sysrescuecd gentoo based want to connect wirelessly
 

I only have wifi ISP and want to set up access through the systemrescuecd-1.3.5 liveCD but I think I need some gentoo specific assistance.

iwconfig shows wlan0 but I can't find a network manager or an interfaces file where I would normally set up my IP essid ap (MAC) gateway etc.

the system sees my bcm4306 ver3 and loads a driver b43 and ssb but the ifup wlan0 doesn't work (no interface)

Any pointers would be appreciated

Your wireless card uses the b43 driver, as you said, but it also requires extra non-free firmware. Your best bet may be to create a customized iso image that includes the firmware to burn to a CD. Otherwise changes you make will not be persistent across reboots.

You may also be able to make a persistent USB install, not sure how to go about that with System Rescue CD though.

I don't think it has a GUI network manager by default. You could also include something like WICD if you created a customized version.

Otherwise look here for network setup: http://www.sysresccd.org/Sysresccd-manual-en_Network

Thanks for that. I have discovered from reading the gentoo wiki that wireless settings are put into /etc/conf.d/net and I am thinking of loading my b43 firmware onto a usb stick that I can (hopefully) access once the systemrescueCD has booted up. I will post back here with my solution...

That could work. I imagine if you had the extracted firmware files on a USB stick, you could quickly pop them into /lib/firmware each time you booted up System Rescue CD. Instructions for extracting the firmware with b43-fwcutter are on the b43 site.

Yes, thanks - I already have them on my 64bit Debian system.