Suse 10.3 and dell wireless stuff

[Tuxhead]

Hi All
Well I have looked at all the available stuff for getting Inspiron's XXXX up and running, my dell Inspiron 6400 will not work using the pci card, according to Yast it is recognized and configured. I am not a syntax geek but can make my way through most procedures. The machine has a Broadcom BCM94311MCG wlan mini PCI and it will not detect a wireless network, for better or worse BT home hub. The hub works fine I have two old laptops with Gates's XP on them and an even older HP laptop with Ubuntu and that works just fine. I have major issues with dell but that is another story. I am quite happy to sit with a cable connection as I have a life and do not need to be on the thing in every room in the house, but it would be nice to get it to work, failing that any bit--ing about dell or XP would be welcome as a runner up prize. Other than that I would like to say that I have used Linux for two years now, and I am very happy with Suse 10.3 and will put it on all my machines.

[waterhead]

Based only on the information that it is a Broadcom wireless, I think that you need to use NDISwrapper. First read these two How-To's:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...lan-linux.html
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/wir...d-work-wi.html

Post back after you get stuck!

Note: You don't need to install NDISwrapper from a tar ball, just use your update program.

[fumanchu182]

I am on Suse 10.3 as well with a E1505 (Same as 6400). I used the default installation configuration as well, my wireless card works just fine. What I would like to remind you of is that even if you can't find the ESSID automatically you can still configure the wireless to connect to it manually.

[Tuxhead]

Hi Paul

Thank you for the information, I have read it all and followed just about every link to the same pci, I have also tried some complete how to's, but i fear we are not much further forward.
One thing that at least operates is Kwifi Manager, not that it pickes up any signals but it is working.
I have had other things to do so I have not been able to spend much time on it, so I still have some hair left.
I have tried all three options from Suse how to
SDB:Broadcom (BCM4306) WLAN Installation under SUSE - openSUSE
I have used the ndiswrapper from the 10.3 installation I have tried downloading from ndis, and the broadcom linux download befor using the ndiswrapper, I have tried most procedures which seem to work for other people with the same wifi without comming close.
So i am still left with this;
# lspci


0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 01)


l # lspci -n


0b:00.0 Class 0280: 14e4:4311 (rev 01)


# iwconfig

lo no wireless extensions.



eth0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:off/any

Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated

Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power:32 dBm

RTS thr:2347 B Fragment thr:2346 B

Encryption key:off

Power Management:off

Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0

Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0

Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0



eth1 no wireless extensions.


# ifconfig

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1C:26:1A:B0:F4

UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1

RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000

RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

Interrupt:16 Memory:efdfc000-efe00000



eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1C:23:87:F0:19

inet addr:192.168.1.65 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0

inet6 addr: fe80::21c:23ff:fe87:f019/64 Scope:Link

UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1

RX packets:5151 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

TX packets:3765 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000

RX bytes:2762857 (2.6 Mb) TX bytes:627695 (612.9 Kb)

Interrupt:18



lo Link encap:Local Loopback

inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0

inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host

UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1

RX packets:34 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

TX packets:34 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

collisions:0 txqueuelen:0

RX bytes:2124 (2.0 Kb) TX bytes:2124 (2.0 Kb)

Adrian.

[waterhead]

It looks as if eth0 is the wireless connection. What is odd is that you have a connection as eth1. I am assuming that is a wired connection. The wired connection usually is eth0 and the wireless is eth1 (or wlan0).

You may need to disconnect and /or disable the wired connection before the wireless will work.

For NDISwrapper you should use the WinXP driver that is recommended for your card. Since most computers come with Windows pre-installed, use the driver that it came with.

I use the NetworkManager to connect to the wireless. Open YaST, click on Network Devices--->Network Card. The first page asks how you want to control the card. If you want to control it through the terminal, you would select Traditional Method with ifup.

I selected User Controlled with NetworkManager. You can then go and configure the card. In Advaced--->Hardware Details I enter ndiswrapper as the module name. If you are using a different driver module, you would put that one here.

You can go through all of the settings to make sure they are correct.

I also have the KNetworkManager GUI installed. I use it to connect to my wireless access point. It makes connecting easier, as you can enter any encryption or passord data into it. If you are using Gnome, I think that there is a Gnome version.

[fumanchu182]

NDISWRAPPER is not a necessity for the usage of the interface. Due to licensing issues you cannot include the firmware in the installation.

1.) Add this package from yast:
bcm43xx-fwcutter

2.) With a valid ethernet connection run this command as 'su'
install_bcm43xx_firmware

3.) Still as 'su' run this command
modprobe bcm34xx

4.) Still as 'su' run this command
reboot

Upon reboot your wireless light may not be on but you can turn it on via FN + F2. Now go back into Yast and go to to Network Devices -> Network Card. Find the mini-wlan device and configure it. I recommend using KNetworkManager to finding ESSID and then connecting that way.

NDISWRAPPER is great for 54mb/s connections as the original firmware only gives you 11mb/s speeds. If you want to use NDISWRAPPER you have to blacklist (/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist) the bcm34xxx driver that is loading but has no firmware through SUSE. That is a whole topic I am not going into anyway as you can do a search on opensuse.org and get the information I just gave you.

Also just so you don't think I am bs'ing you guys about not having to use NDISWRAPPER:
linux-avy6:/home/anthony # ndiswrapper -l
linux-avy6:/home/anthony # ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:16:CF:54:29:14
inet addr:192.168.1.5 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:2390 errors:0 dropped:59 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2248 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:2206759 (2.1 Mb) TX bytes:249803 (243.9 Kb)
Interrupt:5 Base address:0x8000

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:15:C5:B3:B2:71
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:44 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:7167 (6.9 Kb) TX bytes:9772 (9.5 Kb)
Interrupt:17

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:52 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:52 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:3056 (2.9 Kb) TX bytes:3056 (2.9 Kb)

linux-avy6:/home/anthony # iwlist eth0 scanning
eth0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:14:6CA:B8:24
ESSID:"TurboVenge"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
Mode:Master
Channel:11
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Encryption key:off
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Quality=97/100 Signal level=-45 dBm Noise level=-71 dBm
Extra: Last beacon: 16ms ago
Cell 02 - Address: 00:12:0E:72:37:0F
ESSID:"07B404444909"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
Mode:Master
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Quality=96/100 Signal level=-46 dBm Noise level=-71 dBm
Extra: Last beacon: 312ms ago

linux-avy6:/home/anthony #

[waterhead]

Yes, I have tried the "native" bcn43xx driver (after installing the firmware). And I got only a 11mb/s rate. I removed it and went back to NDISwrapper!

I did not recommend it because I don't consider it to be a viable option.

I did not get to the blacklist part, because I didn't want to overwhelm him with information at the beginning. I did say to post back after he got stuck, by then I had forgot about the blacklist requirement, so thanks for the reminder.

To blacklist, first unload the module:

# modprobe -r bcm43xx

This is also needed to get NDISwrapper to work. That may have been your problem. (oops!)

Now open the blacklist file and add bcm43xx:

vi /etc/modules.d/blacklist

Go to the bottom of the page and then hit thr "i" key to enter insert mode. Add this to the file:

blacklist bcm43xx

Enter Shift+ZZ to save and exit.