BCM4312 and Puppy431 on Lenovo s10-2 [SOLVED]

Message

tempestuous · #16 Post by **tempestuous** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 00:43

Yeah, even with rerwin's modules-preference fix, I think that a preference setting for the wl module will fail to override ssb in kernel 2.6.30.5 Puppies because the ssb module is contained in the initrd.

If you're going to remaster Puppy with ssb removed from the initrd, you might as well go all the way and remove ssb/b43/b43legacy from the /lib/modules/2.6.30.5 directory as well.

mikeb · #17 Post by **mikeb** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 01:51

That poses the question ... is the ssb module only for broadcom then ?

If so then an either one or the other situation would make sense

regards

mike

tempestuous · #18 Post by **tempestuous** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 02:28

I recall that Barry added the ssb module to the initrd to support a particular PCMCIA-USB adapter during initial boot, in order to boot to this USB interface. The only place I can find reference to it is here -
http://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=00160

tempestuous · #19 Post by **tempestuous** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 02:38

I just had a thought - what about blacklisting the ssb module as a boot parameter?
That would avoid having to modify the initrd.

Try this - to the "kernel" line of your /boot/grub/menu.lst file, add a space, then this -

Code: Select all

ssb.blacklist=yes

Or if you're booting direct from CD, type this at the boot prompt -

Code: Select all

puppy ssb.blacklist=yes

then enter.

Make sure that rerwin's modules-preference fix is installed, and hopefully Puppy will now automatically load the wl module instead of the ssb module.

mikeb · #20 Post by **mikeb** » Mon 21 Dec 2009, 02:55

I have another PCMCIA card that I decided to test. Actually I had forgotten about it as I bought it a couple of years ago and it never worked in Puppy. It is a PCMCIA-USB adapter -- a 32-bit PCMCIA card with two USB sockets. Well, in the latest Puppy it just worked. Detected at bootup, the 'ssb' module (Sonics Silicon Backplane driver)) got loaded and it just worked. Behaves just like a couple of extra USB sockets.

from barry....so its more to do with the interface, so these broadcom cards look like PCMCIA or am I losing the plot...

...hmm...i read its ssb that decides what wireless module is loaded so its need is more widepread either way. It also interferes when using ndiswrapper....a mysterious beastie.
I envisage a problem with a usb card being present whilst using ndiswrapper or wl.ko or perhaps it behaves differently if not associated with a wireless module.
Ignorance is never bliss....and I am now crosseyed.

ssb.blacklist=yes

A real kernel parameter..good thinking

...I will mentally retain that one.

regards

mike

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.

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

BCM4312 and Puppy431 on Lenovo s10-2 [SOLVED]