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Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2025 6:05 pm
by Ludibubi
Hi together!
I'm totally new in Linux. I just installed MX-23.5_386 32bit on a Compaq Presario B1900. The Wifi-Adapter is recognnized by the system and it shows me the available networks. I have two private networks: one is for the devices in the house and then there is a router under the roof for conncting the gardenhouse. Both networks are 2.4 Ghz
When I try to connect to my own housenetwork I get no connection. When I coonect to the garden-router I get the connection. Now I cut this connection and then I can connect to my main-network. But it is not stable and breaks down often.
What can I do to get stable Wifi?
Regards Ludger
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2025 6:23 pm
by j2mcgreg
We are going to need your computer’s complete profile before we can proceed, so you need to post the output from the QSI utility. The Quick System Info (QSI) utility is located in MX Tools and its output is automatically formatted for use here in the forum. Run the QSI utility, click “Copy for Forum” at the bottom and then just paste it here in your thread.
Forum Rules
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2025 6:33 pm
by j2mcgreg
Access your router and configure it to broadcast in 'g' only. Modern routers often switch between broadcast types and bands too quickly for the drivers of these old cards to complete the handshake in the time allotted. Configuring the router to brodcast in 2,4 GHz and just 'g' eliminates this bottleneck.
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2025 6:10 pm
by Ludibubi
Ok, here is the CSI:
Code: Select all
System:
Kernel: 6.1.0-31-686-pae [6.1.128-1] arch: i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-31-686-pae root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7
dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.5_386 Libretto Jan 12 2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
(bookworm)
Machine:
Type: Other-vm? System: Hewlett-Packard product: Presario B1900 (RE580PA#AB5) v: F.07
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: HP type: 1 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: HP model: 30BA v: XX.XX serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Phoenix v: F.07 date: 11/07/06
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 0.0 Wh condition: N/A volts: 7.9 min: 14.8 model: Hewlett-Packard 2200
type: Unknown serial: N/A status: full
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Celeron M 430 bits: 32 arch: M Yonah built: 2006-08 process: Intel 65nm
family: 6 model-id: 0xE (14) stepping: 8 microcode: 0x39
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 1 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 64 KiB desc: d-1x32 KiB; i-1x32 KiB
L2: 1024 KiB desc: 1x1024 KiB
Speed (MHz): 1733 min/max: N/A core: 1: 1733 bogomips: 3466
Flags: nx pae sse sse2 sse3
Vulnerabilities:
Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported
Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion
Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: retbleed status: Not affected
Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass status: Not affected
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; STIBP: disabled; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not
affected; BHI: Not affected
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD RC410M [Mobility Radeon Xpress 200M] vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: radeon
v: kernel alternate: radeonfb,amdgpu arch: Rage-8 code: R300 process: TSMC 130nm built: 2002-07
ports: active: LVDS-1 empty: SVIDEO-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 01:05.0 chip-ID: 1002:5a62 class-ID: 0300
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: radeon
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: r300 gpu: radeon display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1280x800 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 338x211mm (13.31x8.31") s-diag: 398mm (15.69")
Monitor-1: LVDS-1 mapped: LVDS model: Toshiba Matsushita 0x58eb serial: <filter> built: 2006
res: 1280x800 hz: 60 dpi: 125 gamma: 1.2 size: 261x163mm (10.28x6.42") diag: 308mm (12.1")
ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1280x800 min: 640x480
API: OpenGL v: 2.1 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: ATI RC410 direct-render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: AMD IXP SB4x0 High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel bus-ID: 00:14.2 chip-ID: 1002:437b class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-31-686-pae status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: b43-pci-bridge v: N/A
modules: ssb,wl pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4311
class-ID: 0280
Device-2: Realtek RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: 8139too v: 0.9.28 modules: 8139cp port: a000 bus-ID: 08:08.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8139
class-ID: 0200
IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: HP Bluetooth 2.0 Interface [Broadcom BCM2045] type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 2-3:2 chip-ID: 03f0:171d class-ID: fe01
Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 1.2 lmp-v: 2.0
sub-v: 41cf hci-v: 2.0 rev: 2129
Info: acl-mtu: 1017:8 sco-mtu: 64:8 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio,
telephony
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 74.53 GiB used: 8.48 GiB (11.4%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Fujitsu model: MHV2080BH PL size: 74.53 GiB block-size:
physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 1.5 Gb/s type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 0029 scheme: MBR
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 74.53 GiB size: 72.81 GiB (97.69%) used: 8.48 GiB (11.7%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 1024 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 47.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2130 libs: 1060 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
1: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
Processes: 196 Uptime: 31m wakeups: 4 Memory: 1.84 GiB used: 738.9 MiB (39.2%) Init: SysVinit
v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)
And I checked my Wlan-Settings in my Fritzbox 7590.
I only have these possibilties:
WIFI 4 (802.11 g+n)
WIFI 4 (802.11 b+g+n)
WIFI 3
Regards Ludger
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2025 6:56 pm
by j2mcgreg
I would go with WiFi 4 (g + n). Since your card doesn't have 'n' capabilities that should force 'g' to be used.
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2025 8:30 pm
by Stevo
Can you see any choices when you run MX Network Assistant, such as blacklistlisting the broadcom-sta "wl" driver, and using the kernel's built-in instead? That can cause conflicts, since we ship both.
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 5:39 am
by Ludibubi
I switched to WIFI 4 g+n. The networks are detected but no connection to my main-network.
Here are screenshots from network assistant:
https://up.picr.de/49327974yu.png
https://up.picr.de/49327975yq.png
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:52 am
by j2mcgreg
I could only find this single tear down video of the Presario b1900:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnEvrWA7Vl4
At the 1:34 mark, it shows how to access the WiFi card which seems to only have one antenna connection. This could be the problem as it would give the laptop spotty range. You would have to be really close to the router for WiFi to work reliably. It might be worth your while to invest in a USB WiFi dongle,
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 8:20 am
by Eadwine Rose
Screenshots changed to links, please read the forum rules, especially on image sizes. Thanks.
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 8:28 am
by Ludibubi
Eadwine Rose wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 8:20 am
Screenshots changed to links, please read the forum rules, especially on image sizes. Thanks.
Sorry, I wanted to post links, but I forgot to deleted the IMG-tags.
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 9:27 am
by Ludibubi
j2mcgreg wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:52 am
I could only find this single tear down video of the Presario b1900:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnEvrWA7Vl4
At the 1:34 mark, it shows how to access the WiFi card which seems to only have one antenna connection. This could be the problem as it would give the laptop spotty range. You would have to be really close to the router for WiFi to work reliably. It might be worth your while to invest in a USB WiFi dongle,
You may be right with the antenna. But under WIN7 I had no problems to access my network anywhere. And I'm very close to my Fritzbox at the moment (0,5 - 1,0 mtrs) and can't access the networtk. But I can access the gardenrepeater which is at the roof and apprx. 6 mtrs away.
Which WIFI-dongle can Iuse?
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 9:31 am
by Minnie the Moocher
Change the channel from "auto" to (preferably) ch.1 in router settings.
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 9:51 am
by j2mcgreg
@Ludibubi wrote:
Which WIFI-dongle can Iuse?
Any of these should work, but scroll down the single band adaptors because your router is single band as well (and they are cheaper):
https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi/bl ... el-drivers
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 9:55 am
by j2mcgreg
Minnie the Moocher wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 9:31 am
Change the channel from "auto" to (preferably) ch.1 in router settings.
Some explanation of why this might work would be helpful to the OP who has stated that he / she is a rank beginner.
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 11:23 am
by Ludibubi
Minnie the Moocher wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 9:31 am
Change the channel from "auto" to (preferably) ch.1 in router settings.
I've switched it to channel 1 but no change.
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 11:24 am
by Minnie the Moocher
j2mcgreg wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 9:55 amSome explanation ...
Just a real life example:
The built-in wifi device ( Broadcom BCM4312 802.11b/g ) of this laptop does not even see the access point (router or phone (tethering)) when it's set to auto and (as a result of that) ch. 13 is selected (when all other devices and dongle can connect with no issues).
So, though there's no problem with Windows, it may be the repeater might be using a different channel (say, ch. 6) therefore connecting without issue, but the router selects something like 13 that this device cannot work with, or so ..
Also, as to why ch.1 preferably:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... LAN%29.svg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... .11-en.svg
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 11:36 am
by fluxboxplus
IMHO broadcom devices are just a mess. I know those issues as well. Maybe run modinfo on the driver (.ko) file to see the configuration parameters then try if some help - load them with modprobe driver.ko optionname=option ...
If i still had a broadcom device then i could show examples, but i don't sry.
it might have options like
Code: Select all
parm: bad_frames_preempt:enable(1) / disable(0) Bad Frames Preemption (int)
parm: fwpostfix:Postfix for the .fw files to load. (string)
parm: hwpctl:Enable hardware-side power control (default off) (int)
parm: nohwcrypt:Disable hardware encryption. (int)
parm: hwtkip:Enable hardware tkip. (int)
parm: qos:Enable QOS support (default on) (int)
parm: btcoex:Enable Bluetooth coexistence (default on) (int)
parm: verbose:Log message verbosity: 0=error, 1=warn, 2=info(default), 3=debug (int)
parm: pio:Use PIO accesses by default: 0=DMA, 1=PIO (int)
parm: allhwsupport:Enable support for all hardware (even it if overlaps with the brcmsmac driver) (int)
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2025 5:17 am
by Ludibubi
I checked those links, but these adapters are not available. I found these one:
https://www.amazon.de/s?k=panda+wireles ... _sb_noss_2
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2025 5:28 am
by Ludibubi
Minnie the Moocher wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 11:24 am
j2mcgreg wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 9:55 amSome explanation ...
Just a real life example:
The built-in wifi device ( Broadcom BCM4312 802.11b/g ) of this laptop does not even see the access point (router or phone (tethering)) when it's set to auto and (as a result of that) ch. 13 is selected (when all other devices and dongle can connect with no issues).
So, though there's no problem with Windows, it may be the repeater might be using a different channel (say, ch. 6) therefore connecting without issue, but the router selects something like 13 that this device cannot work with, or so ..
Also, as to why ch.1 preferably:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... LAN%29.svg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... .11-en.svg
I'm using a FritzBos 7590 with Mesh-Repeaters. AVM says, that the repeaters automatically use the same settings (SSID, Channel etc.) as the FritzBox. I know tried the following:
1. Box Autochannel and Repeater/s activeed
2. Box Autochannel and Repeater/s deactivated
3. Box Channel 1 and Repeater/s activated
4. Box Channel 1 and Repeater/s deactivated
No changes. The network is recognized but no connection.
By the way: I found in the net something about Ndiswrapper. I don#t know exactly how to use it, but could it be helpful?
Re: Problem with broadcom 802.11g Wifi-Adapter
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2025 5:58 am
by j2mcgreg
@Ludibubi wrote:
I found in the net something about Ndiswrapper. I don#t know exactly how to use it, but could it be helpful?
No. Ndiswrapper is obsolete. See here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDISwrapper
