Differences between revisions 13 and 14
⇤ ← Revision 13 as of 2011-11-23 09:24:37 →
Size: 5379
Editor: GeoffSimmons
Comment: Updated supported devices, drop PCI IDs from introduction (are stated at supported devices).
← Revision 14 as of 2012-02-12 20:49:39 → ⇥
Size: 4106
Editor: GeoffSimmons
Comment: Drop Lenny procedure (unsupported release), driver left staging at Linux 3.2.
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
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= Broadcom BCM4313, BCM43224, BCM43225 devices (brcm80211, brcmsmac) = = Broadcom BCM4313, BCM43224, BCM43225 devices (brcmsmac, brcm80211) =
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brcm80211 (brcmsmac as of Linux 2.6.39) is a free and open source mac80211 driver currently in development, introduced as a staging driver in Linux 2.6.37.<<FootNote([[http://git.kernel.org/linus/a9533e7ea3c410fed2f4cd8b3e1e213e48529b75|"Staging: Add initial release of brcm80211 - Broadcom 802.11n wireless LAN driver." - git.kernel.org - linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git/commitdiff]])>> brcmsmac (brcm80211 prior to Linux 2.6.39) is a free and open source mac80211 driver, introduced in Linux 2.6.37.<<FootNote([[http://git.kernel.org/linus/a9533e7ea3c410fed2f4cd8b3e1e213e48529b75|"Staging: Add initial release of brcm80211 - Broadcom 802.11n wireless LAN driver." - git.kernel.org - linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git/commitdiff]])>>
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It supports specific Broadcom 802.11n PCIe wireless LAN chipsets: It supports wireless LAN devices based on specific Broadcom 802.11n PCIe wireless LAN chips:
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The driver is included in Debian Linux kernel images since [[DebianPts:linux-2.6]] [[http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/l/linux-2.6/current/changelog#version2.6.32-22|2.6.32-22]], but is not available during installation of Debian Squeeze/6.0 (DebianBug:628975). Non-free firmware is required and must be installed prior to device operation.

<!> This staging driver is only available for the x86 and x86-64 architectures (Debian [[i386]] and [[DebianAMD64|AMD64]] ports respectively) at this time.		 The driver is included in Debian Linux kernel images since [[DebianPts:linux-2.6]] [[http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/l/linux-2.6/current/changelog#version2.6.32-22|2.6.32-22]], but is not available during installation of Debian Squeeze/6.0 (DebianBug:628975). Non-free firmware is required for device operation.
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<!> In this release, the driver is only available for the x86 and x86-64 architectures (Debian [[i386]] and [[DebianAMD64|AMD64]] ports respectively).
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}}}
 1. Verify your device has an available interface: {{{
# iwconfig
}}}
 1. [[WiFi/HowToUse|Configure]] your wireless interface as appropriate.

<<Anchor(lenny)>>
=== Lenny ===

 1. Add the [[Backports|Debian Backports]] repository to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, also including the "non-free" component. For example: {{{
# Backported packages for Debian Lenny/5.0
deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports lenny-backports main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages: {{{
# aptitude update
}}}
 1. Install a Linux 2.6.32 kernel image appropriate for your system, along with the DebianPkg:lenny-backports/firmware-brcm80211 and DebianPkg:wireless-tools packages. For example: {{{
# aptitude -t lenny-backports install linux-image-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') firmware-brcm80211 wireless-tools
}}}
 1. Restart your system and boot with the newly installed kernel.

 1. The necessary kernel module should be [[Modules|automatically loaded]]. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via: {{{
$ su
# modprobe brcm80211
}}}
 1. Verify your device has an available interface: {{{
# iwconfig
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 1. Verify your device has an available interface: {{{
# iwconfig
}}}
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The following list is based on the ''alias'' fields of {{{modinfo brcm80211}}} in Debian 2.6.32 (2.6.32-38) kernel images. The following list is based on the ''alias'' fields of {{{modinfo brcm80211}}} in Debian 2.6.32 (2.6.32-41) kernel images.
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The following list is based on the ''alias'' fields of {{{modinfo brcmsmac}}} in Debian 3.1.0 (3.1.1-1) kernel images. The following list is based on the ''alias'' fields of {{{modinfo brcmsmac}}} in Debian 3.2.0 (3.2.4-1) kernel images.

Translation(s): none

Broadcom BCM4313, BCM43224, BCM43225 devices (brcmsmac, brcm80211)

This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on Broadcom BCM4313, BCM43224, BCM43225 chipsets on Debian systems.

Contents

  1. Broadcom BCM4313, BCM43224, BCM43225 devices (brcmsmac, brcm80211)
    1. Installation
      1. Squeeze
      2. Wheezy
    2. Supported Devices
      1. Squeeze
      2. Wheezy
    3. See Also
    4. External Links

brcmsmac (brcm80211 prior to Linux 2.6.39) is a free and open source mac80211 driver, introduced in Linux 2.6.37.1

It supports wireless LAN devices based on specific Broadcom 802.11n PCIe wireless LAN chips:

  • BCM4313
  • BCM43224
  • BCM43225

Supported devices are listed at the end of this page.

The driver is included in Debian Linux kernel images since linux-2.6 2.6.32-22, but is not available during installation of Debian Squeeze/6.0 (628975). Non-free firmware is required for device operation.

{i} For support of other Broadcom PCI wireless LAN chipsets, see bcm43xx.

Installation

Squeeze

<!> In this release, the driver is only available for the x86 and x86-64 architectures (Debian i386 and AMD64 ports respectively).

  1. Add a "non-free" component to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example: 

    # Debian Squeeze/6.0
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian squeeze main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages and install the firmware-brcm80211 and wireless-tools packages: 

    # aptitude update
# aptitude install firmware-brcm80211 wireless-tools

  3. As the driver may already be loaded, reinsert the module to access installed firmware: 

    # modprobe -r brcm80211 ; modprobe brcm80211

  4. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Wheezy

  1. Add a "non-free" component to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example: 

    # Debian Wheezy (testing)
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian wheezy main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages and install the firmware-brcm80211 and wireless-tools packages: 

    # aptitude update
# aptitude install firmware-brcm80211 wireless-tools

  3. As the driver may already be loaded, reinsert the module to access installed firmware: 

    # modprobe -r brcmsmac ; modprobe brcmsmac

  4. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Supported Devices

Squeeze

The page HowToIdentifyADevice/PCI explains how to identify a PCI device.

The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo brcm80211 in Debian 2.6.32 (2.6.32-41) kernel images. 

  • PCI: 14E4:4353 Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n
PCI: 14E4:4357 Broadcom Corporation BCM43225 802.11b/g/n
PCI: 14E4:4727 Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller

Wheezy

The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo brcmsmac in Debian 3.2.0 (3.2.4-1) kernel images. 

  • PCI: 14E4:0576 Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n
PCI: 14E4:4353 Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n
PCI: 14E4:4357 Broadcom Corporation BCM43225 802.11b/g/n
PCI: 14E4:4727 Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller

See Also

CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless

  1. "Staging: Add initial release of brcm80211 - Broadcom 802.11n wireless LAN driver." - git.kernel.org - linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git/commitdiff (1)