Re: b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

[Greg KH <greg@kroah.com>]

On Fri, Nov 04, 2011 at 11:27:06AM +0100, Rafał Miłecki wrote:
> W dniu 4 listopada 2011 01:37 użytkownik Larry Finger
> <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net> napisał:
> > On 11/03/2011 05:37 PM, Rafał Miłecki wrote:
> >>
> >> 2011/11/3 Larry Finger<Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>:
> >>>
> >>> On 11/03/2011 06:21 AM, Roman V.Leon. wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> Hello Gents.
> >>>> I have problem with b43 driver 5.100.138, it's not scanning networks for
> >>>> unknown reason. I have broadcom wifi card PCIID is 14e4:4315, linux kern
> >>>> ver. is 3.0. When i'm trying to launch iwlist scan, i'm getting "no scan
> >>>> results".
> >>>>
> >>>> for example:
> >>>> sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
> >>>> sudo iwlist wlan0 scan
> >>>>     No scan results.
> >>>>
> >>>> With the older driver 5.10.56.2808, i see normal scan results. If you
> >>>> need
> >>>> any more information, i will send.
> >>>
> >>> The condition you report is known. Broadcom changed the TX/RX header
> >>> structure with firmware versions greater than 600, as shown by a 'dmesg |
> >>> grep firmware'. Those changes are not implemented in b43 until kernel
> >>> 3.2.
> >>>
> >>> These numbers are not b43 driver numbers, nor are they firmware numbers
> >>> reported by b43. They are the versions of Broadcom drivers.
> >>>
> >>> If you look at
> >>> http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#firmwareinstallation, you
> >>> will see that firmware should be extracted from Broadcom driver 5.100.138
> >>> "if you are using kernel 3.2 or newer". For older kernels you should
> >>> extract
> >>> firmware from the 5.10.56.27.3 of the Broadcom proprietary driver. Of
> >>> course, 5.10.56.2808 will also work.
> >>>
> >>>  You could also get those changes by employing a bleeding-edge version of
> >>> compat-wireless. In that case, firmware from 5.100.138 would work.
> >>
> >> Should we/can we send patch for at least 3.0.x and 3.1.x kernels
> >> adding error on loading too new firmware?
> >
> > I think adding an error would have been appropriate. We certainly cannot
> > prevent versionitis; however, getting a patch into those kernels that is not
> > in mainline might be a problem.
> 
> Greg: the problem with b43 happens when kernels 3.1- users install
> firmware supported by kernels 3.2+.

Ick, that sucks.

> Is this possible to grab some separated patch for that older kernels?
> The ideal way to do this was:
> 1) Commit error enabling patch with Cc: stable
> 2) Add support for new firmwares
> 3) Drop error
> Unfortunately I didn't think about that, now it's too late.

Sure, just let me know what patch you want added to the 3.1-stable tree
and I'll add it.

thanks,

greg k-h