Installing BCM4312 wireless adapter on Mint 10

[lctn]

I have struggled getting my Dell mini with BCM4312 wireless to work on Mint 9 and now Mint 10. In a default install of 10 I had a wlan0 interface, but it would not associate with my AP. Once I installed the proprietary broadcom sta driver, I now have an eth1 instead of wlan0 and my wireless works for a few minutes, then stops and I cannot connect to the AP again. This was basically the same problem I had in Mint 9, minus having a wlan0 interface.

Any idea what the the fix is for 9 and 10? I really wanted to stay with 9 for now, but would keep 10 if the fix is easier.

I did follow a number of recommendations for getting it to work with 9, but nothing worked for me. The wireless worked fine in XP, so I am confident there is not a hardware problem with the wireless.

Thanks in advance

Raymond

[caf4926]

We need to see the details of your device from this:

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lspci -nnk

[lctn]

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub [8086:27ac] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27ae] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 2 [8086:27d2] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 3 [8086:27d4] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:27c8] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:27c9] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:27ca] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:27cb] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:27cc] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:27b9] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel modules: leds-ss4200, iTCO_wdt, intel-rng
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller [8086:27df] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller [8086:27da] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel modules: i2c-i801
02:00.0 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller [197b:2382]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci
02:00.2 SD Host controller [0805]: JMicron Technology Corp. Standard SD Host Controller [197b:2381]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci
02:00.3 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technology Corp. MS Host Controller [197b:2383]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: jmb38x_ms
Kernel modules: jmb38x_ms
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Broadcom Corporation Device [14e4:04b5]
Kernel driver in use: wl
Kernel modules: wl, ssb
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
Kernel driver in use: r8169
Kernel modules: r8169

[TBABill]

There are quite a few posts on the Ubuntu forums regarding the new driver for Broadcom that came out sometime in October I think. Apparently it comes preconfigured to sometimes soft or hard block use of the device after installing the driver. To check, do

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sudo rfkill list

and if either soft or hard blocked say YES, then do

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sudo rfkill unblock all

and note that it actually may require you doing this more than one time. It makes no sense at all, but I had to suffer through those steps and frustrations to get mine going. I also had to install and uninstall the driver a time or two till I got it figured out.

Note that in 10 there is an incredibly long delay from coming out of sleep or hibernate until your wireless device will recognize there are networks available and try to connect. Mine took over 1 minute each time. Very frustrating when it works fine in 9.

[lctn]

I wish it would have come back with a "yes", but I get:
0: compal-wifi: Wireless LAN

Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

[TBABill]

I failed to mention that mine came back with both stating no, but after some delay and checking again, one said yes and one was no. And that was after I ran the unblock command. It made absolutely no sense and I did not realize it was an issue till after I muddled through it, so I did not write down the steps I took. All I remember of it was it was a combination of steps to get it to work.

There is a sticky on the LMDE category of the forum for the BCM4312 install of the driver on Mint Debian. Would those steps work on Mint 10? I'm not sure but hopefully someone will pipe in on that. Those steps worked perfectly both times I used them.

[caf4926]

This is your device

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03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Broadcom Corporation Device [14e4:04b5]
Kernel driver in use: wl
Kernel modules: wl, ssb

This is my device, just FYI - working just fine

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04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: wl
	Kernel modules: wl, ssb

Lots of info here:
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

[lctn]

I see the only difference is mine has LP-PHY (Low Power). Is that a feature that can be turned off?

[caf4926]

Don't know
Have you tried

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sudo modprobe wl

reboot

Otherwise, it's possible to try the b43 driver

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sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

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modprobe b43

But you would need to remove the wl driver or blacklist it to try b43

[lctn]

Never could get it to work stable. Finally went with ndiswrapper and it is working very well.

Thanks for the help

[TBABill]

When we get to kernel 2.6.37 you won't have to worry about it anymore. It'll be contained in the kernel just like the Intel, Realtek, etc. Should make it a breeze to get up and running.

[piratesmack]

I have the same wireless.

The b43 driver has issues with this card, but the broadcom-sta driver works great for me.

I was also unable to stay connected for more than a few minutes (only with my new router, not my old one)
The solution was to replace Network-Manager with Wicd (You can skip step 1 in the below how to):
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 71#p277371

When we get to kernel 2.6.37 you won't have to worry about it anymore. It'll be contained in the kernel just like the Intel, Realtek, etc. Should make it a breeze to get up and running.

Unfortunately, the new open-source "brcm80211" driver only supports 802.11n devices, and not the older 802.11b/g devices like the BCM4312. So we'll still need the Broadcom STA driver

[TBABill]

Good point. I confirmed through some research to be sure there'd be no open source driver for the BCM4312....out of luck. Stuck with STA driver I suppose.