Linux Slackware and wireless internet (dell vostro 1510 laptop)

[Cassie]

I used to have ndiswrapper working on my previous laptop, but now I can't make wireless work which is frustrating. I can't find correct drivers to work with ndiswrapper. But maybe I don't need them?

Below is the output of wireless_setup.txt file. What can I do to make my wireless card work under linux?

============ lspci ============
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 0c)
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a02] (rev 0c)
Kernel modules: intelfb
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a03] (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2834] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2835] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:283a] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
Kernel modules: ehci-hcd
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:284b] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:283f] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2841] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [8086:2845] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 [8086:2847] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2830] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2831] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2832] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:2836] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
Kernel modules: ehci-hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev f3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2815] (rev 03)
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller [8086:2850] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: PIIX_IDE
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller [8086:2829] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:283e] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
Kernel modules: i2c-i801
06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
07:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: r8169
Kernel modules: r8169
08:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: O2 Micro, Inc. Firewire (IEEE 1394) [1217:00f7] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: ohci1394
Kernel modules: ohci1394
08:05.2 SD Host controller [0805]: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MMC/SD Controller [1217:7120] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci
08:05.3 Mass storage controller [0180]: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MS/xD Controller [1217:7130] (rev 01)

============ lsusb ============
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 046d:c045 Logitech, Inc. Optical Mouse
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

============ lsmod ============
Module Size Used by
i915 33280 2
drm 74408 3 i915
snd_seq_dummy 6788 0
snd_seq_oss 33408 0
snd_seq_midi_event 10240 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 50928 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 10380 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss 40480 0
snd_mixer_oss 17920 1 snd_pcm_oss
ipv6 241956 14
pcmcia 36524 0
pcmcia_core 35604 1 pcmcia
coretemp 9984 0
lp 13572 0
ppdev 11268 0
parport_pc 28196 0
parport 34796 3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
fuse 54684 3
thermal 19484 0
r8169 31236 0
i2c_i801 12688 0
intel_agp 29116 1
sdhci_pci 11136 0
dcdbas 10912 0
mii 8448 1 r8169
snd_hda_intel 367756 0
sdhci 18564 1 sdhci_pci
agpgart 32584 3 drm,intel_agp
mmc_core 49820 1 sdhci
processor 36648 1 thermal
video 20624 0
thermal_sys 15144 3 thermal,processor,video
sg 30516 0
output 6656 1 video
hwmon 6300 2 coretemp,thermal_sys
battery 14340 0
snd_pcm 70788 2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel
psmouse 40592 0
serio_raw 9220 0
evdev 13088 7
button 10128 0
ac 8196 0
snd_timer 23176 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 11400 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep 10756 1 snd_hda_intel
snd 51748 9 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd _mixer_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_hwd ep
wmi 9768 0
soundcore 10080 1 snd

============ dmesg-firmware ============

============ kernel version ============
2.6.27.7-smp

[waterhead]

This is your wireless card:

06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] (rev 01)

It is supported in Linux by the proprietary Broadcom Linux-STA driver, which provides the wl driver module. I don't know if Slackware has a version available from any third-party repositories, but you can always install it by compiling the source.

Broadcom.com - 802.11 Linux STA driver

Follow the instruction in the README file, also from that web site.

[Cassie]

Thank you very much, I will try that.

[Cassie]

It didn't work unfortunately, I got an error while building the driver.

bash-3.1# make -C /lib/modules/2.6.29-smp/build M=`pwd`
make: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.29'
LD /root/hybrid_wl/built-in.o
CC [M] /root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.o
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_attach':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:362: error: implicit declaration of function 'ieee80211_get_crypto_ops'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:362: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:365: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_free':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:634: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:669: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:685: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:689: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_open':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:714: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_close':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:742: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_start':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:765: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_alloc_if':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:850: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_get_driver_info':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1030: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_ioctl':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1118: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1119: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_get_stats':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1204: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_get_wireless_stats':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1236: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1237: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_set_mac_address':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1304: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1312: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function '_wl_set_multicast_list':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1335: error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'priv'
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_tkip_miccheck':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1726: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1729: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_tkip_micadd':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1748: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_tkip_encrypt':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1768: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_tkip_decrypt':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1790: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1792: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_tkip_keyset':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1834: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1844: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1851: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1861: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1871: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1878: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function 'wl_tkip_printstats':
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1897: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1899: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
make[1]: *** [/root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.o] Error 1
make: *** [_module_/root/hybrid_wl] Error 2
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.29'

I tried to fix it but so far no success. On a different forum I found a suggestion to install wicd. It installed without a problem but can't find wireless networks, although I know that there are at least 2 available. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[waterhead]

You listed that you had a 2.6.27 kernel, in your first post. Now it says that you have a 2.6.29.kernel.

There is a patch that should be applied to the 2.6.29 kernel first. it is available at the same web site as the driver.

[Cassie]

Yes, sorry. It is confusing. I have two kernels, depends on what I am booting. Need to remove 2.6.27.

I downloaded the patch but I understood that I should apply it after I build the driver. Am I wrong?

[waterhead]

My mistake, you patch the driver, not the kernel.

Did you read the instructions that came with the patch? I doesn't make much sense to patch the driver code after compiling it! Besides, you can't compile the driver, that is why you need the patch.

In the instructions, when it says this:

patch -p1 < patchfile

You need to replace "patchfile" with the name of the patch.

patch -p1 < patch_2.6.29_kernels

[Cassie]

I installed the patch and installed the driver. There was a warning

WARNING: modpost: missing MODULE_LICENSE() in /root/hybrid_wl/wl.o

Wireless still doesn't work. What is the problem now? What should I do?

[Cassie]

The problem is that I can't add module. Here is message that I get for modprobe:

bash-3.1# modprobe /root/hybrid_wl/wl.ko
FATAL: Module /root/hybrid_wl/wl.ko not found.

The Broadcom driver built without a problem after I applied patch, the only warning I got was about license and no errors. Not sure what can I do to fix that.

[waterhead]

This may have something to do with it being a proprietary driver. If the license is not open source, it won't compile it.

Open the file that the error is referring to, and find the line MODULE_LICENSE(). What exactly does it have there?

You need to tell it that it is gpl (yes, LIE!). The exact syntax I don't know. Maybe someone else can chime in. Or Google the error, and see if you come up with something.

Edit: Did the driver still compile? Or did it exit with an error? This may have been just a warning.