Broadcom 802.11 setup under SUSE 9.2?

Hello all,
I just started using Linux (I installed SUSE 9.2) and I have no clue about how to setup my wireless connection.
I have a Compaq Presario R3000z (AMD-64 3700+) and BroadCom 802.11 wireless integrated card.
If any of you knows how to do it and could help me... I would be grateful.
Thanks,
Tavi

It's a little complicated, but if you use ndiswrapper, you should be able to get your equiptment working.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ndiswrapper/

So,
I have ndiswrapper now and I downloaded the driver for my broadcom wlan card but there is only an exe file there.
I was trying to follow this installation procedure:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...5&pagenumber=1

It sais there on step 11 I should specify the path to an .inf file:
11. Type in “ndiswrapper -i [/path/to/inffile.inf]” (the .inf file will be found in the folder where you extracted the Windows XP drivers)

The driver I got from the HP webpage is only an exe file and that's about it.
Can you help me a little further?
Thx,
Octavian

You'll need to extract the .exe on a Windows machine so you can get to the .inf and .sys files (you'll need both). If you are dual-booting, it should be fairly easy to read the Windows partition from Linux, otherwise you'll have to use a USB stick, floppy or CD to transfer the files. If you've installed WINE, you might be able to use that to extract the .exe.

Another question:
What do I do about the essid (SSID)? I will use different networks randomly... at the library, department, home etc.
Also... the driver for Broadcom can be found on the HP webpage... so... don't pay for it.
Thks,
Octavian

For the SSID, you're going to need to either learn how to set it by hand with iwlist and iwconfig, or use a tool like KWifFi manager to help you do it. When I started running into this, I wrote a perl script that scans for access points and then presents me with a list of the ones it finds. I can post it if you're interested, but it is a command line script. I think KWifi Manager would work if you want something more graphical. Another approach would be if you have a limited number of networks you connect to, you could just write a script for each one and just run the appropriate script to connect.

Also... the driver for Broadcom can be found on the HP webpage... so... don't pay for it.

Huh? Sorry, but I'm really confused by this. No, you shouldn't be paying for the Windows drivers if you already have the card. However, I would suggest using the drivers indicated on the ndiswrapper web site rather than just any old site that happens to have a Broadcom driver set available. As far as I know, none of the drivers linked from the ndiswrapper site have a cost associated with obtaining them. Hey, you bought the card, you're entiteled to the driver to make it work.

Hello,
I don't necesarily need a graphical interface. I will try the KWiFi manager but please post the script or you can send it to my email. It would be helpful even if only as a learning experience.

About the drivers problem... I was trying to follow what you can read on the link in my first reply on this post. When searching for drivers, I found some Forums about Linuc where people were mentioning webpages where you can buy the drivers. There are people that actually bought the windows drivers for something like $20 because they did not know where to find any... so, I was just mentioning it as an alternative (the only one I knew).
I will check the ndiswrapper webpage right now and get back with the link for the driver to this card when I find it.

im having problems with this set up also. ive just installed linux on my machine- well my friend did it for me and he installed that ndiswrapper thing too. linux found my network card and i can access the configuration tool for the router and i COULD access the internet, but for some reason i cant anymore.

No idea whats going on. my mate reckons its something to do with the host name of my machine. its a dual boot and when i run windows xp its fine and the net works. ive tried changing the host name but im not sure ive done it right, my mate said do it from windows. dont know how i would do it in linux.

any help would be much appreciated!

Harshnoise,
check this out (look at part two):
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...5&pagenumber=1
I hope it helps.

thank you so much i really appreciate it mate!

<RANT>
You know, very few posts have pissed me off more than that CypherXero job. Basically all he did was cut and paste the ndiswrapper INSTALL file, add a little formatting and then passed it off as some sort of miraculous how-to that he wrote after only a few days as a linux user rather than the plagerism that it truly is......
</RANT>

OK, now that I've got that out of my system, there is a MUCH better source of ndiswrapper information at the ndiswrapper wiki . You'll find official installation instructions, distro specific tips and tricks and links to windows drivers that are known to work with ndiswrapper. For someone trying to get ndiswrapper to work, this is the best place to spend some quality time.

Thanks a lot,
I do not have to explain myself for the reference to CypherXero but I I found his post while I was clueless about where to start (it is not that I would know much more now but I am trying to learn ). So, I found it, it looked explicit and it made me haphy!!!

I do not have to explain myself for the reference to CypherXero

No, you don't have to explain yourself and my apologies if I came across as suggesting that you did. Technically the CypherXero post is correct, it is just the fact that the poster is claiming credit for work that wasn't his that drives me nuts.

OK, here is the script for scanning for wireless access points. Basically it looks for any it can find, and if it doesn't find one, it sets up the "home" configuration by default. It seems to work fairly well, but I haven't really extensively tested it.

#!/usr/bin/perl
#
#WAP.PL script.  Use at your own risk and please send modifications to
#hangdog42 at (@) comcast.net
#
$Interface = "Wireless Interface name here";
$HomeESSID = "Default SSID here";
$WEP = "Default WEP key here in HEX";
$Mode = "Managed";
$IWCONFIG = "/sbin/iwconfig";
$DHCP = "/sbin/dhcpcd -t 10 -d";
#Users of distros besides Slackware may have to use dhclient instead
@APList = ();
#First load the ndiswrapper module
print("Loading ndiswrapper\n");
system("/sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper");
#
#Uncomment the next line if there is trouble configuring the interface
#sleep 10;
#
print("Scanning for wireless access points\n");
@ScanList = qx/iwlist wlan0 scan/;
push(@APList, 'Exit');
push(@APList, 'Home');
foreach $a (@ScanList){
	if($a =~m/No scan results/){
                print("No networks detected, enabling home network\n");
                &homeNet;
        }
	if($a =~ m/$HomeESSID/){
                print("Home network detected\n");
		&homeNet;
	}
	if ($a =~m/ESSID/){
		@Temp = split(/"/,$a);
		push(@APList,$Temp[1]);
		for($x=0;$x<=$#APList;$x++){
			print("At $x is $APList[$x]\n");
		}
	}
}
&selectFrom;
sub homeNet{
	print("Setting up wlan0\n");
	system("$IWCONFIG $Interface essid $HomeESSID");
	system("$IWCONFIG $Interface mode $Mode");
	system("/sbin/iwconfig wlan0 key $WEP");
	print("Requesting IP from $HomeESSID\n");
	system("$DHCP $Interface");
	system ("ifconfig $Interface up");
	print("Configuration done\n");
	exit;
}
sub selectFrom{
	print("Select one of the following AP points\n");
	for($x=0;$x<=$#APList;$x++){
		print("$x - $APList[$x]\n");
	}
	print("Select by number: ");
	$SelectAP = <STDIN>;
	if((0 <= $SelectAP) and ($SelectAP<=$#APList)){
		if($SelectAP ==0){
			print("No AP Selected, exiting program\n");
			exit;
		}
		if($SelectAP==1){
			print("Configuring Home Network\n");
			&homeNet;
			exit;
		}
		else{
			print("Using $APList[$SelectAP]\n");
			system("$IWCONFIG $Interface essid $APList[$SelectAP]");
			print("Requesting IP from $APList[$SelectAP]\n");
			system("$DHCP $Interface");
			system("ifconfig $Interface up");
			exit;
		}
	}
	else{
		print("Please select an acceptable number\n");
		&selectFrom;
	}
	exit;
}

After all that, I still kept having to do all that ifdown eth0, ifup wlan0... etc. everytime i switched my computer on, and even when it was on if I closed down my browser, my router would disconnect! Wierd huh?

Well, my mate thought that the on board network card and the wireless network card were having a bit of a fight or something. So I configured in YaST the on board network card to have a static IP of 10.0.0.1 and that fixed all of my problems. Voila!