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From: Julian Calaby <julian.calaby@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 11 May 2012 01:25:53 +1000
Message-ID: <CAGRGNgXQ3o-2bD9J+C2cAu9M-fo69tiXWfugZKjqU3o9ki7f7Q@mail.gmail.com> (sfid-20120510_172619_059299_5211F956)
Subject: Re: how to remove the b43
To: lina <lina.lastname@gmail.com>
Cc: linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org
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Sender: linux-wireless-owner@vger.kernel.org
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Hi Lina,

On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 1:00 AM, lina <lina.lastname@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 10:25 PM, Julian Calaby <julian.calaby@gmail.com> 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: julian.calaby@gmail.com
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/
.Plan: http://sites.google.com/site/juliancalaby/