On 12/30/2011 06:19 PM, Xavion wrote:
I'm the maintainer of the "b43-firmware" package for Arch Linux. I'm running v3.1.5 of the Linux kernel and I have v015 of the "b43-fwcutter" package installed. Should I use v5.10.56.27.3 or the newer v5.10.144.3 of the 'b43' firmware with my BCM4311 device?
For a BCM4311, it will not matter.
Your webpage states <http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#Other_distributions_not_mentioned_above> that I should still be using v5.10.56.27.3, but v5.10.144.3 seems to be a more recent edition of that v5.10.x series. Is that explanation <http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#Other_distributions_not_mentioned_above> still current (i.e. I should stay with v5.10.56.27.3) or is it out-of-date (i.e. I should upgrade to v5.10.144.3)?
The firmware version is gotten from the number that Broadcom assigns to their binary drivers. The main reasons for such upgrades are to fix bugs in the driver code, or to support newer chips. It is relatively unlikely that they are fixing bugs in the firmware files used by old devices like yours. The only changes I know about happened when the RX header format changed. The driver to handle that change is newer than your 3.1.5. In addition, the new driver can handle both old and new firmware formats.
FYI, openSUSE is extracting firmware from v5.100.138, but I see no difference between that firmware and v4.XX for the 4311.
Larry _______________________________________________ b43-dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/b43-dev
