[NTLUG:Discuss] Broadcom wireless working for me - fyi

[Kenneth Loafman]

Stephen Davidson wrote:
> Leroy Tennison wrote:
> | Stephen Davidson wrote:
> | Greetings.
> |
> | Just an FYI, I've got my Broadcom Wireless working on my HP Pavillion
> | Laptop, w/o ndiswrapper.  Definitely working 802.11b mode, not sure yet
> | about 802.11g (its a hybrid card).  This email is coming to you over a
> | 802.11b network.
> |
> | Apparently, due to license issue, the drivers can not be shipped with
> | the distros.  Linux, and possibly some of the other distros, provide an
> | install script;
> | install_bcm43xx_firmware
> | which will download and install the appropriate drivers.  Note that this
> | ~ script DOES require that you be connected to the internet before
> | executing.
> |
> | Let me know if you want anymore details.
> |
> | Regards,
> | Steve
> |>
> 
> | I'm probably opening a can of worms (or Pandora's box) here but what you
> | seem to be saying is that there are licensing issues affecting drivers
> | for specific hardware.  Is that correct or am I missing something?
> 
> Hi Leroy.
> 
> You are correct.  So far as I can tell, Broadcom currently has NOT
> released their drivers under anything GPL compatible.  The current
> arrangement seems to be that the enduser has to run a script
> ("install_bcm43xx_firmware") to download the drivers to get the card to
> work at all.  And rumor is (untested at the moment) that you only get
> 11Mbps connect, and not 54Mbps that the card also supports.  Still, this
> is an improvement where the cards previously did not work at all.
> 
> Considering that this card is in most HP laptops from the last several
> years (as well as current shipping), getting even partial functionality
> for most hotspots is not exactly an optional feature anymore.  And as of
> late last year, apparently the only way to get any functionality was to
> use ndiswrapper, and the success rate was (and is) apparently less than
> 100%.  Hopefully at some point (if they have not already), Broadcom will
> realize that disabling their hardware for endusers will result in said
> customer base purchasing competitor products that work.
> 
> Regards,
> Steve

I have a Broadcom driver on my Dell 1501 laptop under ndiswrapper.  The
trick there is to download and build the ndiswrapper for the kernel you
are running.  It seems the repository version is way behind the times.

I never got the install_bcm43xx_firmware script to work.  Loading the
drivers it produced would crash the system.  You were lucky.

What distro are you running?

...Ken