Kernel 2.6.20 and bcm43xx driver

Thanks for your reply Freddy.  I usually configure my wireless card with a self written bash script.  It's very simple to use- especially if you don't want your wireless interface to come up by itself.  In your opinion, will wpasupplicant make it easier to configure an interface?  I use WEP encryption and not WPA encryption.
Does anyone else have an idea on what I need to do to get this working?On 3/1/07, Freddy Freeloader <
> wrote:Mr Alk3 wrote:> Here is where I am at:> I have a Dell Inspiron E1505 running Debian Etch.  I have a
2.6.20 custom> kernel with the bcm43xx module support.  As far as I can tell, when I> boot> the module is loaded and the output of iwconfig only shows eth0 and lo> interfaces with now wireless extensions.  When I do a 'modporbe
> bcm43xx' the> wlan0 interfaces appears and seems to work.  I am confused though,> because> when I do and 'iwconfig wlan0 essid <ap name>' it doesn't work.  Here> is the
> output when I tried to configure iwconfig essid:> +++++++++++++++++> # iwconfig wlan0 essid "byteme"> # iwconfig> lo        no wireless extensions.>> eth0      no wireless extensions.
>> wlan0     IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"b"  Nickname:"Broadcom 4311">          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Invalid>          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off>          Encryption key:off
>          Link Quality=0/100  Signal level=-256 dBm  Noise level=-256 dBm>          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0>          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
> +++++++++++++++++> It only lets me use 5 characters and lowercase for my AP name.  My ap> essid> is actually "ByteMe"> +++++++++++++++++> # iwconfig wlan0 essid "bytem"
> # iwconfig> lo        no wireless extensions.>> eth0      no wireless extensions.>> wlan0     IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"bytem"  Nickname:"Broadcom 4311">          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Invalid
>          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off>          Encryption key:off>          Link Quality=0/100  Signal level=-256 dBm  Noise level=-256 dBm>          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
>          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0> +++++++++++++++++> I dont understand.  do I need to rename my AP essid to lesser/lowercase> characters?  What could be causing this?
>> I usually just run a script that modprobes the module, configures my> wireless interface from iwconfig and then runs 'dhclient wlan0'.> Should I> be using /etc/network/interfaces or does it matter?
>>> On 3/1/07, Freddy Freeloader <fredddy@cableone.net> wrote:>>>> Mr Alk3 wrote:>> > Here is the output of 'lspci -v' for the NIC
>> > =====================>> > 0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation Dell Wireless 1390>> WLAN>> > Mini-PCI Card (rev 01)>> >        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 0007
>> >        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 169>> >        Memory at efdfc000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [=16K]>> >        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
>> >        Capabilities: [58] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit->> > Queue=0/0 Enable->> >        Capabilities: [d0] Express Legacy Endpoint IRQ 0>> >        Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
>> >        Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel>> > =====================>> > I have never used the bcm43xx module to run a broadcom chipset>> > wireless card>> > and have a few quick questions:
>> >>> > If I do a 'modprobe bcm43xx' as root, is that all I need to do to>> get my>> > 'ethX' interface to show up?>> >>> > Is there anymore configuration needed?
>> >>> > At boot up I get this when the wireless card is found:>> > =====================>> >>> > bcm43xx driver>> > bcm43xx: Chip ID 0x4311, rev 0x1
>> > bcm43xx: Number of cores: 4>> > bcm43xx: Core 0: ID 0x800, rev 0x11, vendor 0x4243>> > bcm43xx: Core 1: ID 0x812, rev 0xa, vendor 0x4243>> > bcm43xx: Core 2: ID 0x817, rev 0x3, vendor 0x4243
>> > bcm43xx: Core 3: ID 0x820, rev 0x1, vendor 0x4243>> > bcm43xx: PHY connected>> > bcm43xx: Detected PHY: Version: 4, Type 2, Revision 8>> > bcm43xx: Detected Radio: ID: 2205017f (Manuf: 17f Ver: 2050 Rev: 2)
>> > bcm43xx: Radio turned off>> > bcm43xx: Radio turned off>> > bcm43xx: set security called, .active_key = 0, .level = 1, .enabled>> = 1,>> > .encrypt = 1, .auth_mode = 0
>> > bcm43xx: PHY connected>> > bcm43xx driver>> > bcm43xx driver>> > bcm43xx driver>> > bcm43xx: Chip ID 0x4311, rev 0x1>> > bcm43xx: Number of cores: 4
>> > bcm43xx: Core 0: ID 0x800, rev 0x11, vendor 0x4243>> > bcm43xx: Core 1: ID 0x812, rev 0xa, vendor 0x4243>> > bcm43xx: Core 2: ID 0x817, rev 0x3, vendor 0x4243>> > bcm43xx: Core 3: ID 0x820, rev 0x1, vendor 0x4243
>> > bcm43xx: PHY connected>> > bcm43xx: Detected PHY: Version: 4, Type 2, Revision 8>> > bcm43xx: Detected Radio: ID: 2205017f (Manuf: 17f Ver: 2050 Rev: 2)>> > bcm43xx: Radio turned off
>> > bcm43xx: Radio turned off>> > bcm43xx: set security called, .active_key = 0, .level = 1, .enabled>> = 1,>> > .encrypt = 1, .auth_mode = 0>> > bcm43xx: PHY connected
>> > bcm43xx: Microcode rev 0x13f, pl 0x66 (2005-10-15  22:46:19)>> > bcm43xx: set security called, .active_key = 0, .level = 1, .enabled>> = 1,>> > .encrypt = 1, .auth_mode = 0
>> > bcm43xx: Microcode rev 0x13f, pl 0x66 (2005-10-15  22:46:19)>> > bcm43xx: Microcode rev 0x13f, pl 0x66 (2005-10-15  22:46:19)>> > bcm43xx: Microcode rev 0x13f, pl 0x66 (2005-10-15  22:46:19)
>> > bcm43xx: Microcode rev 0x13f, pl 0x66 (2005-10-15  22:46:19)>> >>> >>> > Does 'Radio turned off' mean I need to do something more to get the>> card
>> > active?>> >>> > I have the firmware, the NIC doesn't show up as 'ethX'.  'wlan0>> shows up>> > even without ndiswrapper installed.  So, I tried to connect to an AP
>> > and I>> > try to enter the essid and its a no go, with wlan0. My AP name is>> > "ByteMe">> > and I can only enter in lowercase and up to 5 characters, so: "bytem"
>> >>> > What is my problem? The driver is loaded and the hardware is>> recognized,>> > what else is there?>> >>> > I just joined this mailing list and do not have the time to search for
>> > this>> > topic, sorry if this has already been answered.>> >>> > Thanks in advance!>> >>> > Alk3>> >>> I've seen the "radio off" message in dmesg on my system too when I was
>> playing with the bcm43xx module.  For some reason that module starts,>> then stops, and then restarts the radio.>>>> If you used fwcutter-bcm43xx to extract the software it should have
>> placed the firmware in the correct location.>>>> As to your problem entering the ssid I'm not sure where you are doing>> this.  I always configure my network connections in
>> /etc/network/interfaces, and if I am going to use a secured AP, in>> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf.>>>> You can find the documentation for configuring wpa_supplicant in
>> /usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant.  There are example configurations given>> there.>>>>>> -->> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to
>> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact>> listmaster@lists.debian.org>>>>
>I'm a relative noob to wireless as I never owned a laptop until about ayear ago.What I have done to configure my wireless connections is:1. I run ifconfig -a to see what interfaces show up.
2. Edit /etc/network/interfaces to add the appropriate entry for thewireless card.3. If using wpa_supplicant on the wireless interface edit/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf with the appropriate network
information for home, office, and roaming sites.Here is my /etc/network/interfaces entry for my wireless card.  It showsup as eth0 for some reason, but that's no biggie to me.allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet manual    wpa-driver wext    wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.confiface home inet dhcpiface roam inet dhcpHere is my entry in /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicantctrl_interface_group-wheelnetwork={    ssid="my_ssid"    id_str="home"    psk="my_secret"    key_mgmt-WPA-PSK
}network-{    ssid=""    id_str="roam"    key_mgmt=NONE}I could put a priority on the interfaces but I haven't needed to yet asthere are no wireless networks close enough to my home to confuse the
system.  It takes a little while when roaming for the system to give upon "home" but then it picks up any open wireless network I choose usingthe KwifiManager.  (I use Gnome but have full installations of both
Gnome and KDE so the full complement of software is available to showpeople.  I also have several gui's available for people to look at too.)Hope this helps.  I'm running Sid rather than Etch, but I think Etch
will use the same syntax as Sid as I think it uses the same version ofwpa_supplicant.  If it isn't just look up the documentation in/usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant.--To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org