Compiling Broadcom 4401 NIC Code

anderwk · 07-07-2005, 07:16 AM

I just purchased a Dell Inspriron 6000 and have loaded Redhat Linux 2.4.21 on it.
This is a lap top computer with a built in NIC card that uses the Broadcom 4401 chip set.
I down loaded the linux driver from the Broadcom web site and Broadcom claims that it has been built and tested against this version of linux.
When I run the Makefile, it gets an error that shows that there is no definition for the structure 'semaphore' which is needed by several of the data elements in the code being compiled.
I have searched through all the header files in my /usr/include subdirectories and there is no definition (or typedef) for the structure 'semaphore', although there are several header files that need this structure defined in order to compile.
My question is:
Where is this structure defined (the path so I can see if it is missing from my computer or just not in the compiler search path) and can some one mail me a copy of the header file that describes the structure. (Also, should I have loaded an additional source file - I loaded the kernel source code).
My email address is: andy@rtam.com
Thanks,

Baix · 07-07-2005, 08:35 AM

Not sure about you're error but if you don't figure it out, maybe you should try compiling this into you're kernel (this is from 2.6.11):

Code:

                                                           
   Prompt: Broadcom 4400 ethernet support (EXPERIMENTAL)                             
     Defined at drivers/net/Kconfig:1331                                            
     Depends on: NETDEVICES && NET_PCI && PCI && EXPERIMENTAL                       
     Location:                                                                   
       -> Device Drivers                                                          
         -> Networking support                                                      
           -> Network device support (NETDEVICES [=y])                               
             -> Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)                                        
               -> EISA, VLB, PCI and on board controllers (NET_PCI [=y])

Even though its experimental it might be good enough until you can figure out what went wrong.

anderwk · 07-07-2005, 01:31 PM

Thanks, but this information is meaningless to me.
All I need to know is where I can find the header file that contains the
structure of 'semaphore' in the Redhat distribution of Linux 2.4.21

roetsd · 08-03-2005, 01:20 PM

I have a DELL inspiron 9300 with FC4, same NIC. Worked without any problems under FC3. After installation I can bring the interface up, but have huge (>90%) packet loss! PCMCIA NIC works 100%. Same error when building the drivers from Broadcom. Any help???

roetsd · 08-04-2005, 06:00 AM

Took me a whole day, but finally figured it out. There is some problem with the b44 module and acpi. Booting the kernel (2.6.12***) with acpi=noirq solves the problem.