From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-path: Received: from mta10.adelphia.net ([68.168.78.202]:64987 "EHLO mta10.adelphia.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1759058AbXLNBnJ (ORCPT ); Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:43:09 -0500 Message-ID: <4761DFA9.3020305@roadrunner.com> (sfid-20071214_014312_560424_420BDFD1) Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:43:05 -0500 From: Randy Cushman MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Pavel Roskin CC: linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: BCM4306 Questions References: <475F2DAD.4000708@roadrunner.com> <200712121214.50522.mb@bu3sch.de> <475FCB46.2030209@roadrunner.com> <200712121300.59811.mb@bu3sch.de> <47608102.5010105@roadrunner.com> <1197508664.13188.27.camel@dv> In-Reply-To: <1197508664.13188.27.camel@dv> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: linux-wireless-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: Pavel Roskin wrote: > Hello! > > >> Thank you for being patient with me. >> >> When I read that web page for the fourth time, I finally realized that >> what I needed to do was forget about using the correct driver for my >> adapter, and instead download an ancient driver for an unidentified >> adapter from a website of unknown authenticity, and use the firmware >> from that driver instead. Should have been obvious, I guess. >> > > I have looked at that page, and I don't see anything confusing there. I > wish I could improve it, but I don't see how. > > The firmware checksum is verified, so either you are getting the right > firmware, or you are not getting any. > > There is no talk of choosing "the correct driver". Instead, the page > suggests downloading both firmwares rather than guessing: > > Considered by itself the web page makes sense. However considering how I process information, along with additional factors, the process caused difficulty for me: 1) The bcm43xx-fwcutter man page and its -l option contradict the web page, indicating that firmware can be extracted from recent versions of bcmwl5.sys (include many versions 4.x) for use with bcm43xx. 2) Personal experience: The driver Windows XP found for this HP adapter was unstable. This led me to treat as suspect any driver not obtained from HP. 3) I had no way of knowing that firmware from any random driver would work with my adapter. 4) I preferred using a driver/firmware from a trusted website over one from an unknown website. The above information led me to believe that I already had an appropriate driver, so when reading the web page I repeatedly skipped over the section discussing driver downloads. I don't think any changes to the web page are needed. At the first sign of trouble I should have read the instructions more carefully and considered the possibility that there was a reason I was being instructed to download a particular driver.