BCM43XX fails, ndiswrapper works, want BCM43XX
 

I've been trying to get the bcm43xx thing to work for me. Everything appears to be setup correctly, but I always get the below when bringing up the interface.

ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

I have a bash script which sets all of the iwconfig and ifconfig and route attributes when I run it. Or at least it does with ndiswrapper. But several of them fail with bcm43xx. To include the essid only showing "k" in iwconfig instead of "katrina". Although if I run iwconfig wlan0 essid "katrina" by itself that works. Yes, I also have /etc/network/interfaces setup, but for the sake of testing and speeding up the boot process I'm not currently using it.

Anyway onto the issue. I want to use bcm43xx. If only as a fallback when ndiswrapper gets a little quirky. I've been doing that roaming wireless type stuff recently because I'm 1.4G's behind in updates and don't really want to spend an entire month of dedicated downloads on dialup to get up to date. I figure with bcm43xx, I might have better success connecting with foreign networks like Schlotzky's cool cloud network.

I do have ndiswrapper working at the moment. Although the latest version seems a little unstable when under a load. But stable when operating at dialup speeds.


The issue:

ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
(regardless of however close I get to setting this up.)


The details:

Kernel - 2.6.21.3
Distro - Debian (sid, but six months out of date)
Device - Broadcom BCM 4318

The machine:
Compaq Presario v5305wm laptop

The specs:
cpu - Mobile AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3300+
bogomips - 3982.07
ram - 512MB
hdd - 60GB (4 partitions)
video - ATI Radeon Xpress 200M 5955 (PCIE)

lspci:
06:02.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)

lspci -n:
06:02.0 0280: 14e4:4318 (rev 02)

lsmod:
ieee80211softmac 30976 0
ieee80211_crypt_wep 5184 0
ieee80211_crypt_tkip 11008 0
ieee80211_crypt_ccmp 7424 0
ieee80211 33352 1 ieee80211softmac
ieee80211_crypt 5952 4 ieee80211_crypt_wep,ieee80211_crypt_tkip,ieee80211_crypt_ccmp,ieee80211
(plus bcm43xx, when I'm trying to use it. I'm currently using ndiswrapper.)

dmesg:
The link not ready stuff comes into play when I reach the ifconfig's of the below script.

The script:
The key is 128 bit WEP at home. This works fine for ndiswrapper. Although bcm43xx has issues with the power settings. Even when I do this setup manually I still get the above dmesg output.

I've used fwcutter and the wl_apsta.o file. Along with every bcmwl5.sys I've come across. To include the ones shipped with the laptop. And have yet to get it working. Everything appears to be setup, but I can't get past the wlan0 link not ready. I don't consider myself a linux newbie and this is bugging me that I haven't gotten this up and running. Especially since others have reported success with similar/same equipment.

I am using bcm43xx on the same series of laptop with WPA encryption without a much problem, is the module loaded? What is the output of iwconfig?

I am going to switch to ndiswrapper my laptop will not properly shut down as long as the bcm43xx module is loaded. Also with bcm43xx you are limited to 11Mb ndiswrapper will handle anything.

I hate to say it, but that may be the problem right there. The 4318 is hands down the most problematic of the Broadcom chipsets for bcm43xx. Even the bcm43xx teams doesn't really recommend using bcm43xx with that chipset.

From the looks of what you've posted, you've done everything exactly right, which is why I'm leaning towards thinking this is a problem with the chipset.

I'm not one to accept that, as it works with ndiswrapper. I'll agree that there's better devices/hardware out there, but my wirless is integrated into the laptop and I really don't want to use an external one. Especially since others have gotten it working.

Per the requests...

iwconfig after script:

iwconfig after doing the script manually on the cli:
route -n:
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.2.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 wlan0
0.0.0.0 192.168.2.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 wlan0

ping 192.168.2.1:
PING 192.168.2.1 (192.168.2.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
From 192.168.2.4 icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.2.4 icmp_seq=3 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.2.4 icmp_seq=4 Destination Host Unreachable

--- 192.168.2.1 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 0 received, +3 errors, 100% packet loss, time 3999ms
, pipe 3

ifconfig:
Per a fresh kernel compile with enhanced debugging information:
There appears to be a SoftMAC issue.

Are you connecting to another computer or a wireless access point? I am using the managed mode instead of Ad-hoc to connect to a router.

You may also try "ifup wlan0" after you script if you are running dhcpcd

This isn't a case of whether or not the device works, its a case of whether or not the driver supports it. In the case of ndiswrapper, you're using a Windows driver written by Broadcom, who certainly should understand how their card works. In the case of bcm43xx, the driver is written by a group of dedicated programmers working off of some reverse engineered specifications and Broadcom is nowhere to be seen. These guys are working almost completely in the dark and according to their own site, several of the chipsets are unstable. The 4318 falls into this category. Heck, I've got a 4306, and it is only with the 2.6.21 kernel that it has gotten stable enough to use on a regular basis, despite it's being "supported" since day one.

You don't have to unless you have ethical objections to using ndiswrapper.
I'm not sure I agree. It could be a firmware issue and SoftMAC is having problems because it can't really use the card. However, if you think it is, you might try creating a kernel with a Devicescape stack. You'll have to learn how to use git, but it isn't that hard, and I've got instructions on creating a Devicescape kernel on my help site.

And do pay attention to moosedaddy's comment. If you're trying to connect to an access point, you can't use Ad-Hoc mode.

I'm not connecting to an access point. The router is another debian based computer running in Ad-Hoc mode. An old 800MHz box with a flakey onboard video card. All IPs and stuff are hardcoded on it. There are no dhcp clients/servers on this network.

One of the reasons I wanted to get bcm43xx working is because ndiswrapper 1.45 had a large file transfer issue which directly affected me. 1.46 is out now, but it'd be nice to have a backup for when upgrades don't go as planned. Or if I'm connecting to another network type that bcm43xx is better suited to connect to. With ndiswrapper there's certain networks where I almost have to setup the entire connection manually including IPs before dhclient3 wlan0 will work correctly.

Looking back at your OP the chipset of your BCM4318 in you Compaq V5305 that you purchased from Wal-Mart is different from my Compaq V5000 from Office Depot. My built in card works for the first time with kernel 2.6.21-3, except the laptop will not shutdown with the BCM43xx module loaded. Due to the shutdown issues, reliability of the connection, and speed I will be going back to ndiswrapper. Sorry I can not help further.

I can't believe I'm still using this laptop. But BCM4318 issues again. Sort of. More of a quirk, specifically bridging.

I have two bootable usb linux installs (even though I have to boot a grub cd to use them on this relic). One is debian squeeze (stable) and that works swell(cruzer U3). One is debian sid (i386) on a 16GB SDHC card with a reader. The b43 drivers work in both. But....... When setting up a bridge (the exact same way I have it in squeeze), the wireless device led button light thing does not light up. At least not with the /etc/network/interfaces route. It does light up, but only after ifconfig is invoked and assigns wlan0 an ip address. Which you have to do "BEFORE" running dhclient. I do not have to do any of this in debian squeeze, it just works. (after it's initial configuration)

The issue I'm having is that brctl will not let me add wlan0 to the br0 bridge. Even after wlan0's led light is active. This means that the dhcp discovery of wlan0 at boot time from /etc/network/interfaces fails. I can get the wireless device to work, but because I have to workaround the way I want to do it, I cannot get bridging to work. Most of this ancient relic of techs function at the moment is to act as a wireless card for my desktop that lacks pci slots to add said card. Yes I have a stand alone router that does basically the same task, but it's in use elsewhere at the moment.

Any tips for getting brctl to let me add wlan0? Or to make it less quirky?

This actually works in debian squeeze. Although you don't actually get past the bridge machine until you add the ebtables rules.

This error seems to be a common theme. Effectively the only difference besides squeeze vs sid on my two USB options is the kernel versions differ. 2.6.32-5-686 for squeeze and 3.2.0-4-686-pae for sid. And of course I cannot just try to downgrade the kernel in sid without rolling my own or downloading a .deb manually. As every package managed linux-image is a virtual package all pointing at the same kernel by the looks of things.