Wireless with LiveCD? (Broadcom 4328)

Are there any LiveCD distros that work immediately with the Broadcom 4328? I know enough Linux to get it installed and use it, but not enough to create my own distro that will work. But can follow directions if they aren't too complicated. :p

The reason I want this is because I recently traveled outside the country and somewhere along the trip my laptop hard-drive became corrupt and would not startup, So, needless to say, I couldn't use it the rest of the trip. So I'd like to carry a CD with me that would insure I could at least be able to check email and such in the event something like this occurs again.

Hello and Welcome!:p

With a LiveCD, you'll most likely need to install the firmware for your card on every boot.
Your best bet would probably be to look into installing to a USB key.
Check out this page for some info: Boot and run Linux from a USB flash memory stick | USB Pen Drive Linux

I thought about that. However, I believe my hard-drive failure was from magnetic interference...and if that's what caused my hard-drive problem, it would have erased a USB stick also. So I was looking for something that wouldn't be able to be erased.

Well, if that's the case you're best bet would be to remaster Knoppix.

You can use the Ubuntu Customization Kit to remaster a live Ubuntu CD.

I used it once and as I recall it was quite simple to do.

Your wireless uses the Broadcom STA driver, which provides the wl module. It is not included by default on any distro that I am aware of.

What you could do is download and save the needed driver packages to a USB pen drive. You would then need to reinstall the drivers every time you boot the CD.

Another way is to install the LiveCD to a USB drive, and keep the driver packages on a separate partition. The only problem with this is that not all PCs can boot from a USB device.

By keeping the driver files handy, you should be able to quickly install them every time.

I just ran cross an application that will allow you to customize an Ubuntu LiveCD.

reconstructor - What is Reconstructor?

Thanks. I will try one or all of the suggestions and see which one I can get to work for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by waterhead

Your wireless uses the Broadcom STA driver, which provides the wl module.

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The Broadcom website doesn't list my 4328 as being supported by this driver...

"These packages contain Broadcom's IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n hybrid Linux® device driver for use with Broadcom's BCM4311-, BCM4312-, BCM4321-, and BCM4322-based hardware"

Does this driver just work even though it's not specifically for my wireless hardware?

Yes.

These are the cards known to work with this driver.

Code:

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14e4:432b "Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller"
14e4:4329 "Broadcom Corporation BCM43XG"
14e4:4328 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n"
14e4:4315 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g"
14e4:4313 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4310 Ethernet Controller"
14e4:4312 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g"
14e4:4311 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN"
14e4:432d
14e4:432c
14e4:432a

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