Greets all.
Just did an install of Slackware 13 on this Acer.
It's got the Broadcom wireless, b43 card.

I've tried executing steps from a couple different sites, one installed ndiswrapper, the other extracted firmware to /lib/firmware.

Neither method i've come across works, and when I execute iwconfig, wlan0 doesn't even show up now. I'm wondering if all this experimenting has screwed my chances of getting this badboy working beyond repair.

If anyone has a quick and effective howto, i'd love to hear it. I'm not too opposed to wiping the disk clean and reinstalling a fresh copy of Slack 13 either, considering i've not attempted a kernel rebuild or anything yet.

I guess the word is...."help "
I've read a good many sites and tried different methods outlined there and am having no luck whatsoever. Just want you fellas to know I tried like hell before giving in and posting another vile Broadcom thread.

--Q

Wait, you used to have wlan0 when you did iwconfig? What was the problem that kept it from working?

I wish I knew. I've since wiped it and am reinstalling a fresh copy at present, but most of the info it threw up regarding wlan0 was blank or zeros. I have a wireless router right in front of me, iwlist scan kept throwing up an error too, can't remember what it was. First i'm going to complete this reinstall. So far, this has been a nightmare, I miss Slack 12

I have to use a usb mouse because the synaptics touchpad mouse won't work in linux (works in my MS-Dos partition?), and when I recompiled my kernel I lost sound, still no mouse, and still couldn't configure wireless.

Gotta love it.
--Q

Please post the output for "hwinfo --netcard".

Unfortunately, Slackware does not include hwinfo. Hardware detection has to be done with standard system tools like lspci.

Though it appears that he already knows which driver supports his card, I am not sure that it is really necessary anymore. Looks like the issue is with installing said driver.

Ok. What is output for "lspci" then?

Hi! May I join in?!?
I have the same problem usr robotics MaxG wirless card ... broadcom chipset (BCM4318). I get the following error when I run 'iwconfig wlan0 up':
SIOCISFFLAGS: No such file or directory.

I've tried with ndiswrapper ... no avail ...

Thanxs to all those who may help.
C

I have a couple machines with the BCM4318 chipset. I've found fwcutter to be the easiest method for me. This will allow the stock B43 kernel driver to do it's thing. I'd recommend researching fwcutter.

Stubborn piece o' $#*!*$#

Ok. So i've done the firmware install from here:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

and I also tried installing the official broadcom drivers from here:
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php
(although with this method, it asks me to disable a module called ssb which is in use by another called b44 which drives my built in ethernet, so I can't disable it.)

Both from a stock Slack 13 install, and having installed the firmware as defined in step 1, i'm still getting a missing essid. My output from iwconfig looks like so:

which in turn leaves me with:
Using the information from the first method above, i've determined that I have a supported chipset. lspci reports:
Any ideas how I might proceed? I'm hoping that I didn't screw up anything in the first method. It put a bunch of files in /lib/firmware. I don't know that anything else is happening, unless that stuff is used by something automagically.
--Q

I personally use "wicd" for connecting my wireless. It works well and it's user friendly. You might try this to see if you card is actually working though.This should scan for any signals in the area and display relevant info. If it sees your essid, then the next step is to connect to it, either manually or with something like "wicd" or "network manager".

Can you also post outpost for:

lspci -vv -s 06:02.0

Thanks

The way I got this wireless NIC working was with ndiswrapper on an Acer with Ubuntu installed. There's a thread here on LQ that gives step by step instructions.

Kind regards,

Eric

You could try the Broadcom STA Driver:

http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

~Josh

JoshGriffin & Chromezero. I did those things; see above post.

nimnull22, here goes;

Update!
I half got this badboy working.
If you look, I did the stuff listed in the top of this thread (went to those two sites).
I need help getting this setup right though. Check this out;

I had to blacklist modules ssb, b43, and b44. Now when I start up, I have no network interfaces of any sort.
When i'm logged in, I have to go the directory where the driver (or is it module?) I downloaded from Broadcom was extracted. and do (as per Broadcom's readme)

modprobe lib80211
insmod wl.ko

Once that's done, I can modprobe b43 and b44, so I have my wired and wireless back. I'm perfectly content with using ifconfig and dhcpcd to bring up my wired interface, and using the necessary console tools to connect with my wireless,
so my question now, is there any way to automate the process I just ran down? Where should the stuff from the broadcom folder (the wl.ko for example) go, and what config do I need to edit so that lib80211 is modprobed at boot and wl.ko is inserted BEFORE the b43 and b44 modules are? I'd read somewhere that if b43 or b44 are loaded before the wl module, that they will then require ssb and will, despite being blacklisted, load that module first anyway, which in turn kills the wireless driver.

Thanks for the patience folks.
--Q