Hi,
The same question as I asked before (please see
https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/1/6/155)
I want to clear the
b43-fwcutter-015
broadcom-wl-*
and all it related.
The reason I want to clear is that today I installed the kernel 3.3.5,
but still keep the last version 3.2.5
I want to clear the b43 related in 3.2.5, and re-install in 3.3.5
Thanks ahead for your suggestions.
P.S I have done some robust blind clear, but
# lsmod
Module Size Used by
b43 353456 0
mac80211 381396 1 b43
cfg80211 178201 2 mac80211,b43
pcmcia 40801 2 ssb,b43
pcmcia_core 18294 1 pcmcia
seems I have removed the compact-wireless
Sorry I do really lack understanding about what's going on.
Thanks for your patience,
Best regards,
On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 10:25 PM, Julian Calaby <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi Lina,
>
> Firstly, which distribution are you using, is it Ubuntu? Debian? Suse?
> Fedora? or something else?
Debian,
The going-to-be-retired kernel version 3.2.5
Recently I forget to follow up, does it still need the compat-wireless
in 3.3.5 for
03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 02)
>
> On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 11:38 PM, lina <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I want to clear the
>> b43-fwcutter-015
>> broadcom-wl-*
>> and all it related.
>
> Ok, the first thing you need to understand is which files do what and
> how they're related.
>
> Broadcom wireless devices which are driven by the b43 driver have three "parts":
>
> 1. The driver in the kernel itself. This is called "b43". This
> controls the hardware and provides an interface between the kernel
> wireless code and the actual hardware.
I compared what under the
/lib/modules/3.3.5/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/
form the time-stamp, I notice the b43 was installed at the same time
with kernel,
Thanks for confirming me that the b43 driver is in kernel itself.
>
> 2. The firmware, this lives in /lib/firmware or wherever your distro
> puts it and are called ucode*.fw. The firmware is software which runs
> on the actual wireless card and runs the hardware at a low level.
:/lib/firmware$ ls -1
3.2.5mj-lina
3.3.5
b43
$ cd 3.3.5/
$ ls
3com bnx2 edgeport korg qlogic ti_5052.fw
yamaha
acenic bnx2x emi26 matrox r128 tigon
adaptec cis emi62 mts_cdma.fw radeon ttusb-budget
advansys cpia2 ess mts_edge.fw sun whiteheat.fw
atmsar11.fw cxgb3 kaweth mts_gsm.fw tehuti whiteheat_loader.fw
av7110 e100 keyspan_pda ositech ti_3410.fw yam
another question, why I have so many things under /lib/firmware/3.3.5,
Did I build a heavy kernel, what does those firmware for? are they for
some other type of firmware?
Thanks ahead,
>
> 3. As broadcom has not distributed firmware for these devices in the
> linux-firmware repository, a separate tool called b43-fwcutter is used
> to extract the firmware from other Broadcom drivers.
I start to understand now.
trying hard to get the meaning of the firmware, can guess now, still
lack a strong sense of what it is though.
Thanks for your explaination.
>
>> The reason I want to clear is that today I installed the kernel ?3.3.5,
>> but still keep the last version 3.2.5
>>
>> I want to clear the b43 related in 3.2.5, and re-install in 3.3.5
>
> Ok, so part 1, the driver, is part of the kernel and will be upgraded
> when you upgrade your kernel from version 3.2.5 to 3.3.5.
Ha ... I didn't upgrade. I just obtained from kernel.org, not from
debian repository.
now kept two, is it redundant? maybe just in case.
>
> The firmware (part 2) and b43-fwcutter (part 3) do *not* depend on the
> version of the kernel driver, and may safely be left alone when you
> upgrade your kernel.
>
>> Thanks ahead for your suggestions.
>>
>> P.S I have done some robust blind clear, but
>> # lsmod
>> Module ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Size ?Used by
>> b43 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 353456 ?0
>> mac80211 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?381396 ?1 b43
>> cfg80211 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?178201 ?2 mac80211,b43
>> pcmcia ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 40801 ?2 ssb,b43
>> pcmcia_core ? ? ? ? ? ?18294 ?1 pcmcia
>>
>> seems I have removed the compact-wireless
>
> Firstly it's 'compat-wireless' not 'compact-wireless'.
^_^. I did lack of understanding.
>
> Secondly, deleting system files without knowing exactly what you're
> doing is a _really_bad_ idea.
>
> Thirdly, what precisely are you trying to do?
>
> Are you:
> 1. Trying to use the stock driver in 3.3.5?
in 3.3.5
> 2. Trying to use the stock driver from 3.2.5?
keep it as plan C or D, in case I have problem or mess up something in
future, so I can ...
> 3. Trying to use the driver in compat-wireless from a later kernel version?
Can I ? I don't know the latest progress in this area, no need the
compat-wireless support in latest kernel version?
>
> If you are trying option 1, using the stock driver in 3.3.5, then you
> should have to do _nothing_ other than upgrade the kernel. I strongly
> recommend doing this unless you require some feature or bug fix that
> is not present in kernel version 3.3.5. Your distribution should
> provide a package for obtaining the firmware, I strongly recommend you
> install it and _leave_it_alone_.
Before strangly it not work in the 3.3.5, or maybe something not
activate in my network manager,
so I came up the idea to remove the one in 3.2.5, I didn't realize
it's independent from kernel version until later.
another reason to remove it from 3.2.5 is to reduce the chance of my /
get saturated. I only give 666M.
>
> If you are trying option 2, using the stock driver from 3.2.5, then
> you cannot upgrade your kernel as the driver from kernel version 3.2.5
> _will_not_work_ with kernel version 3.3.5. Also, the driver in kernel
> version 3.3.5 will have received many improvements over the version in
> 3.2.5 and as such, will perform better than the older version. I
> _strongly_ recommend that you use the driver in kernel version 3.3.5.
Thanks, I will.
>
> If you are trying option 3, then you will need to re-compile whichever
> version of compat-wireless you wish to use *every* time you upgrade
> your kernel. Remember that the version of compat-wireless *must* be
> greater than the version of your kernel. I recommend you do not use
> compat-wireless unless you need some feature or bug fix that is not
> present in your current kernel.
>
>> Sorry I do really lack understanding about what's going on.
>
> Yes, you really do.
Now better. haha ...
>
> May I strongly recommend you use the stock drivers that come with your
> kernel and the firmware that comes with your distribution. You seem to
> be very insistent on doing this yourself, and it is simply not
> necessary.
>
> Also, remember to use reply-all when replying.
Yes. Thanks Julian,
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Julian Calaby
>
> Email: [email protected]
> Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/
> .Plan: http://sites.google.com/site/juliancalaby/
Hi Lina,
On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 3:08 AM, lina <[email protected]> wrote:
> It worked well in the 3.3.5 following the
> http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43.
Glad to hear that.
Thanks,
--
Julian Calaby
Email: [email protected]
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/
.Plan: http://sites.google.com/site/juliancalaby/
On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 11:25 PM, Julian Calaby <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi Lina,
>
> On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 1:00 AM, lina <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 10:25 PM, Julian Calaby <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> Hi Lina,
>>>
>>> Firstly, which distribution are you using, is it Ubuntu? Debian? Suse?
>>> Fedora? or something else?
>>
>> Debian,
>
> I use Debian too, if you're fully up-to-date, all you need to do is
> install these packages:
>
Thanks, I will install the linux-image-amd64.
suddenly all things become not so hard, seems.
I have spent whole day on it.
Before my fglrx-driver even lack the transplant.
> One of the linux-image-<arch> metapackages, e.g. linux-image-i686 or
> linux-image-amd64
> firmware-b43-installer
>
> Support for your card was included in 3.2, so you should have no
> problems using it with the stock Debian kernel.
>
> There is no need to compile your own kernel unless the stock kernel
> doesn't work on your system.
>
>>> 2. The firmware, this lives in /lib/firmware or wherever your distro
>>> puts it and are called ucode*.fw. The firmware is software which runs
>>> on the actual wireless card and runs the hardware at a low level.
>>
>> :/lib/firmware$ ?ls -1
>> 3.2.5mj-lina
>> 3.3.5
>> b43
>>
>> $ cd 3.3.5/
>> $ ls
>> 3com ? ? ? ? bnx2 ? edgeport ? ? korg ? ? ? ? qlogic ? ? ?ti_5052.fw
>> ? ? ? ?yamaha
>> acenic ? ? ? bnx2x ?emi26 ? ? ? ?matrox ? ? ? r128 ? ? ? ?tigon
>> adaptec ? ? ?cis ? ?emi62 ? ? ? ?mts_cdma.fw ?radeon ? ? ?ttusb-budget
>> advansys ? ? cpia2 ?ess ? ? ? ? ?mts_edge.fw ?sun ? ? ? ? whiteheat.fw
>> atmsar11.fw ?cxgb3 ?kaweth ? ? ? mts_gsm.fw ? tehuti ? ? ?whiteheat_loader.fw
>> av7110 ? ? ? e100 ? keyspan_pda ?ositech ? ? ?ti_3410.fw ?yam
>>
>> another question, why I have so many things under /lib/firmware/3.3.5,
>
> These files are firmware for other devices, e.g. 3com network cards,
> qlogic SCSI cards, etc. I believe that they are all part of the
> standard linux-firmware package.
>
>>>> The reason I want to clear is that today I installed the kernel ?3.3.5,
>>>> but still keep the last version 3.2.5
>>>>
>>>> I want to clear the b43 related in 3.2.5, and re-install in 3.3.5
>>>
>>> Ok, so part 1, the driver, is part of the kernel and will be upgraded
>>> when you upgrade your kernel from version 3.2.5 to 3.3.5.
>>
>> Ha ... I didn't upgrade. I just obtained from kernel.org, not from
>> debian repository.
>>
>> now kept two, is it redundant? maybe just in case.
>
> You should be fine just installing the kernel images that come with
> Debian. Unless you're having a problem with those packages, there is
> no need to build your own kernel.
>
>>> If you are trying option 1, using the stock driver in 3.3.5, then you
>>> should have to do _nothing_ other than upgrade the kernel. I strongly
>>> recommend doing this unless you require some feature or bug fix that
>>> is not present in kernel version 3.3.5. Your distribution should
>>> provide a package for obtaining the firmware, I strongly recommend you
>>> install it and _leave_it_alone_.
>>
>> Before strangly it not work in the 3.3.5, or maybe something not
>> activate in my network manager,
>
> If you had deleted the firmware before this, then that will be the
> reason why it is not working.
>
> Otherwise, it's likely that there are errors in the system log, if you
> post them here, we might be able to help you fix them.
>
>> so I came up the idea to remove the one in 3.2.5, I didn't realize
>> it's independent from kernel version until later.
>>
>> another reason to remove it from 3.2.5 is to reduce the chance of my /
>> get saturated. I only give ?666M.
>
> I'm surprised you are managing to fit an entire Linux system in 666 MB.
>
> To re-iterate, I strongly recommend that you install the stock kernel
> that comes with Debian. There is no need to build your own unless
> there is a problem with that kernel.
>
> To get the firmware for your broadcom wireless card, just install the
> firmware-b43-installer package and this will automatically install and
> maintain the latest versions of the firmware for you.
>
> b43-fwcutter and the firmware itself are separate from the kernel and
> there is no need to delete them when upgrading.
>
> Thanks,
Best regards,
>
> --
> Julian Calaby
>
> Email: [email protected]
> Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/
> .Plan: http://sites.google.com/site/juliancalaby/
On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 9:38 PM, lina <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> The same question as I asked before (please see
> https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/1/6/155)
>
> I want to clear the
> b43-fwcutter-015
> broadcom-wl-*
> and all it related.
Here is what I have tried,
1] For the b43-fwcutter-015
rm /usr/local/bin/b43-fwcutter
rm /usr/local/man/man1/b43-fwcutter.1
rm -r b43-fwcutter-015
2] For the broadcom-wl-5.100.138/
rm -r /lib/firmware/b43
not sure whether it's purged completely or not.
Thanks again,
Hi Lina,
Could you please read my first email and respond to the questions in it?
Thanks,
--
Julian Calaby
Email: [email protected]
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/
.Plan: http://sites.google.com/site/juliancalaby/
Hi Lina,
On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 1:00 AM, lina <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 10:25 PM, Julian Calaby <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Hi Lina,
>>
>> Firstly, which distribution are you using, is it Ubuntu? Debian? Suse?
>> Fedora? or something else?
>
> Debian,
I use Debian too, if you're fully up-to-date, all you need to do is
install these packages:
One of the linux-image-<arch> metapackages, e.g. linux-image-i686 or
linux-image-amd64
firmware-b43-installer
Support for your card was included in 3.2, so you should have no
problems using it with the stock Debian kernel.
There is no need to compile your own kernel unless the stock kernel
doesn't work on your system.
>> 2. The firmware, this lives in /lib/firmware or wherever your distro
>> puts it and are called ucode*.fw. The firmware is software which runs
>> on the actual wireless card and runs the hardware at a low level.
>
> :/lib/firmware$ ?ls -1
> 3.2.5mj-lina
> 3.3.5
> b43
>
> $ cd 3.3.5/
> $ ls
> 3com ? ? ? ? bnx2 ? edgeport ? ? korg ? ? ? ? qlogic ? ? ?ti_5052.fw
> ? ? ? ?yamaha
> acenic ? ? ? bnx2x ?emi26 ? ? ? ?matrox ? ? ? r128 ? ? ? ?tigon
> adaptec ? ? ?cis ? ?emi62 ? ? ? ?mts_cdma.fw ?radeon ? ? ?ttusb-budget
> advansys ? ? cpia2 ?ess ? ? ? ? ?mts_edge.fw ?sun ? ? ? ? whiteheat.fw
> atmsar11.fw ?cxgb3 ?kaweth ? ? ? mts_gsm.fw ? tehuti ? ? ?whiteheat_loader.fw
> av7110 ? ? ? e100 ? keyspan_pda ?ositech ? ? ?ti_3410.fw ?yam
>
> another question, why I have so many things under /lib/firmware/3.3.5,
These files are firmware for other devices, e.g. 3com network cards,
qlogic SCSI cards, etc. I believe that they are all part of the
standard linux-firmware package.
>>> The reason I want to clear is that today I installed the kernel ?3.3.5,
>>> but still keep the last version 3.2.5
>>>
>>> I want to clear the b43 related in 3.2.5, and re-install in 3.3.5
>>
>> Ok, so part 1, the driver, is part of the kernel and will be upgraded
>> when you upgrade your kernel from version 3.2.5 to 3.3.5.
>
> Ha ... I didn't upgrade. I just obtained from kernel.org, not from
> debian repository.
>
> now kept two, is it redundant? maybe just in case.
You should be fine just installing the kernel images that come with
Debian. Unless you're having a problem with those packages, there is
no need to build your own kernel.
>> If you are trying option 1, using the stock driver in 3.3.5, then you
>> should have to do _nothing_ other than upgrade the kernel. I strongly
>> recommend doing this unless you require some feature or bug fix that
>> is not present in kernel version 3.3.5. Your distribution should
>> provide a package for obtaining the firmware, I strongly recommend you
>> install it and _leave_it_alone_.
>
> Before strangly it not work in the 3.3.5, or maybe something not
> activate in my network manager,
If you had deleted the firmware before this, then that will be the
reason why it is not working.
Otherwise, it's likely that there are errors in the system log, if you
post them here, we might be able to help you fix them.
> so I came up the idea to remove the one in 3.2.5, I didn't realize
> it's independent from kernel version until later.
>
> another reason to remove it from 3.2.5 is to reduce the chance of my /
> get saturated. I only give ?666M.
I'm surprised you are managing to fit an entire Linux system in 666 MB.
To re-iterate, I strongly recommend that you install the stock kernel
that comes with Debian. There is no need to build your own unless
there is a problem with that kernel.
To get the firmware for your broadcom wireless card, just install the
firmware-b43-installer package and this will automatically install and
maintain the latest versions of the firmware for you.
b43-fwcutter and the firmware itself are separate from the kernel and
there is no need to delete them when upgrading.
Thanks,
--
Julian Calaby
Email: [email protected]
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/
.Plan: http://sites.google.com/site/juliancalaby/
On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 10:37 PM, Julian Calaby <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi Lina,
>
> Could you please read my first email and respond to the questions in it?
Thanks. already done.
A simple question-style answer is that:
in debian repository, the latest kernel is linux-source-3.3,
shall I remove the newly-installed one from kernel.org and back to
install the sid version in 3.3?
or I'd better try the clear installation in 3.3.5 and see whether it
works or not, and decide.
Thanks again for your email. haha ... sometimes I do need advice.
With all the best regards,
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Julian Calaby
>
> Email: [email protected]
> Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/
> .Plan: http://sites.google.com/site/juliancalaby/
# aptitude install linux-image-amd64
The following NEW packages will be installed:
firmware-linux-free{a} linux-base{a} linux-image-3.2.0-2-amd64{a}
linux-image-amd64
# aptitude install firmware-b43-installer
The following NEW packages will be installed:
b43-fwcutter{a} firmware-b43-installer
Setting up b43-fwcutter (1:015-14) ...
Setting up firmware-b43-installer (1:015-14) ...
No chroot environment found. Starting normal installation
Unsupported device(s) found: PCI id 14e4:4331
Aborting.
Have I missed something?
Thanks again,
BTW, My current two kernels neither installed from debian repository.
is it going to be abrupt if I install the kernel source from debian
repository? and use my current .config file to build the headers and
image.
is headers necessary to install, do I only need install the linux-image,
Sorry for lots lots of things I got insufficient understandings.
Best regards,
Hi Lina,
Firstly, which distribution are you using, is it Ubuntu? Debian? Suse?
Fedora? or something else?
On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 11:38 PM, lina <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I want to clear the
> b43-fwcutter-015
> broadcom-wl-*
> and all it related.
Ok, the first thing you need to understand is which files do what and
how they're related.
Broadcom wireless devices which are driven by the b43 driver have three "parts":
1. The driver in the kernel itself. This is called "b43". This
controls the hardware and provides an interface between the kernel
wireless code and the actual hardware.
2. The firmware, this lives in /lib/firmware or wherever your distro
puts it and are called ucode*.fw. The firmware is software which runs
on the actual wireless card and runs the hardware at a low level.
3. As broadcom has not distributed firmware for these devices in the
linux-firmware repository, a separate tool called b43-fwcutter is used
to extract the firmware from other Broadcom drivers.
> The reason I want to clear is that today I installed the kernel ?3.3.5,
> but still keep the last version 3.2.5
>
> I want to clear the b43 related in 3.2.5, and re-install in 3.3.5
Ok, so part 1, the driver, is part of the kernel and will be upgraded
when you upgrade your kernel from version 3.2.5 to 3.3.5.
The firmware (part 2) and b43-fwcutter (part 3) do *not* depend on the
version of the kernel driver, and may safely be left alone when you
upgrade your kernel.
> Thanks ahead for your suggestions.
>
> P.S I have done some robust blind clear, but
> # lsmod
> Module ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Size ?Used by
> b43 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 353456 ?0
> mac80211 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?381396 ?1 b43
> cfg80211 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?178201 ?2 mac80211,b43
> pcmcia ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 40801 ?2 ssb,b43
> pcmcia_core ? ? ? ? ? ?18294 ?1 pcmcia
>
> seems I have removed the compact-wireless
Firstly it's 'compat-wireless' not 'compact-wireless'.
Secondly, deleting system files without knowing exactly what you're
doing is a _really_bad_ idea.
Thirdly, what precisely are you trying to do?
Are you:
1. Trying to use the stock driver in 3.3.5?
2. Trying to use the stock driver from 3.2.5?
3. Trying to use the driver in compat-wireless from a later kernel version?
If you are trying option 1, using the stock driver in 3.3.5, then you
should have to do _nothing_ other than upgrade the kernel. I strongly
recommend doing this unless you require some feature or bug fix that
is not present in kernel version 3.3.5. Your distribution should
provide a package for obtaining the firmware, I strongly recommend you
install it and _leave_it_alone_.
If you are trying option 2, using the stock driver from 3.2.5, then
you cannot upgrade your kernel as the driver from kernel version 3.2.5
_will_not_work_ with kernel version 3.3.5. Also, the driver in kernel
version 3.3.5 will have received many improvements over the version in
3.2.5 and as such, will perform better than the older version. I
_strongly_ recommend that you use the driver in kernel version 3.3.5.
If you are trying option 3, then you will need to re-compile whichever
version of compat-wireless you wish to use *every* time you upgrade
your kernel. Remember that the version of compat-wireless *must* be
greater than the version of your kernel. I recommend you do not use
compat-wireless unless you need some feature or bug fix that is not
present in your current kernel.
> Sorry I do really lack understanding about what's going on.
Yes, you really do.
May I strongly recommend you use the stock drivers that come with your
kernel and the firmware that comes with your distribution. You seem to
be very insistent on doing this yourself, and it is simply not
necessary.
Also, remember to use reply-all when replying.
Thanks,
--
Julian Calaby
Email: [email protected]
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/
.Plan: http://sites.google.com/site/juliancalaby/