bcm4328 wifi card doesn't work with a clean install

[Chris Morgan]

Broadcom bcm4328 card isn't working by default.

The following sequence of events to make the driver install correctly for this card:

1.System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
2.Uninstalled the Broadcom STA wireless driver
3.Restart
4.Use the switch to turn the wireless radio off
5.Restart
6.Use the switch to turn the wireless radio on
7.System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
8.Reinstalled the Broadcom STA wireless driver
9.Restart

It even seems to still work after multiple normal reboots!

These instructions were originally found here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1134631

Requesting an easier method of installing the driver (without reboots with disabling/enabling the radio in-between).

Hardware: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] (rev 03)
Kernel module used: wl

[Chris Morgan (chmorgan)]

Found a comment on a thread that suggested removing the ssb kernel module and installing the wl one, ran:

sudo rmmod ssb
sudo modprobe wl

And wireless is working for me. I'm not sure how to keep it working after a reboot though.

[Chris Morgan (chmorgan)]

And to comment, I have no idea if this is the "broadcom sta wireless driver" listed in the hardware devices manager in kubuntu 9.04.

[Jonathan Aquilina (eagles051387)]

firstly depending on the revision of your wifi card i use the bw43-fwcutter. revision one should work out of the box with that installed. revision 2 i have noticed that patches are needed for the 2.6.24 kernel. i have tried the driver mentioned above, which is proprietary and it didnt work. i switched to the fwcutter and things worked outa the box for me even after a reboot.

[Jonathan Aquilina (eagles051387)]

also take a look at linuxwireless.org and see what they say about your
particular card.

On 5/7/09, David Bensimon <email address hidden> wrote:
> ** Description changed:
>
> - Bcm4328 card isn't working by default. This thread shows a work around for
> it so it appears to be configuration related
> + Broadcom bcm4328 card isn't working by default.
> +
> + The following sequence of events to make the driver install correctly
> + for this card:
> +
> + 1.System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
> + 2.Uninstalled the Broadcom STA wireless driver
> + 3.Restart
> + 4.Use the switch to turn the wireless radio off
> + 5.Restart
> + 6.Use the switch to turn the wireless radio on
> + 7.System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
> + 8.Reinstalled the Broadcom STA wireless driver
> + 9.Restart
> +
> + It even seems to still work after multiple normal reboots!
> +
> + These instructions were originally found here:
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1134631
>
> - It would be nice if this had an easier fix than several reboots with
> - disabling/enabling the card in-between.
> + Requesting an easier method of installing the driver (without reboots
> + with disabling/enabling the radio in-between).
>
> - Hardware: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] (rev
> - 03)
> + Hardware: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] (rev 03)
> + Kernel module used: wl
>
> ** Package changed: linux (Ubuntu) => linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu)
>
> --
> bcm4328 wifi card doesn't work with a clean install
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/365857
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

--
Jonathan Aquilina

[Kamangir (kamangir1214)]

The work-around can be shortened to one restart.

1.System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
2.Uninstall the Broadcom STA wireless driver
3.Restart.
4.Before logging into Jaunty, turn off wireless with the wireless switch.
5. Log in.
6.System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
7.Reinstall the Broadcom STA wireless driver
8.Use the switch to turn the wireless radio on
9. After about 10 seconds, your wireless will work.

I have tested this on two separate installs of Jaunty and it continues to work with multiple reboots.

[Jonathan Aquilina (eagles051387)]

has anyone tested with the opensource b43-fwcutter. the driver that is
being used above is a proprietary driver.

On 5/9/09, Kamangir <email address hidden> wrote:
> The work-around can be shortened to one restart.
>
> 1.System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
> 2.Uninstall the Broadcom STA wireless driver
> 3.Restart.
> 4.Before logging into Jaunty, turn off wireless with the wireless switch.
> 5. Log in.
> 6.System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
> 7.Reinstall the Broadcom STA wireless driver
> 8.Use the switch to turn the wireless radio on
> 9. After about 10 seconds, your wireless will work.
>
> I have tested this on two separate installs of Jaunty and it continues
> to work with multiple reboots.
>
> --
> bcm4328 wifi card doesn't work with a clean install
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/365857
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

--
Jonathan Aquilina

[Ole Jon Bjørkum (olejonbj)]

Confirmed on my friend's laptop. I fixed it by addin to /etc/rc.local:

rmmod ssb
modprobe wl

Don't know if that has any consequences yet... (?)

If so, I will try this solution. What is the ssb module afterall?

[Shang Wu (shangwu)]

The

rmmod ssb
modprobe wl

works for me as well.

Thanks,

[Fabián Rodríguez (magicfab)]

I hate stating the obvious but can anyone confirm they still had the problem after applying updates (using wired network of course) ?

[Jonathan Aquilina (eagles051387)]

if anyone is still having issues check out linuxwireless.org. i have a
bcm4311 rev2 and i found out some information that was included already for
my card, but might not be for the 4328. normally though i use the wired
network then the hardware devices manager to enable the drive. reboot and it
should work.
this is the website.
http://linuxwireless.org/
also on the website it seems like the have an irc channel on freenode as
well linux-wireless if further help is needed.

2009/6/10 Fabián Rodríguez <email address hidden>

> I hate stating the obvious but can anyone confirm they still had the
> problem after applying updates (using wired network of course) ?
>
> --
> bcm4328 wifi card doesn't work with a clean install
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/365857
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

--
Jonathan Aquilina

[Fabián Rodríguez (magicfab)]

I can confirm this isn't solved with backported modules or regular updates as I initially thought.

[komputes (komputes)]

Can b43-fwcutter be repackaged with a proper installation script. If the user is offline or cannot reach openwrt.org servers, they are not able to install the wireless drivers. Many computers with this wireless controller also have Ethernet issues meaning there must be a way to install this driver without having access to the internet. b43-fwcutter needs an offline .deb as it is currently dependent on an Internet connection and openwrt.org servers be up, which assumes too much about the users setup.

[Jonathan Aquilina (eagles051387)]

check out the drivers from linuxwireless.org im not sure if that will help
with the wireless problems that you might be encountering. but i agree with
you that an offline installation method is needed.

On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 3:44 AM, komputes <email address hidden> wrote:

> Can b43-fwcutter be repackaged with a proper installation script. If the
> user is offline or cannot reach openwrt.org servers, they are not able
> to install the wireless drivers. Many computers with this wireless
> controller also have Ethernet issues meaning there must be a way to
> install this driver without having access to the internet. b43-fwcutter
> needs an offline .deb as it is currently dependent on an Internet
> connection and openwrt.org servers be up, which assumes too much about
> the users setup.
>
> --
> bcm4328 wifi card doesn't work with a clean install
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/365857
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

--
Jonathan Aquilina