bcm43xx wifi on a Dell Inspiron 8600

Steven Haigh netwiz at crc.id.au
Fri Aug 18 00:41:17 UTC 2006


Hi guys,

I've got a bit of an issue getting the bcm43xx card in my Dell  
Inspiron laptop going, and I'm not sure if its a bug or something I've  
done wrong... It used to work fine using ndiswrapper, however I'm  
trying to give the kernel module a go.

The module loads ok, and I've extracted a couple of different firmware  
versions with bcm43xx-fwcutter (3.100.46.0 & 3.94.41.1) and put the  
files in /lib/firmware.

Whenever I use NetworkManager to try to connect to an AP, I get the  
following in /var/log/messages

10:24:03 NetworkManager: <information> User Switch:  
/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/eth1 / Node_AAC
10:24:03 NetworkManager: <information> Deactivating device eth1.
10:24:05 dhcdbd: message_handler: message handler not found under  
/com/redhat/dhcp/eth1 for sub-path eth1.dbus.get.reason
10:24:05 NetworkManager: <information> Device eth1 activation scheduled...
10:24:05 NetworkManager: <information> Deactivating device eth0.
10:24:05 dhclient: DHCPRELEASE on eth0 to 10.1.1.1 port 67
10:24:06 named[2040]: D-BUS: dhclient for interface eth0 released  
lease - removing forwarders.
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: Withdrawing address record for 10.1.1.122  
on eth0.
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: Leaving mDNS multicast group on interface  
eth0.IPv4 with address 10.1.1.122.
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: IP_DROP_MEMBERSHIP failed: No such device
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: iface.c: interface_mdns_mcast_join()  
called but no local address available.
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: Interface eth0.IPv4 no longer relevant for mDNS.
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: Withdrawing address record for  
fe80::20f:1fff:fe0e:cf70 on eth0.
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: Leaving mDNS multicast group on interface  
eth0.IPv6 with address fe80::20f:1fff:fe0e:cf70.
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: iface.c: interface_mdns_mcast_join()  
called but no local address available.
10:24:07 avahi-daemon[1961]: Interface eth0.IPv6 no longer relevant for mDNS.
10:24:07 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) started...
10:24:07 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 1 of 5  
(Device Prepare) scheduled...
10:24:07 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 1 of 5  
(Device Prepare) started...
10:24:07 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 2 of 5  
(Device Configure) scheduled...
10:24:07 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 1 of 5  
(Device Prepare) complete.
10:24:07 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 2 of 5  
(Device Configure) starting...
10:24:07 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1/wireless):  
access point 'Node_AAC' is unencrypted, no key needed.
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: sending command  
'INTERFACE_ADD eth1                wext    /var/run/wpa_supplicant '
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: response was 'OK'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: sending command 'AP_SCAN 1'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: response was 'OK'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: sending command 'ADD_NETWORK'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: response was '0'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: sending command  
'SET_NETWORK 0 ssid 4e6f64655f414143'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: response was 'OK'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: sending command  
'SET_NETWORK 0 key_mgmt NONE'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: response was 'OK'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: sending command 'ENABLE_NETWORK 0'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> SUP: response was 'OK'
10:24:09 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 2 of 5  
(Device Configure) complete.
10:24:11 NetworkManager: <information> Old device 'eth1' activating,  
won't change.
10:24:42 last message repeated 13 times
10:24:49 last message repeated 3 times
10:24:49 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1/wireless):  
association took too long (>40s), failing activation.
10:24:49 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) failure scheduled...
10:24:49 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) failed for  
access point (Node_AAC)
10:24:49 NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) failed.
10:24:49 NetworkManager: <information> Deactivating device eth1.

Now the command 'SET_NETWORK 0 ssid 4e6f64655f414143' interests me, as  
I would have thought that would have been the SSID of the AP - in this  
case "Node_AAC". This being said however, I can seem to scan for APs  
using iwlist and get:

# iwlist eth1 scanning
eth1      Scan completed :
           Cell 01 - Address: 00:12:17:E3:DF:60
                     ESSID:"Node_AAC"
                     Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
                     Mode:Master
                     Channel:1
                     Encryption key:off
                     Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                               11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                               48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                     Quality=100/100  Signal level=-156 dBm
                     Extra: Last beacon: 376ms ago

If I try to configure the card manually using:
   # iwconfig eth1 mode managed essid Node_AAC channel 1 enc off ap auto

then I get this in /var/log/messages:
Aug 18 10:39:29 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Associate: Scanning for  
networks first.
Aug 18 10:39:29 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Start scanning with channel: 1
Aug 18 10:39:29 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Scanning 14 channels
Aug 18 10:39:29 localhost kernel: bcm43xx: set security called, .level  
= 0, .enabled = 0, .encrypt = 0
Aug 18 10:39:30 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Scanning finished
Aug 18 10:39:30 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Associate: Scanning for  
networks first.
Aug 18 10:39:30 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Start scanning with channel: 1
Aug 18 10:39:30 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Scanning 14 channels
Aug 18 10:39:30 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Scanning finished
Aug 18 10:39:30 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Associate: Scanning for  
networks first.
Aug 18 10:39:30 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Start scanning with channel: 1
Aug 18 10:39:30 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Scanning 14 channels
Aug 18 10:39:31 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Scanning finished
Aug 18 10:39:31 localhost kernel: SoftMAC: Unable to find matching  
network after scan!

Has anyone managed to get these cards working? I'm using kernel  
version 2.6.17-1.2571.fc6.

-- 
Steven Haigh

Email: netwiz at crc.id.au
Web: http://www.crc.id.au
Phone: (03) 9017 0597 - 0412 935 897




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