B43 module not working as a module

C-Sniper · 09-12-2008, 11:03 AM

Hello all,

Lately i have been using an Atheros PCMCIA wifi card to do my wireless networking but that unfortunately broke when i dropped my bag so i am back to the integrated Bcm4306.I currently have it compiled as a module but it will not detect anything.

Dmesg does not report anything unusual.

Code:

# dmesg | grep b43
b43-phy0: Broadcom 4306 WLAN found
firmware: requesting b43/ucode5.fw
firmware: requesting b43/pcm5.fw
firmware: requesting b43/b0g0initvals5.fw
firmware: requesting b43/b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx

any ideas?

Thanks.

masonm · 09-12-2008, 02:18 PM

What do you mean it won't detect anything? You need to provide details.

C-Sniper · 09-13-2008, 12:01 PM

Sorry bout that,

Code:

# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
b43                   130208  0

# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0f:b0:6c:37:c0
          inet addr:192.168.1.203  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:16231 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:13606 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:16828350 (16.0 MiB)  TX bytes:1885012 (1.7 MiB)
          Interrupt:10 Base address:0x6000

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:21 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:21 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:1980 (1.9 KiB)  TX bytes:1980 (1.9 KiB)

wlan2     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:90:4b:ac:b2:e5
          UP 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)

wmaster0  Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-90-4B-AC-B2-E5-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING 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)

# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wmaster0  no wireless extensions.

wlan2     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:""
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated
          Tx-Power=27 dBm
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B
          Encryption key:off
          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

# iwlist wlan2 scanning
wlan2     No scan results

#

I know that there are wireless networks in the vicinity as i am able to pick them up and use them using my desktop PC.

the3dfxdude · 09-13-2008, 01:00 PM

How about an lspci -v for your wireless device?

C-Sniper · 09-13-2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the3dfxdude

How about an lspci -v for your wireless device?

Code:

03:02.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 12f8
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 64, IRQ 10
        Memory at b0200000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
        Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge

I understand that the online guide says to use B43_legacy for the 4306 chip but after further research and further trials i discovered that since mine is a B/G card instead of a B only that i need to use the B43 module...
And B43 was also what my kernel picked when i had both of them enabled with their respective firmware.

C-Sniper · 09-14-2008, 11:30 AM

figured it out...
apparently when i push the wireless button on my laptop, the light doesn't go off so it looks as if the wireless is still on and active when it isn't.