wireless frustrations
 

I have downloaded and tryed the more popular distros. I have done alot of research and find it extremely hard to belive that there is not a driver for my broadcom 4303 wireless card. somebody out there has made one. unfortunatly i cant find it. My favorite distro is Mandriva because of the graphical interface and its simialr windows look. The only distro that works with my wireless card is the Linspire/freespire distro, although i had to reconfigure my security for the network. Id stick with linspire if it wernt so dificult to install anything else It seems like every other driver i install is just a text document. Im new to linux and have been eager to learn. Can anyone tell me the best way to install a wireless driver?

Thanks alot!.. Toph

Supported Broadcom Devices Driver is available..

Is this for a laptop or a desktop ?

The Driver install is going vary for different distributions, so you need to choose one before you can get specific instructions.

the b43 (broadcom 43xx driver) is now included in the Kernel as of 2.6.24, I believe. but the firmware is proprietary and must be loaded manually since it is illegal to distribute with most Linux distributions.


b43 the Broadcom Linux Driver

wireless frustrations reply
 

This is a desktop install

hardware list:
AMD 3200+
Nvidia 8600GT
1.5 gb RAM
Turtle Beach 5.1 sound
Broadcom 4306 (viewsonic branded)

Ive got Mandriva spring 2008 installed on a 2nd HD im not sure the Kernal version

uname -r to check kernel version..

it is the 2.6.24 kernel version. im confused. with this kernel all i need to do is update the firmware?

look at the directions on the page I provided hte link for..

you should only have to load the proper module using modprobe (either b43 or b43-legacy), install the firmware, then configure the interface.

if that all works then add the module name to your /etc/modules file so it is loaded automatically at boot.

Hey Farslayer, You have great advise, unfortunalty im so new with linux installing things like modprobe opens a text file. i think i have to do something with the Terminal but i dont know what im doing. If you know of a walkthrough or a visual guide that would help tremendous. Im a fast learner i just have to understand what im doing first. Thanks again for your help!

you need to work at the terminal to get your wireless setup.

open a shell and su - to root.

user@mandriva:~$ su -
password:
user@mandriva:~# modprobe b43


then follow the directions in the link I provided to install the firmware.