Broadcom Wireless BCM4357 for 802.11n

[sergey]

Broadcom BCM4357 WiFi is built into my new Acer LS5251 2.2 MHz Laptop. Yes, I shouldnt use the newest PC, but I booted Puppy from USB on the store's demo of this model and the WiFi worked; but just my luck that the same model I bought had this newer WiFi. Everything else works great with Lighthouse Pup 5.00-F which even has an SFS file for the ATI Radeon Video (it makes a huge difference in quality and speed on Youtube videos) so I don't want to give up the Acer Laptop: I get along with a Realtec USB WiFi adapter but of course would like to use the Acer's own WiFi.

WiFi works well with the pre-installed Win 7. Puppy Linux (not surpisingly) doesnt identify the BCM4357. I tried Pup 4.31, 4.32 (yes), Lucid 5.1.1, Quirky 1.2, and Lighthouse 5.00-F ("the gold standard"). FYI there are Linux distros that can identify and use this Broadcom, including (amazingly) xPUD 0.9.2!

Broadcom's Website providesa linux driver for BCM4357, and I tried patiently & valiently to follow Barry's instructions for installing it, but in the process I got way over my head and failed.

1. Is it possible to copy out the driver from a Linux that works? (Naive?)

2. Is the BCM4357 driver available for Puppy Linux somewhere I didnt look?

[jemimah]

Fluppy07 has the brand new brcm80211 opensource driver. Care to test it out and let me know if it works?

[piratesmack]

I built a package for the Broadcom STA driver here:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 596#421596

Should work on Puppy 5.x

[sergey]

Fluppy07 has the brand new brcm80211 opensource driver. Care to test it out and let me know if it works?

I tried Fluppy07. Thanks for the suggestion. It did not recognize the
Broadcom BCM4357. Then I tried Fluppy with Realtec WiFi which
was recognized -- but Pwireless2 could not connect to the Internet.
(I've had the trouble before with Pwireless on several macines
and in several Distros). I even tried removing the encryption on
the WiFi and making the WiFi "open" but it still could not connect.
I tried using DHCP and setting static IP, and still no Internet
connection). Fluppy does look nice. Thanks.

[sergey]

I built a package for the Broadcom STA driver here:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 596#421596

Your broadcom_sta-5.6.48.36-i486.pet works beautifully, recognizing
the Broadcom BCM4357 with it's driver "wl". I did not have to
blacklist other modules. These results with LighthousePuppy
5.00-F on an Acer LS5251 laptop built in 2010 ((2.2 MHz AMD CPU,
2 MB RAM).

Congratulations and thanks very much.

[jemimah]

Man, I was hoping we could finally get rid on that blasted wl...

[email4tong]

Piratesmack,
Thanks for creating the pet for broadcom wireless card. I just got a new laptop with broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter. I tried your pet, but it still does not work. Any idea how to fix that? Really need some help.

[Aitch]

email4tong

There are many broadcom devices, so we need more info, as sometimes 2 modules load and compete with each other

Can you post the result of typing in a console

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cat /proc/bus/usb/devices

we need the "Vendor" and "ProdID" values for your wifi device.

If it's an internal wifi, try

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lsmod

thanks

Aitch

[tempestuous]

I just got a new laptop with broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter.

Broadcom? In a separate thread on this forum you claim to have a Thinkpad X200 with Intel IWL5xxx wifi adapter!?

As Aitch mentioned, it's important to positively identify the exact device ID of the wifi adapter. If nothing else, this should avoid further confusion and discussion about wifi drivers that are not even relevant!

But the command that Aitch asked you for is wrong. We need you to please run this command instead -

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lspci -n

and report the results.

[Aitch]

I stand corrected [email4tong, he's the wifi/driver expert here, btw]

Thanks, tempestuous

Aitch

[tempestuous]

email4tong, if you genuinely wish for our assistance and a solution to your query, you need to reply with the information we asked from you.

[email4tong]

Guys, thanks for all your replies. I was buried in some other things and did not check the threads. really sorry for not getting back to you.
I posted few questions in different threads, that might be a bit confusing. The reason is that I have many laptops.

Here is what I got,

1. Lenovo T61p which has Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG.
2. Lenovo X200 which has Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 5300
3. Acer Inspiro One which has Broadcom 80211.n card.

I like Puupy Linux a lot, but I had problem to make puppy linux working on any of these three laptops in terms making the wireless work. I am new to Puppy Linux and currently trying to read as much as I can. But making these wireless thing working has not been easy for me. So I tried Ubuntu 11.04, the wireless worked on both Lenovo machines at the first boot, though the Acer does not. I figure because the Broadcom 802211n is too new to be considered. But any way, if some of the helping hands can really help to create pet for any one of the machines, then I will really appreciate it. I will post other information as you all asked tonight for all three machines.

Not sure why Aitch said that email4tong is the wifi expert here, not sure where that comes from. This is really a very technical forum and let's all keep it that way and I really appreciate any helping hands and not guns.


Thanks so much.

[tempestuous]

1. Lenovo T61p which has Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG
2. Lenovo X200 which has Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 5300

Both of those wifi devices should work just fine in Puppy 5.2.x
If not, you should run the "dmesg" command and look for lines relating to how the "iwlagn" driver loaded.

3. Acer Inspire One which has Broadcom 80211.n card

That wifi device should work in Puppy 5.2.x with the proprietary "wl" driver provided by piratesmack.
If not, we need to see the results of this command, please

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lspci -n

[Makoto]

I stand corrected [email4tong, he's the wifi/driver expert here, btw]

Thanks, tempestuous

Aitch

What Aitch meant by that, was saying that he believes tempestuous is "the wifi/driver expert here."

[email4tong]

Here is the dmesg results on Lenovo T61p:

iwlagn: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link AGN driver for Linux, 2.6.33.2-k
iwlagn: Copyright(c) 2003-2009 Intel Corporation
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN REV=0x4
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: irq 33 for MSI/MSI-X
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: firmware: requesting iwlwifi-4965-2.ucode
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: loaded firmware version 228.61.2.24

That looks ok but when you config it, it will give you error says that 'Unable to connect to a wireless network'.

According to intel http://intellinuxwireless.org/ and
http://intellinuxwireless.org/?p=iwlwifi

for linux 2.6.24 and up
"These kernels have the iwlwifi driver included and the released drivers (available from this site under download page) do not work with these kernels. If you want to run the latest (or very close to it) development code with your kernel then you should use the compat-wireless project that retrieves the latest driver development code from the upstream repository. We do push our changes to this repository very frequently. "

from dmesg it looks ok, but according to intel, it actually never worked.

Then it referred the compact-wireless site, which requires some build, this is where I do not think I can follow.

I also downloaded the compact wireless pet and it did not help.

Any help will be really appreciated.

[tempestuous]

according to intel, it actually never worked.

No, you have misread the information on the Intel site. They're saying that the released drivers do not work with recent kernels, and you must use the kernel-supplied drivers in these cases.
I can assure you there are many instances of Intel wifi devices working with Puppy 5.x.

when you config it, it will give you error says that 'Unable to connect to a wireless network'.

It might simply be an encryption-related error. Do some troubleshooting. Temporarily disable all encryption at your wifi router, then see if you can connect in this unencrypted state. If so, it means the iwlagn driver is basically working.
Then re-enable encryption, trying WEP, WPA, and WPA2. You may find that one form of encryption works while another fails.

[email4tong]

Tempestutous, thanks again for your attention. Yes, it is true, there are some Intel(R) WiFi Link wireless cards work with Puppy Linux, however, for the model of 4965AG and 5300, they do not work with the driver and/or firmware, from my previous post, it shows that the firmware used is iwlwifi-4965-2.ucode, but from Intel web site, it says that firmware WON"T work for either 4965AG or 5300, it requires firmware iwlwifi-4965-5.ucode. The included firmware iwlwifi-4965-2.ucode may indeed work for earlier model of the intel(R) card in the same family, but not these two models. That is also indicated from the web site. I tried this pet, iwlagn-firmware-update-k2.6.33.2.pet which updates the firmware for Intel(R) Wireless WiFi card 6000, 6050, but it did not help with 5300 or 4965. For 5300, there is a new firmware at http://intellinuxwireless.org/iwlwifi/d ... .5.1-1.tgz. It gets the firmware to iwlwifi-5000-5.ucode, but it requires newer kernel. any way, this is where I am and I know the wireless could not connect is not because of the encryption of my network, I've also tried with completely open settings, same results.
BTW how to instruct the system to use newer firmware? Thanks.

[email4tong]

lscpi -n results on Lenovo x200 with Intel(R) WiFi Wireless Link 5300AGN

00:00.0 0600: 8086:2a40 (rev 07)
00:02.0 0300: 8086:2a42 (rev 07)
00:02.1 0380: 8086:2a43 (rev 07)
00:03.0 0780: 8086:2a44 (rev 07)
00:03.3 0700: 8086:2a47 (rev 07)
00:19.0 0200: 8086:10f5 (rev 03)
00:1a.0 0c03: 8086:2937 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 0c03: 8086:2938 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 0c03: 8086:2939 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 0c03: 8086:293c (rev 03)
00:1b.0 0403: 8086:293e (rev 03)
00:1c.0 0604: 8086:2940 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 0604: 8086:2942 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 0604: 8086:2946 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 0c03: 8086:2934 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 0c03: 8086:2935 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 0c03: 8086:2936 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 0c03: 8086:293a (rev 03)
00:1e.0 0604: 8086:2448 (rev 93)
00:1f.0 0601: 8086:2917 (rev 03)
00:1f.2 0101: 8086:2928 (rev 03)
00:1f.3 0c05: 8086:2930 (rev 03)
03:00.0 0280: 8086:4236

dmesg | grep iwlagn results:

iwlagn: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link AGN driver for Linux, 2.6.33.2-k
iwlagn: Copyright(c) 2003-2009 Intel Corporation
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5300AGN REV=0x24
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: Tunable channels: 13 802.11bg, 24 802.11a channels
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: irq 29 for MSI/MSI-X
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: firmware: requesting iwlwifi-5000-2.ucode
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: loaded firmware version 8.24.2.12

lscpi -n results on Lenovo T61p with Intel(R) WiFi Wireless Link 4965AGN

00:00.0 0600: 8086:2a00 (rev 0c)
00:01.0 0604: 8086:2a01 (rev 0c)
00:19.0 0200: 8086:1049 (rev 03)
00:1a.0 0c03: 8086:2834 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 0c03: 8086:2835 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 0c03: 8086:283a (rev 03)
00:1b.0 0403: 8086:284b (rev 03)
00:1c.0 0604: 8086:283f (rev 03)
00:1c.1 0604: 8086:2841 (rev 03)
00:1c.2 0604: 8086:2843 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 0604: 8086:2845 (rev 03)
00:1c.4 0604: 8086:2847 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 0c03: 8086:2830 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 0c03: 8086:2831 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 0c03: 8086:2832 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 0c03: 8086:2836 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 0604: 8086:2448 (rev f3)
00:1f.0 0601: 8086:2811 (rev 03)
00:1f.1 0101: 8086:2850 (rev 03)
00:1f.2 0106: 8086:2829 (rev 03)
00:1f.3 0c05: 8086:283e (rev 03)
01:00.0 0300: 10de:040c (rev a1)
03:00.0 0280: 8086:4230 (rev 61)
15:00.0 0607: 1180:0476 (rev ba)
15:00.1 0c00: 1180:0832 (rev 04)
15:00.2 0805: 1180:0822 (rev 21)
15:00.3 0880: 1180:0843 (rev ff)
15:00.4 0880: 1180:0592 (rev 11)
15:00.5 0880: 1180:0852 (rev 11)

dmesg | grep iwlagn results:

iwlagn: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link AGN driver for Linux, 2.6.33.2-k
iwlagn: Copyright(c) 2003-2009 Intel Corporation
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN REV=0x4
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: irq 32 for MSI/MSI-X
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: firmware: requesting iwlwifi-4965-2.ucode
iwlagn 0000:03:00.0: loaded firmware version 228.61.2.24

none of these two laptops work with Puppy Linux 5.2.5 wireless drivers.

Any help will be really appreciated.

[tempestuous]

Don't get too caught up in the information you see on the Intellinuxwireless site.
Yes, later versions of the iwlagn driver may require later firmware versions, but the firmware versions included in Puppy are correct for the iwlagn driver it contains. This is confirmed when you query the iwlagn driver with this command -

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modinfo iwlagn

Look at the lines which start with "firmware:"

BTW how to instruct the system to use newer firmware? Thanks.

You can't. The iwlagn driver (whatever version) will autodetect the particular model of Intel wifi device you have, and load the version of firmware that was hard-coded into the driver which is compatible for that wifi device.
If the iwlagn driver detects a newer Intel wifi device (such as the IWL6000G2A) which it is not compatible with, it will throw up an error message.

dmesg is telling you the truth: both of your devices are detected as compatible, and in both cases the firmware is loaded successfully. If the firmware was to not load successfully, you would see an error message.
dmesg is telling you there's a functional wifi network interface. This could be confirmed by running this command -

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ifconfig -a

You should troubleshoot from that point. At the very least, you should attempt a connection to a non-encrypted wifi access point.

If you continue to have troubles, refer to the manual wifi setup commands I provided here -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=22469
then you can identify at which point the connection fails.

[Pelo]

wireless connection on Medion P7624 :
i tried so many times to connect. You give us some hope. Could you do something with that (see joined docs)