MX Linux Forum

Fresh install on a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop. The Broadcom BCM4312 WLAN chip won't work under MX-Linx 19 64-bit and, after watching a Youtube video from dolphin_oracle about the topic, I tried in the setup to switch from the b44 driver to b43 non-legacy (which supposedly is the right driver), wl and pretty much all others that were in the blacklisted part (by un-blacklisting). Nothing worked. I read on the web that one may have to run a "firmware cutter" routine while others suggested to even issue "purge bcmwl-kernel-source" followed by "install linux-firmware-nonfree" but that sounds extreme. Afraid that it might brick MX-Linux for me. lspci (just the two relevant lines):

03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)

0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)

So the wired Ethernet controller is also from Broadcom, meaning I should avoid accidentally disabling that by doing something weird with the firmware. I need both wired and WLAN. What could I do?

let's look at what the system thinks is going on.

running the following

1. quick-system-info from the menu (the report will automatically be placed in your clipbaord formatted for a forum post, so just paste the report in).

2. - from the terminal. copy and paste the output.

This is the quick system info. Had to copy to USB stick because Samba isn't working right:

Code: Select all

System:    Host: Vostro1500 Kernel: 4.19.0-6-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.19.0-6-amd64 
           root=UUID=e1850e62-926e-4d14-95d3-a3dcaf41154e ro video=SVIDEO-1:d quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.14.1 tk: Gtk 3.24.5 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
           Distro: MX-19_x64 patito feo October 21  2019 base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Machine:   Type: Portable System: Dell product: Vostro 1500 v: N/A serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 8 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 0NX907 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A04 date: 01/30/2008 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 47.0 Wh condition: 47.0/57.7 Wh (81%) volts: 12.5/11.1 
           model: Samsung SDI DELL GK4798 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Full 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo T5470 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Core Merom 
           family: 6 model-id: F (15) stepping: D (13) microcode: A4 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 bogomips: 6384 
           Speed: 798 MHz min/max: 800/1601 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 950 2: 944 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion 
           Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:2a02 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel resolution: 1280x800~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 965GM v: 2.1 Mesa 18.3.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 82801H HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:284b 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-6-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: b44 v: 2.0 
           port: 10c0 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 14e4:170c 
           Device-2: Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY 
           vendor: Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN Mini-Card driver: b43-pci-bridge v: N/A port: 10c0 
           bus ID: 0c:00.0 chip ID: 14e4:4315 
           IF-ID-1: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           IF-ID-2: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 149.05 GiB used: 5.30 GiB (3.6%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Fujitsu model: MHW2160BJ FFS G2 size: 149.05 GiB block size: 
           physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 001C scheme: MBR 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 58.59 GiB size: 57.42 GiB (98.00%) used: 5.18 GiB (9.0%) fs: ext4 
           dev: /dev/sda2 
           ID-2: /home raw size: 83.01 GiB size: 81.20 GiB (97.83%) used: 113.6 MiB (0.1%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 7.37 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap swappiness: 15 (default 60) 
           cache pressure: 100 (default) dev: /dev/sda4 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 39.0 C mobo: N/A sodimm: 38.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list 
           1: deb http://iso.mxrepo.com/antix/buster buster main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ buster main non-free
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
Info:      Processes: 183 Uptime: 2h 33m Memory: 1.94 GiB used: 472.8 MiB (23.8%) Init: SysVinit 
           v: 2.93 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3 
           running in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.0.36 

Here is the rfkill list, obtained via ssh:

$ rfkill list all
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

The laptop has a physical slider switch for the WLAN but that's turned on.

Let's look at the /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-dkms-blacklist.conf file.

I forget the actual name but it's close to that. You would want to uncomment everything except wl.

Then sudo modprobe b43

It's probably not this one, or is it?

# wl module from Broadcom conflicts with the following modules:
"blacklist b44
blacklist bcma
blacklist brcm80211
blacklist brcmsmac
#blacklist ssb

I unloaded all drivers except wl in the MX Network Assistant and that resulted in the laptop also losing wired Etehrnet. When I have only b43 and b44 in there the wired Ethernet works. If I unload b44 then wired quits. I believe the BCM3412 needs b43 but that alone won't work the wired Ethernet.

you need to unblacklist all of them, including ssb. I do believe for some chips b43 requies ssb.

I tried also unblacklisting all including ssb in the file above. For some reason the MX Network Assistant still had ssb blacklisted so I also unblacklisted ssb there. It did not make WLAN work.

If it's still showing blacklisted in mx network assistant you might have more than one blacklist file.

In any case once it's unblacklisted your still need to reload the driver b43 either with modprobe or by reboooting.

if you use network-assistant, then a second file callec /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf gets created. you need to make sure its unblacklisted everywhere.

its also possible to

sudo modprobe -r b43
sudo modprobe b43

which should load up the depend modules whether they are blacklisted or not (ssb being a dependent module).

I tried both, modprobe and reboot. Neither made the WLAN work. I wonder if there is anything else I could try or whether that BCM4312 chip is a lost cause for Linux. Maybe I have to look into the ndiswrapper method using a Windows driver for the chip but afraid that gets too complicated for a newbie like me.

can you post the two blacklist files please? as they currently stand?

broadcom-sta-dkms.conf
blacklist.conf

broadcom-sta-dksm.conf looks like this:

# wl module from Broadcom conflicts with the following modules:
blacklist b44
blacklist bcma
blacklist brcm80211
blacklist brcmsmac

and blacklist.conf is empty

so you should unblacklist all of those in broadcom-sta-dkms too. bmca is required too. That's why I said to unblacklist everything except wl,

I just tried that but WLAN is still dead.

]
# wl module from Broadcom conflicts with the following modules:
#blacklist b44
#blacklist bcma
#blacklist brcm80211
#blacklist brcmsmac

so did you blacklist and/or remove wl (broadcom-sta-dkms package).

I don't know if this thing is going to work, but we are going to eliminate any conflicting drivers before throwing in the towel.

I have blacklisted wl now as well and it made no difference, WLAN will not work.

I'll have to take a break now and will be back Saturday in case you have any more ideas. Maybe Linux really does not like this Broadcom chip and ndiswrapper would be the only way. Or replacing the WLAN module with some brand other than Broadcom if the surgery isn't too onerous.

Broadcom 4312 doesnt work on HP Pavilion dv6.how can O solve that? I tried everthing whatever that needs but I cant solve this problem.

I removed from blacklist. I deleted from list and installed again from synaptic. That sometimes see my wireless name and I write my password but doesnt accept that.I changed 2.4ghz and 5 GHz settings bla bla...

---

sherenclup wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 4:41 am Broadcom 4312 doesnt work on HP Pavilion dv6.
How can O solve that?
I tried everything whatever that needs but I cant solve this problem.

sherenclup wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 4:45 am I removed from blacklist.
I deleted from list and installed again from synaptic.
That sometimes see my wireless name and I write my password but doesnt accept that.
I changed 2.4ghz and 5 GHz settings bla bla...

Since you are asking for help, I suggest that you:

• Read Guide - How to ask for help
• Start your own thread, don't "hijack" this thread.
• Post your QSI (Quick System Info) by running QSI from the menu and pasting into your posting.
  (QSI will copy the gathered info, wrapped in code-tags, to your clipboard ready for pasting)
• Less "No workie", more detail and specifics.

Out curiosity, which HP Pavilion dv6?

One of my laptops is a HP Pavilion DV6-1053cl

Since nothing seems to work for the Broadcom BCM4312 wireless card I wanted to try NDISwrapper. However, that fails during setup. I found the driver at CNET, extracted the zip file and inside there were three files with inf and sys suffixes:

bcmwl6.inf
bcmwl6.sys
bcmwl664.sys

I have a 64-bit MX install but for some reason there is only one inf file (a common one for 32 and 64 bit?). I copied these three files over to the XM Linux laptop.

In the MX network tool only the inf file was visible. Clicking it resulted in "The sys file for the given driver cannot be determined after parsing the inf file". What does that mean? Could this be the end of the road, meaning a new wireless card is necessary because Linux doesn't like the BCM4312?

Researching new wireless cards for the Dell Vostro 1500 laptop I found the Intel 4965AGN. Normally the Intel 4965AGN MJP version is recommended but available are only cards with the suffixes MM1 and MM2 instead of AJP. I could not find out what these letters stand for. A couple of questions before I buy one to replace the Broadcom BCM4312 card that Debian doesn't like:

1. Does MX-Linux/Debian like the Intel Intel 4965AGN wireless card?

2. What is the difference between suffixes MJP, MM1 and MM2?

supposedly the wl/broadcom-sta drivers should also work with that part. personally I would give that one another go.

am I right that the part maxes out at "g" wifi?

there are reports that the 4965 parts are having trouble with kernels above 5.2.

I have tried the wl driver but then the Ethernet port (Broadcom BCM4401 chip) also fails, in addition to the BCM4312 wireless not working. Isn't the sta-driver already part of the system in the form of bcmwl-kernel-source? If not I'll have to figure out how to install the sta-driver, probably must be directly from Broadcom though while perusing their web site I found that they have dropped older cards such as the BCM4312 from the search.

Yes, the BCM4312 maxes out at g but that's fine for us. All we need is range, data throughput doesn't matter, no need for 5GHz. This is also why a USB wireless plug likely would not work. The short ones don't have the range and the ones with antennas break off easily.

Looks like the Intel 4965 is then out as well. Is there another brand for full-length cards that is more Linux-friendly?

what I would do if you are looking for range is get a wireless router that has a wireless bridge mode. the router would work backwards. it would provide a wired connection to your PC while being hooked up to your wireless network. all the range you can ask for since you can put the router where you want and you can get ones with external antennas. no driver problems, and if you ever need to add another wired device you could.

I've also rebuilt old linksys wireless g routers that didn't have the functionality by using OpenWRT software, but these days there are a lot of routers (tp link are usually good and lower cost) that have this functionality already.

good for a desktop situation, less good for a notebook though.

for the internal wireless part, I would look for one that is supported by iwlwifi kernel module. I've found those to be very stable.

The external router is really cumbersome with a laptop. I have placed a 2nd wireless router as a "parallel illuminator" to increase WiFi coverage on the LAN and it works.

Even older wireless modules such as the Intel N 5150 are nowadays only sold in half-size which is mechanically iffy in this laptop and I read that it may also not work from a hardware point of view. Older full-length ones with iwlwifi like Intel 5100 reportedly don't work in this laptop. Looks tough now. Short-stub USB WLAN with limited range is another option but Linux-compatibility is probably even harder there.

Thanks for all the help, Dolphin. I'll see if my wife can live without WLAN in that laptop for now.

This morning the Intel 5300 card was listed in MX Tools Network Manager but no networks can be reached. As a Linux beginner, what else can I try?

Joerg wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:11 pm This morning the Intel 5300 card was listed in MX Tools Network Manager but no networks can be reached. As a Linux beginner, what else can I try?

the AHS iso with its newer firmware and kernel might help.

...But...

Machine: Type: Portable System: Dell product: Vostro 1500 v: N/A serial: <filter> Chassis:
type: 8 serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0NX907 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A04 date: 01/30/2008
______________________________________________________________________________

Just by the way: You need to get rid of the habit of using the root account: root@Vostro ...

Huckleberry Finn wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:40 pm
Just by the way: You need to get rid of the habit of using the root account: root@Vostro ...

The OP was installing something that required root privileges, and that is one way of doing that.

Chris

chrispop99 wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:55 pmthat required root privileges, and that is one way of doing that.

Yes, of course, but what about

user@Vostro1500:~sudo apt install firmware-iwlwifi

rather than

root@Vostro1500:~# apt install firmware-iwlwifi ?

Huckleberry Finn wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 3:00 pm

chrispop99 wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:55 pmthat required root privileges, and that is one way of doing that.

Yes, of course, but what about

user@Vostro1500:~sudo apt install firmware-iwlwifi

rather than

root@Vostro1500:~# apt install firmware-iwlwifi ?

Each to their own. I don't use sudo; for some reason I associate it with Ubuntu. ;-)

Chris

Joerg, you already installed the firmware, so you can try these:
If not again, you can try a more recent kernel in MX Package Installer (say 5.6)

If not again:
Reboot.

(Also uncheck Bluetooth from Session and Startup => Application Autostart tab to make it sure it doesn't conflict)

I'd like to mention this in case the OP isn't aware of this option: You can replace that Broadcom wifi card (inside the laptop) with a better, perhaps more Linux-friendly card. I have some old laptops with cards that are problematic to Linux. I've replaced them all. It's a cheap upgrade. Maybe $20 USD to go up from single-band wireless N to dual-band. Or, up to wireless-AC. This post suggests you can go up to wireless-AX. You'd have to research it yourself. Some laptop makers "whitelist" their allowed wifi cards. But, even then you can usually upgrade to at least something slightly better. Sometimes it depends upon the serial number (which version of the laptop it is, which cpu it uses). So, it can take some effort to figure out what will work.

PS: The part of that post talking about the antenna wires being too short. I cut mine near the card, soldered a 1" length of 22ga wire, heatshrinked it. Seems to work fine. Much easier than taking the screen apart to replace antennas, or or whatever that post talks about.

Apologies if you already knew about this. It was a huge boon to me when I learned about it. I had no idea laptop wifi could be upgraded. It thought it was soldered on. Getting rid of some of those problematic cards (requiring me to use an RJ45 connection to get to a point I can install 3rd party drivers) was great.

[EDIT: Oops. That post I linked to is Vostro-1700. This thread talks about the 1500. I haven't read it. Just an example of how you will find info out there if you search. It appears to be upgradeable.]

The Broadcom BCM4312 uses the Broadcom-sta-driver and should work well with it installed. I had one I used for many years and it work quite well. It true it's only single band but was solid.
If you don't want to change make sure that broadcome-sta-dkms is installed. Other wise a usb wifi dongle would be easy also. Good Luck.

In fact, this needed to be a separate/new thread. It began with Broadcom and turned into an Intel thread from post #28-30 ...

Dolphin, I do not know what an AHS iso is but also don't want to re-install everything. It can open a can of worms and it's my wife's laptop.

modprobe won't work, even when I turn the WiFi card off via a hardware switch that this laptop has:

joerg@Vostro1500:~
$ sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi ; sudo modprobe iwlwifi
modprobe: FATAL: Module iwlwifi is in use.

kc1di, the BCM4312 would not work at all whatever I tried, including the STA-driver.

Huckleberry, yes, maybe I open a new thread if this card remains recalcitrant in Linux. I had obtained it after the obviously not Linux friendly Broadcom card didn't work and Intel was recommended as morr Linux friedly. Now that one doesn't work either.

As for being in root mode that has a reason. Often when I do stuff non-root I receive warnings that this should be done as root, such as here:

joerg@Vostro1500:~
$ lshw -C network
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:0c:00.0
logical name: wlan0
version: 00
serial: 66:f3:e8:1e:35:b7
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.19.0-6-amd64 firmware=8.83.5.1 build 33692 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
resources: irq:26 memory:fe8fe000-fe8fffff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX
vendor: Broadcom Limited
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 02
serial: 00:1d:09:d1:5b:79
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 100Mbit/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=b44 driverversion=2.0 duplex=full ip=10.0.0.181 latency=64 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
resources: irq:17 memory:fe5fe000-fe5fffff
WARNING: output may be incomplete or inaccurate, you should run this program as super-user.

Here is the next kicker. Today the command line shows my and other WiFi networks with excellent signal strength but MX Linux will not access any:

joerg@Vostro1500:~
$ nmcli dev wifi
IN-USE SSID MODE CHAN RATE SIGNAL BARS SECURITY
-- Infra 11 195 Mbit/s 99 ▂▄▆█ --
Office Infra 11 195 Mbit/s 97 ▂▄▆█ WPA2
xfinitywifi Infra 11 195 Mbit/s 85 ▂▄▆█ --
Office Infra 3 405 Mbit/s 84 ▂▄▆█ WPA1 WPA2
xfinitywifi Infra 161 405 Mbit/s 59 ▂▄▆_ --
XFINITY Infra 161 405 Mbit/s 59 ▂▄▆_ WPA2 802.1X
Office Infra 161 405 Mbit/s 57 ▂▄▆_ WPA2
Dean's Wi-Fi Network Infra 6 195 Mbit/s 22 ▂___ WPA2
NETGEAR21 Infra 6 104 Mbit/s 17 ▂___ WPA2

When I unplug the Ethernet and use Firefox it will not offer any WiFi. What gives?

I was going to write it in fact but I thought you'd guess.. That's normal: .. Module iwlwifi is "in use"

So that needs to be done when booted with the device is off / unmounted / not in use ...

And:

lshw -C network
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.

Remedy:

sudo lshw -C network

(Just like you have to sudo modprobe but not directly modprobe )
_________________________________________

Conclusion: See post #37 again :)

C'est pas nouveau depuis plus de 10 ans avec pc Dell Broadcom BCM43xx sur Linux à l'époque au terminal : reboot

Thanks, Huckleberry Finn, but after several attempts and re-boots it does recognize the various WiFi networks on the command line so the driver must now be working. How can I then connect to a WiFi network in MX Linux 19? Network Manager doesn't seem to have any log-on pages for WiFi networks. On the Samsung NC10 (also running MX 19) it was automatic, as far as I remember when I wanted to access a page in Firefox with the Ethernet cable unplugged I got a password entry box.

San-Claudio, I did try the fwcutter trick and all sorts of other things that Dolphin recommended. Nothing would make this BCM4312 card work, it was recognized by the machine (on the command line) but never saw any WiFi networks. The recommendation was to find an Intel card and preferably one above 5000, so I did. It wasn't easy because this computer must have full length cards or I would need coax extenders. The Intel 5300 card I installed does see my network and several others in the area but I don't know how I can connect because no password entry box ever shows up.

Joerg wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 3:45 pm
kc1di, the BCM4312 would not work at all whatever I tried, including the STA-driver.

Ok, Well if you had tried the b43 driver first it must be uninstalled and Sta unblack listed as that is what most likely happened. But in any event you look like you are after a different card so wish you all the best of luck.

Right now I am stuck. The new Intel 5300 obviously works because "nmcli dev wifi" shows a bunch of WiFi networks including mine but MX Linux does not offer any of those. Looks like a disconnect somewhere but not in the driver.

When you click on Network Manager icon on panel what happens exactly?

The list of available wifi networks appears,

Then you click on yours, (They are not passive/un-clickable right?)

Then? You click and ..?

(Meanwhile, right-click on the NM icon and all "activate ..." checkboxes are checked, right ?)

There was no such icon as far as I could tell. However, I am really bad reading pictograms, I am a text guy. Meantime a Linux user from Germany found the solution. The MX Network Assistant could not get this done. It said "WiFi enabled" but that was probably not really the case. He suggested to use Settings -> Advanced Network Configuration instead and enter everything by hand. That did the trick.

I wonder why this wasn't necessary on a Samsung NC10 that I installed Linux on before. There I just popped the LAN cable, called up a web site and after a brief trundling got a box to enter my WiFi credentials.

Thanks to all you guys. I always learn a lot in these threads. I've marked the subject line as solved, hoping that is the proper way.

Glad you did it and thank you, too for marking the thread; but you need to do it (edit) post #1 particularly :)

Done. Thanks!