(Solved) After updating kernel, wireless no longer connects.

[ka9yhd]

Yesterday I updated the kernel on my laptop to the kernel-2.6.33.7-pclos2.a64-1-1pclos2010.i586.rpm and now the wireless does not show anything to connect to.

Click on "refresh" and still the window is blank.

If I boot the laptop into the old kernel, kernel-2.6.33.5-pclos1.a64, the wireless works just fine and connects to my router.  Also it shows other connections available around in the area.

This laptop is using the BCM 4318 wireless.

[pags]

This kernel (version -- 2.6.33.7-pclos2.bfs) also breaks the b44 module 

Did Linux and Broadcom have a falling out?

[ElCuervo]

I'm not sure this will help either of you guys, but a while back my HP laptop with a BCM NIC quit using the BCM driver, and instead uses the airforceone driver. It works smokin' fast, regardless of the name. I don't have all the specs at hand right now, but I'll look them up later. In any case, it doesn't really hurt to try if you're dead in the water now.

[muungwana]

pclinuxos twitter/identi.ca channels say there will be another update to "2.6.33.7" with better security patches than those in "2.6.33.7-pclos2". Its better not to update to this kernel at the moment

make sure dkms service is set to start at boot time when changing kernels.

[jlf001]

This kernel (version -- 2.6.33.7-pclos2.bfs) also breaks the b44 module 

Did Linux and Broadcom have a falling out?

Same problem here, fortunately, I was able to use 2.6.33.5 and then later 2.6.32.20.

Jeff

[pags]

This kernel (version -- 2.6.33.7-pclos2.bfs) also breaks the b44 module 

Did Linux and Broadcom have a falling out?

Same problem here, fortunately, I was able to use 2.6.33.5 and then later 2.6.32.20.

Jeff

Yeah, I have 2.6.33.5, also.  But, if doing a new install/update (was doing some at my brother-in-law's on the weekend), the only 2.6.33.* kernel available will be 2.6.33.7 

[clarjon1]

I can confirm i have the same problem -- makes me glad I keep my old kernels around just for things like this.

Oddly enough, i noticed the following behaviour:
If i boot into 2.6.33.6-pclos1.a64, get the network up on the wifi, then reboot into the 33.7, it will connect etc no problem.
However, in the WICD Manager (i find it a bit faster than the PCC based one personaly) i have to change my wlan0 to wlan2 or wlan3, oddly, and the networks do not show up AT ALL in drakroam.

If i reboot from here, the wifi will either try to come up, many times per second, causing the wifi light to flash rapidly, or it will act like the device does not exist at all.

I'd post details, but I didn't bother to copy-paste the dmesg/modprobe errors from last time lol

Oh, here is my wifi card from lspci (i forgot to check that under the other kernel, will do next time i reboot)

05:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 01)

[pags]

Here are my cards:

[jpaglia@core2pclinux ~]$ lspci | grep -i net
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
0c:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection (rev 02)
[jpaglia@core2pclinux ~]$

Wireless is OK (not Broadcom)...wired fails (Broadcom)

[ElCuervo]

[alan@redhoney ~]$ uname -r
2.6.33.7-pclos2.a64
[alan@redhoney ~]$ lspci | grep -i net
03:02.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)
03:06.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)

This is my HP Pavilion 6000 laptop, ca. 2006. Like I said earlier, until this year it used one of the bcm drivers for that BCM4318 card.

Actually, when I first started using PCLinuxOS, I had to use cabextract to pull the driver from the CD and then install it using ndiswrapper, but that was so long ago it is a dim memory.

[pags]

So many chipsets, so few names!  What a PITA!

4318 vs 4311 ...
4401 wired ...

Maybe a list of what does and doesn't work under 33.7...
BCM4318 wireless -- WORKS (new/different module)
BCM4311 wireless -- FAILS
BCM4401 wires -- FAILS
...

[uncleV]

But, if doing a new install/update (was doing some at my brother-in-law's on the weekend), the only 2.6.33.* kernel available will be 2.6.33.7 

2.6.33.5 should still reside somewhere in pslinuxos/files or similar place in the repo?

[pags]

You're kind of right 
From the 2010.07 Live CD, 2.6.33.5 is the default kernel...

My brother-in-law may have used the 2010.1 CD, which I then updated, thereby skipping the 33.5, and going straight to the 33.7...I'll check that later (need to get a 2010.1 ISO out of storage  ).

[jlf001]

The newest kernel, 2.6.33.7-pclos3.bfs, still has the same hardwired b44 Broadcom error.  However, kernel 2.6.32.21-pclos1.bfs is working fine.  You might want to give that a try.  I can't verify the wireless b43 problem, as I don't have a Broadcom wireless interface to test.

Jeff

[clarjon1]

I gave the latest .7 kernel a shot, and it still has the same issue -- I'll ask on freenode on the kernel dev channels if there's more reports of this happening

Noone seems to have reported it, but, from a list of changed kernel files, I found this:

Code:

drivers/net/wireless/b43/Kconfig                |    6
 drivers/net/wireless/b43/Makefile               |    2
 drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.h                  |   12
 drivers/net/wireless/b43/dma.c                  |    2
 drivers/net/wireless/b43/main.c                 |   25
 drivers/net/wireless/b43/pio.h                  |   40 -
 drivers/net/wireless/b43legacy/main.c           |    2

(found via http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel.announce/655 )

Oh, if anyone has a copy of the 2.6.33.6-pclos1 PAE kernel and header packages kicking around, I'd love to have a link to it

[genomega]

b43-fwcutter
bcm43xx-fwcutter
bluez-firmware
dkms-broadcom-wl
ndiswrapper-bcmwl5
ndiswrapper-bcmwl5a

Do you have all of the packages installed?
Perhaps updates removed something.