Thanks to all who replied! I found enough clues here to (1) find ucode5.fw, and (2) to start to develop the enthusiasm to make another attempt. It may be a few days though.
Thanks again! Oh, but don't be surprised if I have some followup questions ;-) On Friday, August 18, 2017 04:29:13 PM Celejar wrote: > On Fri, 18 Aug 2017 12:56:28 -0400 > rhkra...@gmail.com wrote: > > ... > > > * All of the Linuxes somehow indicated that I had to load some other > > files > > > > to get the Broadcom working. I eventually realized they were talking > > about firmware that has to be installed on the card. > > Yes, you'll need firmware. > > > I think all of them (or at least Wheezy, iirc, identified those files as > > b43/ucode5.fw and b43-open/ucode5.fw. (Are those two different files, > > and, do I need both or either??). So far, I have not located those > > files anywhere, either using google or searching the (Wheezy) packages > > (including contrib and non-free). > > There is Broadcom's own [proprietary] firmware, and (possibly?) an open > source version. I don't know the state of the OSS version, but the last > time I looked into it, it wasn't entirely stable / reliable. Just use > Broadcom's, unless you know what you're doing and / or have strong > ideological / moral views on the subject. > > Broadcom's version is definitely not included in Debian, even in > non-free. There is, however, the firmware cutter utility and package, > which can download and extract the firmware for and put it in the right > place. Just follow the instructions here: > > http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43/#Ubuntu.2FDebian > > > I downloaded some packages from the Wheezy repository (after adding > > contrib and non-free): > > > > The downloaded packages: > > firmware-b43-installer version 1:015-14.1 > > That's the one that you want. > > > firmware-brcm80211 version 0.36+wheezy.1 > > I don't think you want / need this one. Again, just follow the > directions here: > > http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43/ > https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/b43 > > > There were other packages I could have downloaded and tried, but didn't, > > so far. > > > > Those packages provided me with (among other files): > > > > /lib/firmware/brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw > > /lib/firmware/brcm/bcm43xx_hdr-0.fw > > b43-fwcutter > > ... > > > The main questions: So, where do I go from here? Is ucode5.fw an > > obsolete file name? Or maybe that is the name for the Broadcom > > proprietary stuff but what I've found are open source replacements? Is > > ucode5.fw in one of the other Debian packages for Broadcom? Has anyone > > ever got WiFi working with Wheezy and this Broadcom device? > > So what's the problem? Does the card work? Is the driver module > inserted into the kernel? What does dmesg say when you insert it? > [Try "modprobe -r b43" followed by "modprobe b43" and see what dmesg > says.] > > ... > > > * Somewhere I found a blurb that identified it as a "Broadcom Wireless > > 1390 > > > > WLAN Mini card" > > Marketing name, not particularly important for us. > > > * Using =lspci -vnn -d 14e4:=, I get the following information: > > PCI-ID Supported? Chip ID Modes PHY version Alternative > > 14e4:4311 yes BCM4311 b/g G wl > > That's what we need - see here: > > http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43/#Supported_devices > > > IIUC, that means I can use the non-legacy driver (and Wheezy package) > > Correct. > > > * The tag on the bottom of the computer identifies the WiFi device as > > > > BRCM94311MCG, FCC ID: QDS-BRCM1020 > > Not important. > > [I used to use Broadcom wireless, not necessarily this exact card, but > something similar. I haven't had a machine with one for years, but the > instructions are good, and they work when followed.] > > Celejar
