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Broadcom wireless card doesn't work

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Denteoli
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Joined: 2019-08-06 15:35

Broadcom wireless card doesn't work

#1 Post by Denteoli »

Hello,
I'm having trouble trying to get the wireless card of my laptop to work. The card is a Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01). This is what lscpi outputs:

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00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GSE Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 01)
02:06.0 CardBus bridge: ENE Technology Inc CB1410 Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82562ET/EZ/GT/GZ - PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller Mobile (rev 01)
10:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)
And when I check its PCI ID it shows the following:

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10:00.0 0280: 14e4:4315 (rev 01)
According a Debian Wiki page I have to install the firmware-b43-installer package. I installed it and I followed the instructions, and when I used Wicd it didn't detect any wireless network. I noticed that a button that my laptop has to turn the wifi on doesn't work, even after rebooting. It had Lubuntu 18.04 installed before and it worked. The card is detected by iwconfig, so I have no idea why it's not working.

I'm using Debian 10 Buster on i386 architecture.
Thanks in advance.

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Re: Broadcom wireless card doesn't work

#2 Post by arochester »

I have to install the firmware-b43-installer package. I installed it and I followed the instructions
Did you reboot?

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Re: Broadcom wireless card doesn't work

#3 Post by Wheelerof4te »

Denteoli wrote: I used Wicd
Have you tried with NetworkManager instead? Wicd might use old wlan interface, maybe you need to change it in teh settings.
Also, it doesn't matter if it works on Lubuntu, as Ubuntu is just a Debian snapshot with some tweaks and added non-free firmware.

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Re: Broadcom wireless card doesn't work

#4 Post by CwF »

Wicd will work fine, my preference. Wicd does no auto detection, it does need to be told the interface name. Then, cycle the wifi off/on in wicd and Refresh. Detailed elsewhere is how to set a single name in wicd and use dynamic rules for usb gadgets to be renamed, then wicd always works by cycling and refreshing. Or rename the usb gadget to wlan and wicd will likely work already...

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Re: Broadcom wireless card doesn't work

#5 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Have you checked dmesg to see if the firmware is loaded?

Can we please see the output of

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ip link
# dpkg-reconfigure firmware-b43-installer
I would try the wl driver instead but it's proprietary.
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Re: Broadcom wireless card doesn't work

#6 Post by 4D696B65 »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:Have you checked dmesg to see if the firmware is loaded?

Can we please see the output of

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ip link
# dpkg-reconfigure firmware-b43-installer
I would try the wl driver instead but it's proprietary.
As far as I know, the blob installed by firmware-b43-installer is proprietary

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Re: Broadcom wireless card doesn't work

#7 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

^ Yes, that's right, good point.
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[Solved]Broadcom wireless chip works with wl driver

#8 Post by bkpsusmitaa »

I have a similar issue. My laptop details are here:
https://bit.do/HP_i3_4Gen_Laptop_rajibando

My card is (invoking lspci verbose and grep):
Slot: 04:00.0
Class: Network controller
Vendor: Broadcom Limited
Device: BCM43142 802.11b/g/n
SVendor: Hewlett-Packard Company
SDevice: BCM43142 802.11b/g/n
Rev: 01
Denteoli wrote:And when I check its PCI ID it shows the following:

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10:00.0 0280: 14e4:4315 (rev 01)
But how is the PCI ID checked? I am aware that plain lspci should give me a similar output. But I am not getting such details. So I figured i have to use the nn option. Fair enough :-)

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04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Limited BCM43142 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4365] (rev 01)
Installed the firmware. Still doesn't work. Had been to the page:
https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/use ... own_issues

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PCI-ID 	Supported? 	Chip ID 	Modes 	PHY version 	Alternative 
14e4:4365 	no 	BCM43142 	b/g/n 	LCN40 (r3) 	wl 
dmesg with string "broadcom" has this output:

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[    9.445833] bluetooth hci0: firmware: failed to load brcm/BCM.hcd (-2)
[    9.445837] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for brcm/BCM.hcd failed with error -2
[    9.445839] Bluetooth: hci0: BCM: Patch brcm/BCM.hcd not found
dmesg with string "wlan" has no output.

dmesg with string "Broadcom" has:

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[    1.759617] usb 1-4: Manufacturer: Broadcom Corp
So Broadcom also supplies necessary electronics for the USB ports.

Further, dmesg with string "BCM43142"

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[    1.759615] usb 1-4: Product: BCM43142A0
Checked from within Knoppix, using dmesg.with "Broadcom". Output:

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[    2.685311] usb 1-4: Manufacturer: Broadcom Corp
[   18.714632] wlan0: Broadcom BCM4365 802.11 Hybrid Wireless Controller 6.30.223.271 (r587334)
Went to the Debian wiki page of wl. Added the sources.list line. Updated.

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# apt-get install linux-image-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') broadcom-sta-dkms
didn't respond at all. Error in the code line?

Uninstalled broadcom installed package. Installed broadcom-sta-dkms package.from synaptic.

Report from synaptic:

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Selecting previously unselected package broadcom-sta-dkms.
(Reading database ... 159691 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../broadcom-sta-dkms_6.30.223.271-5_all.deb ...
Unpacking broadcom-sta-dkms (6.30.223.271-5) ...
Setting up broadcom-sta-dkms (6.30.223.271-5) ...
Loading new broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271 DKMS files...
Building for 4.9.0-11-686
Module build for kernel 4.9.0-11-686 was skipped since the
kernel headers for this kernel does not seem to be installed.
kernel header was installed with pae updated.

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(Reading database ... 159757 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../linux-headers-4.9.0-11-686-pae_4.9.189-3+deb9u1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking linux-headers-4.9.0-11-686-pae (4.9.189-3+deb9u1) over (4.9.189-3) ...
Preparing to unpack .../linux-headers-4.9.0-11-common_4.9.189-3+deb9u1_all.deb ...
Unpacking linux-headers-4.9.0-11-common (4.9.189-3+deb9u1) over (4.9.189-3) ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-headers-4.9.0-11-686.
Preparing to unpack .../linux-headers-4.9.0-11-686_4.9.189-3+deb9u1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking linux-headers-4.9.0-11-686 (4.9.189-3+deb9u1) ...
Setting up linux-headers-4.9.0-11-common (4.9.189-3+deb9u1) ...
Setting up linux-headers-4.9.0-11-686-pae (4.9.189-3+deb9u1) ...
/etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms:
Warning: Unable to find an initial ram disk that I know how to handle.
Will not try to make an initrd.
Setting up linux-headers-4.9.0-11-686 (4.9.189-3+deb9u1) ...
dkms reinstalled. This time appears successful.

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(Reading database ... 167125 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../broadcom-sta-dkms_6.30.223.271-5_all.deb ...

-------- Uninstall Beginning --------
Module:  broadcom-sta
Version: 6.30.223.271
Kernel:  4.9.0-11-686 (i686)
-------------------------------------

Status: Before uninstall, this module version was ACTIVE on this kernel.

wl.ko:
 - Uninstallation
   - Deleting from: /lib/modules/4.9.0-11-686/updates/dkms/
 - Original module
   - No original module was found for this module on this kernel.
   - Use the dkms install command to reinstall any previous module version.

depmod...

Backing up initrd.img-4.9.0-11-686 to /boot/initrd.img-4.9.0-11-686.old-dkms
Making new initrd.img-4.9.0-11-686
(If next boot fails, revert to initrd.img-4.9.0-11-686.old-dkms image)
update-initramfs......

DKMS: uninstall completed.

-------- Uninstall Beginning --------
Module:  broadcom-sta
Version: 6.30.223.271
Kernel:  4.9.0-11-686-pae (i686)
-------------------------------------

Status: Before uninstall, this module version was ACTIVE on this kernel.

wl.ko:
 - Uninstallation
   - Deleting from: /lib/modules/4.9.0-11-686-pae/updates/dkms/
 - Original module
   - No original module was found for this module on this kernel.
   - Use the dkms install command to reinstall any previous module version.

depmod...

Warning: Unable to find an initial ram disk that I know how to handle.
Will not try to make an initrd.

DKMS: uninstall completed.

------------------------------
Deleting module version: 6.30.223.271
completely from the DKMS tree.
------------------------------
Done.
Unpacking broadcom-sta-dkms (6.30.223.271-5) over (6.30.223.271-5) ...
Setting up broadcom-sta-dkms (6.30.223.271-5) ...
Loading new broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271 DKMS files...
Building for 4.9.0-11-686
Building initial module for 4.9.0-11-686
Done.

wl:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/4.9.0-11-686/updates/dkms/

depmod...

Backing up initrd.img-4.9.0-11-686 to /boot/initrd.img-4.9.0-11-686.old-dkms
Making new initrd.img-4.9.0-11-686
(If next boot fails, revert to initrd.img-4.9.0-11-686.old-dkms image)
update-initramfs......

DKMS: install completed.
So

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# modprobe wl
is successful and wi-fi is enabled.

Thanks to all concerned, particlarly, Dr. Henning Follmann and Dr. Curt!
Freedom is impossible to conceive.
Books that help:
Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends And Influence People and Emilie Post's Etiquette In Society, In Business, In Politics, And At Home

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