b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

[Roman V.Leon.]

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.

-- 
Thanks,
Roman V.Leon.

Re: b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

[Larry Finger]

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.

Larry

Re: b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

[Roman V.Leon.]

> 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.
>
> Larry
>
OK, Larry. Now I see. Thank you very much!

-- 
Cheers,
Roman V.Leon.

Re: b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

[Rafał Miłecki]

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?

-- 
Rafał

Re: b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

[Larry Finger]

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.

Larry

Re: b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

[Rafał Miłecki]

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+.

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.

-- 
Rafał

Re: b43 scans wifi networks with old firmware only.

[Greg KH]

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