BCM4312 and Puppy431 on Lenovo s10-2 [SOLVED]

Message

tempestuous · #21 Post by **tempestuous** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 03:32

Yes, the ssb module relates to an interface made by Broadcom, not just Broadcom wifi devices.

If you were unlucky enough to have a Broadcom wifi device which requires the proprietary wl driver,
plus another device which requires the ssb driver, then you would be in trouble ...

... but there's still hope if you're determined to find a solution!

I just checked the device ID's listed by ssb and wl.
The ssb module supports 15 device ID's, of which 6 overlap those claimed by the wl module.

It would be possible to hack the ssb module so that it no longer claims those 6 overlapping ID's.
Then the ssb module and wl module could be loaded at the same time without conflicting with each other.

Roy · #22 Post by **Roy** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 07:45

jrb,

Yes, pizzasgood's FSCK fix is the one I was thinking of.... you beat me to the search.

The only other change I might suggest is to overwrite Puppy 4.31's partition viewer with the Partview.pet found on this page: [url]ttp://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php ... a8f9523870[/url]

It seems a bit more intuitive than the original default (well, to me at least).

-Roy

jrb · #23 Post by **jrb** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 20:32

tempestuous wrote:Try this - to the "kernel" line of your /boot/grub/menu.lst file, add a space, then this - Code:
ssb.blacklist=yes

Or if you're booting direct from CD, type this at the boot prompt - Code:
puppy ssb.blacklist=yes

then enter.

I tried both ways with stock puppy431. ssb still loaded. Too bad, I know of at least one computer that won't boot from puppy disk because of driver incompatibility. That would have been a nice way to deal with it.

mikeb · #24 Post by **mikeb** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 20:49

It would be possible to hack the ssb module so that it no longer claims those 6 overlapping ID's.
Then the ssb module and wl module could be loaded at the same time without conflicting with each other.

you make it sound so easy

....thanks for the clarification ..I get the picture now...and logically it would interfere with ndiswrapper driving broadcom devices too..

regards

mike

Roy · #25 Post by **Roy** » Tue 22 Dec 2009, 04:56

I seem to remember past Puppy posts where a blacklisted ssb would not stay blacklisted....
Going through my notes, I see:

trio wrote:
In 4.2 Final..bcm43xx is still being a problem...for those of you who wants a workaround..just edit /etc/rc.d/MODULESCONFIG (line 33) delete the red word

PREFLIST=' rt2500usb:rt73usb ath5k:ath_pci orinoco_nortel:hostap_plx orinoco_plx:hostap_plx orinoco_tmd:hostap_plx orinoco_pci:hostap_pci bcm43xx:wl b43:wl b43legacy:wl ssb:wl prism54:p54pci r8169:r8101 rtl8187:r8187 '

Unfortunately, that's only half-correct. As well:
"b43:wl" and "b43legacy:wl" should be deleted.
"bcm43xx:wl" should be changed to "bcm43xx:ssb"

That's because the new Broadcom b43/b43legacy modules, which work in conjunction with the ssb module, should be used in preference to the deprecated bcm43xx module. The firmware in Puppy is compatible with b43/b43legacy, and is NOT compatible with bcm43xx.

The full and correct PREFLIST entry (from Puppy 4.1.2) is
Code:
PREFLIST=' rt2500usb:rt73usb ath5k:ath_pci orinoco_nortel:hostap_plx orinoco_plx:hostap_plx orinoco_tmd:hostap_plx orinoco_pci:hostap_pci martian_dev:ltserial bcm43xx:ssb prism54:p54pci r8169:r8101 '

Unfortunately (groan) there are also reports that Puppy 4.2 fails to automatically uncompress the b43 firmware, but hopefully this may be fixed once the preferences are corrected.

I now attach the correct MODULESCONFIG with PREFLIST entries. This is to replace trio's "No_bcm43xx_patch.pet", which is wrong.
Please use this in the next 4.2 update.
broadcom-preflist-fix.pet
Description for Puppy 4.2 only
pet

Download
Filename broadcom-preflist-fix.pet
Filesize 1.45 KB
Downloaded 142 Time(s)

Keeping in mind that I am just an end user with a Broadcom 4312 wireless card, I hope that this helps.

-Roy

EDIT: Upon further reading, it looks as if this is basically the same information that tempestous already provided above. Sorry for the interuption....

jrb · #26 Post by **jrb** » Tue 22 Dec 2009, 06:39

My pup-431-bcm4312v3.iso is uploaded at http://puppylinux.asia/members/choicepu ... adcom4312/. (Thanks Caneri)

Edit: I have changed the .iso with the addition of tempestuous' modified ssb.ko module which does not conflict with bcm4312 wifi card. 27dec09

It comes with the wl.ko driver for broadcom4312 wireless cards and has been stripped of ssb.ko, b43.ko and b43legacy.ko.

I have successfully booted and used it on a Lenovo s10-2 from cd, usb and frugal.

One very important note: When running frugal do not include "nosmp" on the kernel line in menu.1st. This crippled my system giving very poor performance.

Hope it works well for you, J

mikeb · #27 Post by **mikeb** » Tue 22 Dec 2009, 13:11

Jrb ensures the 'nosmp' gets picked up by google

.

Just wanted to add that I use wl even though b43 did work it disconnect when transffering files over a lan..it actually behaved ofor internet use.

As for ssb....perhaps a crude option for a wl pet would be to rename the module with a warning of what it may affect.

mike

Roy · #28 Post by **Roy** » Tue 22 Dec 2009, 18:59

jrb,

Got it -- many thanks!

Attempted to use Puppy's BootFlash USB installer to put it onto a thumbdrive, but wound up with a non-bootable stick; tried G-Parted -- same thing. This must be a Puppy 4.31 thing, as the problem exists on all 4.31-based puppies.

Ended up using Quirky-002 to get it onto the thumbdrive -- and still had to copy the 431wl.sfs over manually, as it did not copy during the automated installation process.

Having said that, it works fine (providing further formatting is not required) -- and I am extremely grateful for your efforts!

-Roy

EDIT: If anybody is wondering, adjusting the PCM level with Menu > Multimedia > Zmixer audio mixer did not work for me until I loaded the 431wl.sfs via the bootmanager and rebooted with a save file.

rjbrewer · #29 Post by **rjbrewer** » Tue 22 Dec 2009, 20:26

jrb

It works in my neighbors s10e ideapad! He's very impressed.

Ran into a problem when I tried using the universal installer
to do a full, frugal or usb install. Got this message:

jrb · #30 Post by **jrb** » Tue 22 Dec 2009, 21:46

Oh my,

I thought I was being so clever when I changed the distro version to pup-431wl so that it wouldn't grab regular pup-431.sfs off the hard drive at boot. Looks like I opened the proverbial "can of worms". I notice the remaster script on mine is broken as well.

I'll change the distro version in initrd.gz back to pup-431 and re-upload. Version two coming up.

jrb · #31 Post by **jrb** » Tue 22 Dec 2009, 22:59

pup-431-bcm4312v2.iso has been uploaded to http://puppylinux.ca/members/choicepup/ ... adcom4312/.

I burnt to CD, booted Lenovo s10-2 from external CD, used Bootflash install to make a bootable 2GB usb drive. Booted from that and used Puppy universal installer to do a frugal install to /mnt/sda5. All with no problems.

Tried the remaster script, still broken. Oh well, if anyone wants to know how to do a custom remaster for their machine without the remaster script let me know.

BTW: when I did the frugal install it still recommends "nosmp" for the kernel line in menu.1st. Don't do it! See my comments above.

rjbrewer · #32 Post by **rjbrewer** » Tue 22 Dec 2009, 23:04

jrb:
re; version number

Certainly not the first time that's happened. Some of Ttuuxxxs'
more creative version numbers really had my head spinning.

Noticed while booting, the line with usb counts all the way to 10.
Doesn't seem to hurt anything, but on a few other linux sites,
( arch linux) they talk about possible effects of removing ssb.

tempestuous · #33 Post by **tempestuous** » Wed 23 Dec 2009, 01:46

jrb wrote:ssb.blacklist=yes
...
I tried both ways with stock puppy431. ssb still loaded.

The thoroughness of your testing remains in question.
There's a chance that the kernel boot option did succeed in blocking the loading of the ssb module during initial bootup, but if you didn't have rerwin's modules-preference fix installed, then ssb may have loaded later in the boot sequence.
Also, the Network Wizard may be configured to load the ssb module.

So to be thorough, you need rerwin's fix installed, and you need to disable any Network Wizard config for ssb.

rjbrewer · #34 Post by **rjbrewer** » Wed 23 Dec 2009, 02:04

jrb:

Burned v2 iso and did a full and a usb install using universal
installer. Both work fine.

Those Lenovo s10s' are extremely nice little machines;
Santa is being very good to your girls this year.

thanks
rjb

jrb · #35 Post by **jrb** » Wed 23 Dec 2009, 02:28

rjb,
I read a blog authored by a couple who bicycled from Prudhome Bay, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Arctic Ocean to Antarctic Ocean. Two years and they carried an s10 the whole way and gave it very good reviews.

Knowing my girls, I figured something that tough might hold up. Hoping for the best anyway.

Glad the .iso is working for you, J

tempestuous,
I believe I had rerwin's .pet installed (what did I forget and when did I forget it?) when I ran those tests. I'll try to get back and test again with usb boot but it will have to wait until all my other Christmas preps are done.

n01fu · #36 Post by **n01fu** » Fri 25 Dec 2009, 17:04

I have tried this workaround on a HP 2140, and although it allows me to see the wireless as eth1, i have to manually go through the rmmod each time.

any suggestions?

jrb · #37 Post by **jrb** » Fri 25 Dec 2009, 17:30

n01fu wrote:I have tried this workaround on a HP 2140, and although it allows me to see the wireless as eth1, i have to manually go through the rmmod each time.

Could you give more detail? Are you booting from pup-431-bcm4312v2?
Is eth1 there before you do the manual rmmod? The more you tell us the better advice we can give.

Cheers, J

jrb · #38 Post by **jrb** » Mon 28 Dec 2009, 07:06

tempestuous wrote:I suggest you could go one step further, and incorporate my modified ssb module into your initrd, and then into your ISO. If you do so, you must also replace the modules.alias file which has been accordingly modified to remove the defunct device ID's.

Done!

As you have suggested I placed your ssb.ko.gz and modules.alias in initrd.gz and made a new pup-431bcm4312v3.iso.

I booted the Lenovo s10-2 with the new initrd.gz and it worked quite well. No ssb conflict. Hopefully this will take care of Scottbg1's problem.

Much appreciated, J

This .iso has tempestuous' modified ssb.ko which will not conflict with the wl.ko module needed for broadcom4312 wifi cards. It does not contain the b43 or b43 legacy modules.
http://puppylinux.ca/members/choicepup/ ... 4312v3.iso

mikeb · #39 Post by **mikeb** » Mon 28 Dec 2009, 09:14

tempestuous wrote:
I suggest you could go one step further, and incorporate my modified ssb module into your initrd, and then into your ISO. If you do so, you must also replace the modules.alias file which has been accordingly modified to remove the defunct device ID's.

Done!

The one that can co exist with wl as threatened?...where is this from just for reference

regards

mike

tempestuous · #40 Post by **tempestuous** » Mon 28 Dec 2009, 13:55

I modified the Puppy-2.6.30.5 kernel source so that the conflicting device ID's were disabled in the ssb module.

If you're interested, the relevant source files are found at /usr/src/linux-2.6.30.5/drivers/ssb/
and the exact source file to modify is b43_pci_bridge.c

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BCM4312 and Puppy431 on Lenovo s10-2 [SOLVED]