b43: missing firmware causes kernel panic and computer freezing

[Alessandro Losavio]

I created a bootable usb stick whit Ubuntu 12.10 amd64 daily build. Whether I try to boot into the GUI, my PC always hangs in the same place - after finding the b43-phy0 firmware isn't available. num-lock key stops responding.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: linux-image-3.2.0-23-generic 3.2.0-23.36
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-23.36-generic 3.2.14
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-23-generic x86_64
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu5
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ubuntu 4396 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: command ['iw', 'reg', 'get'] failed with exit code 1: nl80211 not found.
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'PCH'/'HDA Intel PCH at 0xfe600000 irq 47'
   Mixer name : 'Intel CougarPoint HDMI'
   Components : 'HDA:10ec0887,18490887,00100302 HDA:80862805,80862805,00100000'
   Controls : 49
   Simple ctrls : 20
CasperVersion: 1.315
Date: Tue Jun 12 17:53:37 2012
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
MachineType: To Be Filled By O.E.M. To Be Filled By O.E.M.
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=it_IT.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent file=/cdrom/preseed/username.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- debian-installer/language=it keyboard-configuration/layoutcode?=it
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.2.0-23-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.2.0-23-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.79
RfKill:

SourcePackage: linux
StagingDrivers: mei
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 06/21/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: P1.20
dmi.board.name: H61DE/S3
dmi.board.vendor: ASRock
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrP1.20:bd06/21/2011:svnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:rvnASRock:rnH61DE/S3:rvr:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Alessandro: Please provide the text of the kernel panic message if possible, or a photograph of the screen displaying the panic message if you are unable to get the text. Thanks!

[Alessandro Losavio (alo21)]

Here the text of the kernel panic message:

b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode5.fw" not found
b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43-open/ucode5.fw" not found
b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the correct firmware for this driver version. Please carefully read all instructions on this website.

My wireless card is a Belkin G+ 802.11g, which is connected via a 32-bit PCI host interface.

More information: runnig "lspci -vvnn | grep 14e4" on terminal, I got:

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

That's not actually a panic, just an error about not finding the firmware.

If you modify the kernel boot parameters to include b43.blacklist=1, will the machine boot okay?

[Alessandro Losavio (alo21)]

If I set the kernel boot parameters to include b43.blacklist=1, all works fine. But is very weird that Ubuntu does not start without a firmware and without that specific parameter.

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Can you give me the output of 'uname -a' when booted with b43.blacklist=1?

[Alessandro Losavio (alo21)]

Sure, the output of 'uname -a' is:

Linux ubuntu 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

I'm confused. You said you were having problems with 12.10, but that kernel is from 12.04. Are you having the same issue in 12.04?

[Alessandro Losavio (alo21)]

Yes, I have the same issue on Ubuntu 12.04

But the first output of 'uname -a' on Ubuntu 12.10 is:

Linux ubuntu 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

If I run the same command on Ubuntu 12.04, I get:

Linux LTS 3.2.0-25-generic #40-Ubuntu SMP Wed May 23 20:30:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

If you're running 12.10 alpha 1 (as you stated on bug #950295) you should not be running kernel version 3.2.0-23.36. I have no idea what you're actually running. Try grabbing the latest daily iso build and see if you still get the problem.

Do you still see the problem with 3.2.0-25.40 under 12.04? If not you probably are seeing the same issue as bug #950295, and the only reason you still see it in quantal is that you're not actually running the quantal kernel.

[Alessandro Losavio (alo21)]

I grabbed the latest daily iso build (this morning at 9.00 am in England), but my kernel version in Ubuntu 12.10 amd 64 is still 3.2.0-23-generic. I downloaded the iso image via zsync using this link:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/quantal-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync

[Alessandro Losavio (alo21)]

I set the status of this bug, because the bug does not affect inux kernel, but zsync only.
Downloading the latest image of Ubuntu 12.10 via browser (http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/quantal-desktop-amd64.iso) all works fine and the ISO has kernel 3.4.
Downloading the image via zsync (http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/quantal-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync), the ISO has kernel 3.2.