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Re: [LUG] Wireless on debian lenny laptop - help at lug meeting tomorrow

 

On Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 11:56 AM, Gordon Henderson
<gordon+dcglug@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Sat, 7 Aug 2010, Rob Beard wrote:
>
>> On 07/08/10 09:27, Roland Tarver wrote:
>>>
>>> On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 9:09 PM, Rhia Knowles<rhiadratech@xxxxxxxxx>
>>>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Yeah unfortunately netgear is not enough information, as sometimes
>>>> even different versions of the same model had different chipsets
>>>> requiring different drivers.
>>>>
>>>> If you can give us the model and if given version number, we can look
>>>> into what driver it requires.
>>>
>>> Model Number = WN511B
>>> Make = Netgear
>>>
>>> lspci lists it as:
>>> 02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43XG (rev 01)
>>>
>>> Potentailly useful sites I have found so far:
>>> wiki.debian.org/bcm43xx
>>> www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Wireless-HOWTO.html
>>>
>>> Many thanks
>>> Roly
>>>
>>
>> Okay looks like this card isn't supported by the drivers included in the
>> kernel...
>>
>> http://linux-wless.passys.nl/query_part.php?brandname=Netgear
>>
>> There is a driver available directly from Broadcom, although I wonder if
>> it's proprietary (hence not included in Debian?)...
>>
>> http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php
>>
>> As it happens it appears that Ubuntu (and quite possibly Linux Mint) would
>> have this driver pre-compiled as a deb package in their repositories, at
>> least the ReadMe file seems to suggest that Ubuntu has the driver (as a
>> restricted driver).
>
> It is supported by the kernel - sort of.
>
> You need a newer kernel. I have a BCM43XX in my laptop and it works just
> fine. However, I compiled a new kernel for it with the drivers as a module.
> (bm43)

OK. not done that before. How long would you estimate it would take
for *me* to do it. I am on holiday in 2 weeks time, so if it takes a
lot of effort - I could perhaps do it then.


> So that's well and good, but on top of that, you need the firmware which is
> proprietary - however, there is a utility to get it and strip out the
> nastiness and load it into the card at boot-time.

ok. cool. :-)

> It's been a while since I did it on my laptop (Acer Aspire 5050), but I'll
> see if I can dig out the details.

Awsome. thanks.

If it is easier to include some closed source software on the system I
will be happy with that, initially. Just want to get it working. :-)

> Gordon
>
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Many thanks
roly

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