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redrum
Xandros Community Moderator
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 2765
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
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 Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:20 pm Post subject: Broadcom bcm43xx firmware installer for Xandros 4.. |
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For those who are running Xandros 4 and have a broadcom bcm43xx wireless card and have been unable to connect so far, here may very well be a solution..
It is mega mega beta, so please do not install this without backing up your data first.
This is absolutely not for production systems and is completely unsupported!!! You have been Warned!
Installation is straightforward.. Simply download the following file and double-click to install it.. http://www.vogelefamily.info/xandros/bcm43xx/4.0/bcm43xx-fwcutter_20060108-6build1_i386.deb
This has been tested and works on a Compaq nx6325 with a Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-PCI Card.
Known issue: The reporting of signal strength is broken, so you will not be able to determine how good your connection is.. This is similar to other cards in Xandros which rely on proprietary firmware extracted from windows drivers in order to operate. I have no iea how to fix this, so please do not ask..
Enjoy!
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sqlpython
Xanalandingdonger
Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 5040
Location: Ct. USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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Great Contributions redrum!
| Quote: | | Known issue: The reporting of signal strength is broken, so you will not be able to determine how good your connection is.. |
I have Wan Lan Mini Cards 1390 and 1450 in two different Dells. Both seemed to work fine on install with Xandros Pro 4.. However the signal strength doesn't seem to work here either. Matty had said last year they would work a solution but no ever came forward after that email.
As far as the Wan Mini working with my machine and not others must be the way the particular board interoperates with the MiniCard.
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RevLinux, Debian Squeeze"
Kubuntu 10.04 & 10.10 |
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mhwelsh
Xandrosianling
Joined: 17 Feb 2003
Posts: 496
Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:15 am Post subject: Acer Travelmate 4400 |
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Your cure does not work.
Shed no tears there is beleived to be a Windows controlled switch somewhere.
If you wish to travel with this mate get a pci card!
martin welsh |
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redrum
Xandros Community Moderator
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 2765
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting.. I reinstalled to test, and lo and behold it does not work... It appears the drivers from the site which the firmware were extracted from have changed.. Evidently something has been altered somewhere in the chain.. This is the problem with restrictive redistribution licenses. If you download from their site, you're at their whim... Annoying. I'm afraid that since the driver has changed, and my knowledge of such things is limited, there is little I can do.
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scott
Xandrosianding
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Posts: 786
Location: West Chicago,Il
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aldube
Xandrosianschwing
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 2332
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:08 pm Post subject: |
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You could always use the the already extracted firmare for Ubuntu Dapper which seems to work for me:
http://debian.cafuego.net/pool/dapper-cafuego/bcm43xx/bcm43xx-firmware_1.3-1ubuntu2.tar.gz
this way here you don't even have to even bother with fwcutter...
I found that ndiswrapper sometimes works but is very unstable so:
1. Maybe ndiswrapper is picky about which bcm43xx card & drivers are used together or...
2. Maybe ndiswrapper needs to be upgraded to work better with bcm43xx windows drivers.
Too bad newer bcm43xx kernel modules couldn't be created from newer sources...
(I haven't found any web instructions for doing this yet!) 
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MethotC
Xplorer
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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I am in the same boat. I have a HP nx9600 with a broadcom 43xx chip. According to what I read it will be supported natively on Debian kernel 2.6.18 or later. I am running 3.01 home version which is an early 2.6. What version of the kernel is 4.0 Xandros?
I would have tried rebuilding the kernel but all of the stuff Debian wants isn't in my Xandros distribution. |
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aldube
Xandrosianschwing
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 2332
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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Xandros 4.1 uses the 2.6.18 kernel & ndiswrapper 1.27
Ndiswapper 1.47 fixes most of the smp & bcm43xx problems, but needs to be compiled with gcc 3.4 ...
PROBLEM: Xandros 4.1 is compiled with gcc 3.3; I've had no luck booting Xandros 4.1 - 2.6.18 kernel after compiling it with gcc 3.4, so all I can advise for now is either buy another WLAN card or install a gcc 3.4 based Linux distro in place of Xandros 4.1 
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sqlpython
Xanalandingdonger
Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 5040
Location: Ct. USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | is either buy another WLAN card or install |
Sad news is that is a mini pci install..
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I've had no luck booting Xandros 4.1 - 2.6.18 kernel after compiling it with gcc 3.4, |
That's a lot of work and time.. my kernel compiling days are behind me..unless I decide to roll my own DISTRO..
How long did the compile take?
What MB and CPU and MEM?
Was this a modular compile ((modules compiled into the kerenl) or a base kernel ?
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MethotC
Xplorer
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:10 am Post subject: |
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I can advise for now is either buy another WLAN card or install a gcc 3.4 based Linux distro in place of Xandros 4.1 [/quote]
I have an easier but much more distastful solution that I am using as I type. Continue to run the dreaded windoze. Ugh! |
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aldube
Xandrosianschwing
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 2332
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| sqlpython wrote: |
That's a lot of work and time.. my kernel compiling days are behind me..unless I decide to roll my own DISTRO..
How long did the compile take?
What MB and CPU and MEM?
Was this a modular compile ((modules compiled into the kerenl) or a base kernel ? |
You could compile the ndiswrapper 1.47 drivers separate from the kernel, but since ndiswrapper 1.47 depends on gcc 3.4 it won't work with a Linux kernel compiled with gcc 3.3; my guess is, it would require more than Xandros 4.1 Kernel to be recompiled with the gcc 3.4 compiler (in Gentoo the whole bootstrap system has to be compiled with the same compiler.)
I don't know how to backport ndiswrapper 1.47 to gcc 3.3 or even if it's possible...
I would hope that the Xandros Team would use a gcc new enough in Xandros 5 to be able to compile stuff ndiswrapper 1.47 if we need it to get our WLAN cards working.
Most notebooks/laptops seem to have a cardbus or express card slot, so get a Xandros 4.1 compatible WLAN card that fits in there if you need WLAN and want to run Xandros 4.1 (many USB WIFI adapters are under $20)
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sqlpython
Xanalandingdonger
Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 5040
Location: Ct. USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | I would hope that the Xandros Team would use a gcc new enough in Xandros 5 to be able to compile stuff ndiswrapper 1.47 if we need it to get our WLAN cards working.
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My same thought..
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Most notebooks/laptops seem to have a cardbus or express card slot, so get a Xandros 4.1 compatible WLAN card that fits in there if you need WLAN and want to run Xandros 4.1 (many USB WIFI adapters are under $20) |
Right the need for up to date drivers for USB and CardExpress are pressing and they are out there NEW if you have the latest gcc..
However for Xandros to remain an easy OS for Newbies/WinConverts they have to have the latest Wifi, USB, Cardexpress, Scanner, Printer stuff available or compilable.. Because their SERVERS will have nothing to support..
Unless the Plan is To Support Mostly Win Machines...And That could be The Plan..
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aldube
Xandrosianschwing
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 2332
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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UPDATE: I got ndiswrapper 1.47 installed as a Xandros 4.1 - 2.6.18-dcc-smp Kernel module:
I went into the file:
ndiswrapper-1.47/driver/winnt_types.h
and changed the one line from:
| Quote: | | #if defined(__GNCU__) && ((__GNCU__ == 3 && __GNUC_MINOR__ > 3) || __GNUC__ > 3) |
into:
| Quote: | | #if defined(__GNCU__) && ((__GNCU__ == 3 && __GNUC_MINOR__ > 2) || __GNUC__ > 3) |
Errors are produced while compiling with gcc 3.3, but my Broadcom Dell 1390 WLAN seems a lot more stable than with Xandros 4's ndiswrapper 1.27 default regaurdless (extra WLAN driver & Kernel-smp support was added in the 1.4x series). I've noticed Xandros Network Connections says that the Windows' driver is invalid, but it works anyways. 
I also noticed that ndiswrapper 1.27 also requires gcc 3.4, so the Xandros Team must of backported it to Xandros 4.1's gcc 3.3 (they should do the same thing with ndiswrapper 1.47 and we'll get a lot less problems with WLAN adapters in the Xandros forums.)
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sqlpython
Xanalandingdonger
Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 5040
Location: Ct. USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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Good job!
Probably is invalid because the initialazation scripts may check against a database of onboard *.ko and this is not among them..
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aldube
Xandrosianschwing
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 2332
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| sqlpython wrote: | Good job!
Probably is invalid because the initialazation scripts may check against a database of onboard *.ko and this is not among them.. |
Don't matter to me as long as it works... 
The problem with ndiswrapper 1.27 was that it would drop the wireless connection If I had more than 1 or 2 Firefox windows open, then I would have to reboot the laptop to reset the ndiswrapper 1.27 driver.
The darn bcm43xx driver (when I actually got it working with fwcutter) only worked with a signal strenght of -1 (which was pretty slow...) 
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