BCM4318 problems... :(

joshuacollins · Post by **joshuacollins** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 11:16 pm

hey all,

i am so happy with linuxmint...

everything is working great except for my wireless. i have had this same problem for ages with Ubuntu, and got it to work once... but now i am starting over with linuxmint and i have gone through quite a few different tutorials and instructions.

here's where i am at now:

- ndiswrapper is installed and sees hardware present
- wlassistant (KDE) is installed. it WORKS and sees outside routers, i can connect to these routers

where my problem comes in is the gnome network manager. in the lower right corner (tray) if i click once on it, it only will bring up my 'wired' connection. i thought this might've happened because i blacklisted bcm43xx and so i took it back off the blacklist but i am still at a loss here.

i have tried to go and edit that one file which has the eth1, eth0, wlan0, etc. and maybe it got screwed up in there.

anyway i am still somewhat of a noob at linux, only following others' instructions. so i am hoping you can ask me some questions to figure out where it went wrong. i hope it is just something simple with one of the config files or the network manager because the ndis drivers ARE WORKING and i can browse and connect to wireless networks via wlaassistant. however network manager is just not seeing/connecting to the wireless drivers/hardware correctly! (a missing link somewhere..)

thanks
josh

joshuacollins · Post by **joshuacollins** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 11:18 pm

PS - let me mention that i have BIANCA 2.2 (gnome) installed... i mentioned the KDE above because that is what the wlassistant runs on apparently.

jml · Post by **jml** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 9:43 pm

It took me almost a year to get my Broadcom card working in Linux. I'm using it right now! I used the information in this link to get my card working:

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=7949

I hope it helps.

Joe

joshuacollins · Post by **joshuacollins** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:57 pm

awesome thanks joe

will check it out now!
josh

Reuel · Post by **Reuel** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 12:33 pm

Wow! I just read all this, and I'm confused. Can someone who is more experienced than I am summarize those instructions in terms that newbies might grasp more easily? I start with the #, and nothing happens. I'm thinking that's the remarks symbol. That first block, "Preparing the kernal" has code, but it doesn't look like it makes sense as typed.

Thanks!!!

joshuacollins · Post by **joshuacollins** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:38 pm

well i did those instructions, but my card is still not connecting to or seeing any networks (that i KNOW exist, i can connect in windows)...

the wireless light is on, which is a good sign (it would never really come on in ubuntu)

any other tips or 'tests' anybody can recommend for me?

thanks again
josh

joshuacollins · Post by **joshuacollins** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 2:38 pm

wooohooooooooooOOO!

100% working now... awesome!

Followed zolly's (and the post 3 posts down) to get the bcm43xx firmware working. this was alot easier than the ndiswrapper nitemare.

http://www.linuxmint.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=458

thanks again zolly & everyone else that's put so much effort into making this damn 4318 work.

*EDIT* let me also add for anybody else thats having this issue that i am using a DELL INSPIRON 1300 (B130) laptop, with the BroadCom 4318 internal wireless. FINALLY.......... 100% working... thank god!

Reuel · Post by **Reuel** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:24 pm

I tried the NDISWrapper. It worked until I shut down and restarted later. it keeps saying "Connection failed." I cleared everything out and started over, doing it the other way that was described. I got similar results. It recognizes the hardware, is happy with it, finds routers, but "connection failed." I have reloaded Mint numerous times. I just managed to kill my Windows install because I was goofing around with something else. I'm taking a break for a little while. The big question--will Cassandra have a slightly easier way to get this BCM4318 working? All 3 of my laptops have it, so I'm in a pickle.

gramnemo · Post by **gramnemo** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:34 pm

Thanks all works! In bianca 2.2 KDE

joshuacollins · Post by **joshuacollins** » Thu May 03, 2007 1:27 am

FYI guys, while the wireless is working solid (and as 80211g i might add!!!!), i routinely need to do the following everytime i startup linuxmint:

Code: Select all

sudo rmmod bcm43xx

and then...

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe bcm43xx

works everytime, but if i dont do this then wireless does not work at all. anybody know a way to create a startup script so i dont have to do this everytime?

joshuacollins · Post by **joshuacollins** » Thu May 03, 2007 1:29 am

PS - hey REUEL... a word of advice from one 4318 user to another... DONT use ndiswrapper at all!!! keep the bcm43xx installed by default (dont blacklist it). all you need to follow is zolly's FIRMWARE install and it works perfectly.

with ubuntu this is might not work but the way linuxmint comes by default allows us 4318 guys to simply install the firmware and it works right away!