Broadcom support SOLVED

ronaldo99 · 2012-08-08 23:05:09

Hi-I have been trying out many distros lately on my Acer Aspire laptop and have noticed that on Saline and Semplice (both Debian based)my broadcom wifi is detected without any setup issues.
Is there any chance that #! can do the same in future?
I have been running Statler, and now Waldorf on my netbook for getting on 2 years-would like to install it on my Acer Aspire laptop as well but the broadcom issue is stopping me.

Last edited by ronaldo99 (2012-08-09 21:19:18)

pvsage · 2012-08-08 23:21:07

Whether your Broadcom card is supported OOTB depends on the chipset...

pidsley · 2012-08-08 23:29:10

You can always just try a live session -- if your wifi works in the live session, it should work when you install it.

safetycopy · 2012-08-08 23:52:02

I use an Acer Aspire One which doesn't work out of the box, but is very simple to set up with a couple of package downloads.

ronaldo99 · 2012-08-09 00:38:07

Thanks for your comments-I have tried both live/fully installed #! on my laptop with no success already.
I have downloaded the exact same broadcom packages that are loaded(and work for me) in the Saline and Semplice repos and still no joy with wifi.
Not a problem as I finished up installing Saline, but would have preffered#! as it is my favorite.

safetycopy · 2012-08-09 00:55:32

Well, just for the record: http://wiki.debian.org/wl.

pidsley · 2012-08-09 00:58:24

^ and note that Statler = Squeeze, and Waldorf = Wheezy (just for the record smile )

ronaldo99 · 2012-08-09 09:55:59

I will try to install again today as I really prefer #! over the other debian based distros I have tried.
I just cant understand why Semplice/Saline/Solus all recognise my laptops broadcom setup without any changes/downloads having to be made.

lcafiero · 2012-08-09 15:38:35

pidsley wrote:

^ and note that Statler = Squeeze, and Waldorf = Wheezy (just for the record )

True, pidsley. Not to get off track and to clarify: As part of the Debian naming convention, Wheezy is one of the "Toy Story" characters, after which Debian names its releases -- to say nothing of Sid, the kid next door who did, well, "experiments" on toys, being the testing area for Debian. IMHO, this is the best naming convention of all distros.

Corenominal takes the first letter of the Debian release and matches it with a "Muppet Show" character, with Waldorf and Statler being the old guys in the balcony. This is the second best naming convention of all distros big_smile

Sorry, but I have no solution to this problem. When wireless problems arise, I take the conch shell, climb the highest mountain and sound the alarm, hoping xaos52 will hear it.

pidsley · 2012-08-09 16:05:59

ronaldo99 wrote:

I just cant understand why Semplice/Saline/Solus all recognise my laptops broadcom setup without any changes/downloads having to be made.

They may ship the broadcom firmware/modules as part of their distro. You could try running

lsmod

when you are in one of the distros that works with your wireless to see what modules are loaded.

You could also run

dmesg | tail

to see the last part of the dmesg log to see if that gives you any clues.

lcafiero wrote:

Sorry, but I have no solution to this problem. When wireless problems arise, I take the conch shell, climb the highest mountain and sound the alarm, hoping xaos52 will hear it.

(off-topic) Where is the good doctor? He hasn't posted for at least a week...

Last edited by pidsley (2012-08-09 16:08:28)

ronaldo99 · 2012-08-09 19:18:11

Installed Statler and used help and instructions given by pidsley and safetycopy.
Everything sorted - many thanks for your patience.
Now got #! on both netbook and laptop - magic

pidsley · 2012-08-09 19:20:10

Well done! Please mark your thread [solved] (edit the title of your first post).

safetycopy · 2012-08-09 20:05:04

@ronaldo99: Glad to hear it!

SabreWolfy · 2012-08-09 20:23:59

@ronaldo99: I'm downloading Semplice alpha 2 now, because support for the Broadcom 4311 in my laptop in #!/Debian has typically been very poor. Wireless disconnects and reconnects regularly even when I'm sitting in the same room as the wireless router, for example.

CrunchyLinux · 2012-08-09 20:44:03

guys i would like to say something (before it goes to solve) that may help others in the future if you have trouble with broadcom get b43fwcutter and the firmware from the site then (while on ethernet) then activate b43fwcutter by dragging the firmware that you got over it (yes i know much like windows) if i remember correctly a terminal should open up for a second spit out some lines of text then close after that reboot and all should be good (note im doing it all from memory but thats how i got my wifi to work on many distros) smile

sqlpython · 2012-08-10 03:41:29

Sorry I missed the Broadcom party.
I was blessed/cursed with Broadcom wifi for at least 7 years and did a lot of ndiswrapper solutions early on.
@Crunchy's solution is also a practical one.

These days most of this is supported and here is my method ..Usually.
May be of some help to someone.
run

lspci -v

the last couple of returns will have your NICs including wifi info.

Head for http://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/
page down to find your appropriate Wifi Chip.
and click on the link (right Column) for the complete instructions
With Broadcom your choices can be (Depending on Chip) Ndiswrapper, wl, b43xx, or brcm80211,

Never had a Broadcom wifi that failed completely with Linux. Only degrees of time involved to light it up.

Last edited by sqlpython (2012-08-10 03:42:12)

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#1 2012-08-08 23:05:09

Broadcom support SOLVED

#2 2012-08-08 23:21:07

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#3 2012-08-08 23:29:10

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#4 2012-08-08 23:52:02

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#5 2012-08-09 00:38:07

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#6 2012-08-09 00:55:32

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#7 2012-08-09 00:58:24

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#8 2012-08-09 09:55:59

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#9 2012-08-09 15:38:35

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#10 2012-08-09 16:05:59

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#11 2012-08-09 19:18:11

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#12 2012-08-09 19:20:10

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#13 2012-08-09 20:05:04

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#14 2012-08-09 20:23:59

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#15 2012-08-09 20:44:03

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

#16 2012-08-10 03:41:29

Re: Broadcom support SOLVED

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