no time....

cheers
73deVK6FUN
Pete

It can't even detect my Broadcom.

BTW, I not sure I understand what you mean in the post. Hope you can elaborate to my level. Total Newbie here.

My situation too. It doesn't detect my hardware. I have tried the "wl" driver, ndiswrapper, etc.

[VK6FUN]

OK GuyKL here are some step-by-step, and some simple newbie info:

1.In order to get the most from any linux, you must become comfortable with the command line. Its your "Key To Better Value"

2.You can, and often do, have (lots) more than one going at the same time

3. The command line box pops up when you click the "console" button once. The prompt is a #

4..the first command you are going to use to find problems is "tail" which displays the end of any file. We will use the -f for follow switch to see new things as they are added to the end.

5. The file we will be following is called /var/log/messages. This is the file linux uses to keep a diary of everything it does.

6. So type "tail -f /var/log/messages" without the quotes to keep running tabs on what your system gets up to. The output looks pretty geeky but this is the type of stuff this forum LOVES.. Send us extracts from it when ever you have a problem.

7.To find parts of the messages file that are relevant you can use the "grep" command which will only print lines with a certain pattern in it. In linux the the old dos PRINT command is called cat. I use a pipe (the | key) to join cat and grep like this:

8. cat /var/log/messages | grep bcm

9. try other strings like "wireless" or "wep" instead of "bcm"

10. other commmands:

lspci lists the pci devices found
lsmod lists modules loaded
dmesg displays the kernel bootup log. use it with grep as above.

If you can try some of the above stuff send us the output and we'll analyse it.

This is about as hard as it gets really.

Pete

[VK6FUN]

one more thing: to stop the tail -f /var/log/messages press control-c

[tempestuous]

Ubuntu using proprietary Broadcom driver? Are you absolutely sure?
Because from my search, Ubuntu contained 100% free software - Meaning no proprietary driver and the like.

No, I'm not sure, but proprietary is not necessarily non-free.
There's an easy way to find out - with your wifi device connected and working in Ubuntu, run this command -

Code: Select all

lsmod

If you see the "wl" module listed, then it's the proprietary driver.

Perhaps you could give step-by-step guide to install the driver that you gave me the link to.

Well if you mean "how to install a dotpet", you simply browse to the dotpet with ROX, and click it.

If you mean "specific instructions regarding the broadcom-5.10.27.6-k2.6.25.16.pet" that's already covered in the post where the dotpet is available.

[tempestuous]

there is a bug in the way the module loads.
bcm43xx needs to load blkcipher_crypto

Thank you, thank you VK6FUN!
I have been suggesting in several forum posts (and private messages) that wifi connection problems under Puppy 4.1.2 are likely to be caused by this module (and other encryption-related modules) not being loaded.
Your fix is likely to be relevant for many others with unsuccessful encrypted wifi connections.
So I have made a separate post about the issue here -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=37315

... but you should not need to uncompress the troublesome module from the initial ramdisk image, just load it like this -

Code: Select all

modprobe crypto_blkcipher

[VK6FUN]

this is not a total fix
I'm still getting softmac authentication timeouts
and it takes a couple of cranks and a fair bit of choke to cough into life again
I still reckon the whole kernel mac code is wacky 8*O-<-<

Pete

.

[tempestuous]

I still reckon the whole kernel mac code is wacky

But you're using the old bcm43xx module - that's not based on the new mac80211 wifi stack, it's based on the old ieee80211/ieee80211softmac stack.

I suggest you configure your boot options to use the new b43/b43legacy drivers instead of the bcm43xx.

I'm still getting softmac authentication timeouts.

This may be happening because Puppy includes the correct Broadcom firmware for b43/b43legacy, and this is not totally compatible with bcm43xx. I can hunt around for the older firmware, but in the meantime it's all the more reason to try the more modern drivers.

[VK6FUN]

I've tried both b43 and b43legacy and never got a peep out of the thing.

I think the new stack is as bad as the old.

The problem is the way softmac modules depend on others.

anyway we should be able to work around it. 8*d

I'm going to try your recommendation, and hope dmesg will help the way it did with bcm43xx

If you dont hear from me again, attach a self-addressed envelope with a stamp to a pigeon
"i'm just going outside, and may be some time"

cheers

Pete

[VK6FUN]

Well I tried but the problem with these modules is similar to the bcm43xx except that this time the troublesome module is ssb.

I tried gunzipping it from /lib/modules/2.6.25.16/initrd/ but I got unexpected end of file.

In ubuntu I had to write a script to remove this module to get ndis working. I deleted it from /lib/modules but It appeared to be getting loaded from the card itself!! I think tempestuous mentioned something about Dell fooling around with firmware......

anyway with that fix ndis worked for a while but then inexplicably stopped and hasn't run since. trawling the logs didn't help much.

wacky wacky wacky.

Pete

[tlcstat]

Greetings,
Dell Inspiron B120 with Broadcom 1370 wifi card Puppy 4.12
This wifi works just fine with the "broadcom-5.10.27.6-k2.6.25.16.pet" installed.
I am also using the connect-update updated connection manager. Come right back up at reboot.
Thanks
tlcstat