<SOLVED>Broadcom wifi not working on HP2133 netbook

[ramio]

leafpad /etc/modules


Add the text below to the file just before 'loop', so it has to looks like that:

Code:

b43
loop

It does not work on my laptop perhaps because it is a 64 bit.

[MoroS]

I just started playing with Sparkylinux 3.4 E18 (live usb) and noticed that a number of Broadcom drivers are 'blacklisted' by default in:
<i> /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf</i>

There's just so many things wrong with this if you don't have the Broadcom STA ("the proprietary") driver installed. :D

If the STA driver is installed, then by all means this is the default behaviour (blacklist the open drivers, so that they don't conflict with the proprietary), but if not, then this file should not exist. There's no point in blacklisting the open drivers if no proprietary drivers are installed.

It's also a lesson: PURGE the packages instead of removing them (as in: "apt-get purge ..." instead of "apt-get remove ...") or you'll end up with tons of unneeded configuration files laying around in /etc and possibly blocking stuff they should not.

Pavroo: from what kevjonesin wrote it seems that either the STA is installed in Sparky by default or it was, but some garbage was left behind (blacklisting the open drivers). Could you check which one is it, just to be sure we're not unnecessarily blacklisting anything? Just in case. ;)

[pavroo]

Yes, they are there.
I will check packeges preinstalled too.

[cynclida]

Really well done! HP mini 2133 wifi works out of the box with Sparky Linux! Thank you.

[namckeand]

Thanks for the great thread.  It has allowed me to put the 32-bit MATE edition of Sparky on my old (2009) Dell mini 12 and have wireless working.  But like the original poster, I have to run modprobe b43 each time I want wireless.

I  added b43 in front of loop in the modules file as was suggested (after exchanging 'pluma' for 'leafpad') and, although it is there, I still have to run modprobe b43 each time. 

According to synaptic, I have Broadcom-STA installed.  And my modprobe.d file days that b43 is blacklisted. 

This machine has the Broadcom BCM4312 LP-PHY chip.

Any ideas?  I don't use this machine on a regular basis, so it isn't a major problem to start wireless manually, but I just like to have things running the way they should!

[MoroS]

Hi.

It's another case of "Broadcom STA installed, so blacklist the b43". For the chip you're refering to you should:
- remove the Broadcom STA packages:

Code Select Expand

apt-get purge broadcom-sta-*
- make sure that b43 is not blacklisted anymore (if it still is, then remove the line containing it)

After that it should work automatically after reboot. If not, then post the output of the dmesg command, so we can check what went wrong.

[namckeand]

Thanks so much!  It worked perfectly! 

[rajeshphadke]

Dear Team,
Can you consider incorporating proprietary drivers as part of installation process. This will help New Users in particular. I will share my thought process. For Broadcom WiFi adapter (I have BCM4313 on HP G42), it gets configured by default with b43-fwcutter open source implementation but it does not work in the sense download speeds get stuck around 1 1 Mbps. So, new user doesn't even understand quickly that this is driver problem.
It seems feasible considering it works on MX, Antix, Emmabuntus by default as part of installation. Please consider getting proprietary drivers configured during installation. It will really help. Myself struggled with it for quite some time on Linux Mint even with understanding of Linux command line. As there is no apparent error  that you can observe.
Thank you.
- Rajesh