i have managed to get the wireless card working

03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 03)

using 2.6.24.5 kernel (stock), but am getting a few errors and issues.

carp-lap:/etc/rc.d# ./rc.inet1 restart
Error for wireless request "Set Nickname" (8B1C) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.
Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory

is one little issue, the other is it wont pick up or keep the gateway ip even if i do route add default gw 192.168.1.15 - route default gw 192.168.1.15 wlan0 , does not keep it there if the laptop is rebooted of if i do ./rc.inet1 stop/restart, so i have to manually keep adding it

/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf

GATEWAY="192.168.1.15"

IFNAME[4]="wlan0"
IPADDR[4]="192.168.1.4"
NETMASK[4]="255.255.255.0"
USE_DHCP[4]=""
DHCP_HOSTNAME[4]=""
#DHCP_KEEPRESOLV[4]="yes"
#DHCP_KEEPNTP[4]="yes"
#DHCP_KEEPGW[4]="yes"
#DHCP_IPADDR[4]=""
WLAN_ESSID[4]=phoenix
WLAN_MODE[4]=Managed
WLAN_RATE[4]="54M auto"
WLAN_CHANNEL[4]="11"
##WLAN_KEY[4]="key.removed"
##WLAN_IWPRIV[4]="set AuthMode=WPAPSK | set EncrypType=TKIP | set ##WPAPSK=key.removed"
WLAN_WPA[4]="wpa_supplicant"
WLAN_WPADRIVER[4]="wext"


/etc/wpa_supplicant

# This line enables the use of wpa_cli which is used by rc.wireless
# if possible (to check for successful association)
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
# By default, only root (group 0) may use wpa_cli
ctrl_interface_group=0
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1

# WPA protected network, supply your own ESSID and WPAPSK here:
network={
scan_ssid=0
ssid="phoenix"
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=CCMP TKIP
group=CCMP TKIP WEP104 WEP40
psk=key.removed
}

# Plaintext connection (no WPA, no IEEE 802.1X),
# nice for hotel/airport types of WiFi network.
network={
key_mgmt=NONE
priority=0
}

dmesg

Registered led device: b43-phy0:tx
Registered led device: b43-phy0:rx
Registered led device: b43-phy0:radio
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input16
Registered led device: b43-phy0:tx
Registered led device: b43-phy0:rx
Registered led device: b43-phy0:radio
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
wlan0: Initial auth_alg=0
wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:12:17:e7:4c:0d
wlan0: RX authentication from 00:12:17:e7:4c:0d (alg=0 transaction=2 status=0)
wlan0: authenticated
wlan0: associate with AP 00:12:17:e7:4c:0d
wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:12:17:e7:4c:0d (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
wlan0: associated
wlan0: switched to short barker preamble (BSSID=00:12:17:e7:4c:0d)
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
wlan0: no IPv6 routers present


The other issue is that when using knemo to monitor the connections, it tells me that encryption is off, but seeing as i have set the router to only allow secured connections can i safely ignore what its telling me or is it a case of the encryption really is off, due to the errors above, although the transfer rate is about right for the encryption level i have selected - i get the same speed under windows with same encryption level

now i know its probably something minor i have overlooked but this is the first time i have tried to get wireless working on this laptop, so any help is greatly appreciated.

From the dmesg it looks like you're connected to the AP. What happens when you type 'iwconfig?'

I have almost the same problem with WPA2 with AES encryption, I never manged to get WPA2 working so I use WEP, I use the rt61 firmware included with Slackware, I did a little research about wpa_supplicant and I never really figured it out completely because i cant use it but I believe the rt61 & a lot of other wifi cards are not compatible with wpa_supplicant and according to their website http://hostap.epitest.fi/wpa_supplicant/ if you scroll down to "Supported wireless cards/drivers" you will see which cards are supported, if you are using ndiswrapper then you are probably ok with wpa_supplicant and AES it not supported so use TKIP...

A few standard broadcom wireless questions:

Are the broadcom drivers built into the kernel or are they modules? Hint: they only seem to work when built-in. Don't bother including the legacy drivers you won't need them for your card.

Did you download and install the proper firmware for the wireless card? Hint: when you check to see if the drivers are built-in hit ? and it will tell you which version of the firmware to install. I think it even tells you where to get it.

Did you install wpa_supplicant correctly? There are several tutorials availiable. It a shame there isn't a slackbuild script for it.

I have a tutorial I wrote for broadcom that I have to upload, if I get a chance tonight I'll do that.

Eric

I never got this one to work (I've got a rev 3, too), so I'm actually using an old kernel on my Slack 12.1 laptop. I hope you come up with something. I did not try to compile the drivers into the kernel as just suggested.

Brian

Hi:

I would be keen to see that having wrestled with a BCM 4312 myself. BTW have you seen that slackbuilds.org now has firmware and fwcutter scripts available for broadcom cards?

Andrew

I have uploaded a pdf of the tutorial here. Hope it helps.

Eric

Thanks for the guide em - i will look at it later - not had chance to look at the pcs as i have had a lot on.

@wheelsg - will post that when im back tomorrow afternoon (that and i have the laptop working again, been waiting on a part)