The comment below was made prior to a kernel change to the "b43" driver. After considerable effort to get the b43 to work, I abandoned my HP for accessing the internet and used my Clevo instead. After updating the HP to Fedora 8, I was able once again to get the card to work. See:http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...4805us-441251/

The comment below is for historical reference only...

After much effort I managed to get my Broadcom 4306 card to work under Fedora 7 using bcm43xx_mac80211 that replaced bcm43xx driver. I believe the issue was finding compatible firmware. I found firmware that works here: http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources...0.53.0.tar.bz2
There is plenty of info available elsewhere as to procedure.

Good luck.
svarmido

I can't put all this together maybe you can share with me how you got to the point where everything is working. Thanks!

You may want to start by searching the wireless linuxquestions and hardware forums. For insight to the variables affecting your broadcom wireless configuration you can view my thread at:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=441251 It is still relevant to your broadcom configuration.

But, whatever you do - nothing will work without the latest firmware which I presume you have already downloaded from here: http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources...0.53.0.tar.bz2

Put the firmware in /lib/firmware

The other critical component is your /etc/modprobe.conf file.

Should look something like this:

alias wlan0 bcm43xx_mac80211
alias snd-card-0 snd-ali5451
options snd-card-0 index=0
options snd-ali5451 index=0
remove snd-ali5451 { /usr/sbin/alsactl store 0 >/dev/null 2>&1 || : ; }; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-ali5451
alias eth0 natsemi

Once your firmware is in /lib/firmware and your modprobe.conf file is right, in a root console do:

"lsmod|less"

Scroll down to make sure bcm43xx_mac80211 is installed.

if you don't see it do:

"modprobe bcm43xx_mac80211"

There should be no output - unless there is some kind of error.

redo:

"lsmod|less" again to make sure the module loaded o.k.

Then, do:

"ifconfig wlan0"
"iwconfig wlan0"

Then try activating with:

"ifup wlan0"

There probably will be some disturbing messages you can ignore.

If everything works o.k. you will receive a message "done".

Finally, if you are having problems try using the network configuration G.U.I. to create your setup. But, you may want to reboot first, then check to see if the bcmxx* module has loaded. Otherwise, the device may not appear in the G.U.I., especially if your modprobe.conf isn't setup properly.

Good luck.
svarmido

Ok, I scrubbed the laptop reinstalled Fedora 7.
I follow the instructions you provided me (thanks!).
All goes well up till if up:
=====================
[root@localhost ~]# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:90:4B:99:FF:26
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

[root@localhost ~]# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"COZMCC"
Mode:Managed Channel:0 Access Point: Not-Associated
Retry min limit:7 RTS thrff Fragment thr=2346 B
Encryption key:7166-6728-64
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

[root@localhost ~]# ifup wlan0
/sbin/ifup: configuration for wlan0 not found.
Usage: ifup <device name>
==================
I can use the GUI (System,Admin,Network) tool and see the wlan0 under the "hardware" tab.
I can add it under the "New" tab using my network settings.
Then if I try ifup:
==================
[root@localhost ~]# ifup wlan0
/sbin/ifup: configuration for wlan0 not found.
Usage: ifup <device name>
[root@localhost ~]#
[root@localhost ~]# ifup wlan0
/sbin/ifup: configuration for wlan0 not found.
Usage: ifup <device name>
[root@localhost ~]# ifup wlan0
SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory
Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument.
Error for wireless request "Set Bit Rate" (8B20) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.

Determining IP information for wlan0...SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory
SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory
failed.
===================
Any clues? I so want this to work!
Thanks in advance

Check "dmesg|less" for clues.

Check your configuration files located at:

/etc/sysconfig/networking and network-scripts.

Either take a look at them using Midnight Commander or a file editor. Make sure "USERCTL=yes". Unless you have an IPV6 router, and I doubt you do, make sure "IPV6INIT=no". "PEERDNS=yes" Try setting the MODE=Auto and RATE=Auto.

Quite frankly, I don't understand why an driver "improvement" requiring updated firmware should produce so many error statements .

Anyway, you are are on the right track.

One more thing. One of your remarks refers to an encryption key. Make sure it is right.

You may want to go back to my other thread and re-read the comments regarding the config files.

svarmido

I'm encountering the exact same problem currently, and I was wondering if another solution was found -
I've followed just about every step without any success.

when I had fc6, a simple firmware cut and BAM the card was up and running. But now nothing works anymore

I recently updated my HP ze4805us (Saturday, 22 July). Following the update the card will not associate. Wireless Assistant displays the correct information for the wireless network. The updated bcm43xx driver produces a lot more meaningless output but does not work, whereas the previous version worked o.k... In all honesty, I believe the card worked better under Fedora Core 6 than it has ever worked under Fedora 7. Files and programs just updated on the computer I am presently using (also running Fedora 7), and which does not have a broadcom card are displayed below. The reason for this is I believe the two updates were accomplished close enough to have included some of the same files and programs - especially the kernel. It is possible that the selinux updates may have something to do with it as well. Anyone see anything below that may also cause the problem?

Removed: kernel.i686 0:2.6.21-1.3194.fc7 kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.21-1.3194.fc7
Installed: kernel.i686 0:2.6.22.1-33.fc7 kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.22.1-33.fc7
Updated: SDL_mixer.i386 0:1.2.7-3.fc7 bind-libs.i386 31:9.4.1-8.P1.fc7 bind-utils.i386 31:9.4.1-8.P1.fc7 ed.i386 0:0.7-1.fc7 evolution-data-server.i386 0:1.10.3.1-2.fc7 fuse.i386 0:2.7.0-3.fc7 fuse-libs.i386 0:2.7.0-3.fc7 fwbackups.noarch 0:1.43.1-2.fc7 gdm.i386 1:2.18.3-1.fc7 iwlwifi-firmware.noarch 0:2.14.4-1 kbackup.i386 0:0.5.1-7.fc7 kde-settings.noarch 0:3.5-30.fc7 kde-settings-kdm.noarch 0:3.5-30.fc7 kdelibs.i386 6:3.5.7-9.fc7 kdelibs-apidocs.i386 6:3.5.7-9.fc7 kdelibs-devel.i386 6:3.5.7-9.fc7 kdesdk.i386 0:3.5.7-7.fc7 kernel-headers.i386 0:2.6.22.1-33.fc7 libXi.i386 0:1.1.1-1.fc7 mplayer.i386 0:1.0-0.80.20070715svn.lvn7 ntfs-3g.i386 2:1.710-1.fc7 qt4.i386 0:4.3.0-9.fc7.1 qt4-x11.i386 0:4.3.0-9.fc7.1 selinux-policy.noarch 0:2.6.4-28.fc7 selinux-policy-targeted.noarch 0:2.6.4-28.fc7 xine.i386 0:0.99.5-1.lvn7

svarmido