How to make working new Broadcom chips like BCM4331?

Thu Apr 2 01:39:54 UTC 2015

> On 2 Apr 2015, at 9:12 am, Johannes Dieterich <dieterich.joh at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 11:42 PM, Felix Friedlander <felixphew0 at gmail.com <mailto:felixphew0 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> On Mon, 02 Feb 2015 08:12:17 +0300
>>> Alexander Perechnev <herfleisch at me.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Hello everyone,
>>>> 
>>>> I’ve installed FreeBSD 10.1 on my MacBook Pro 13 mid 2012. Everything
>>>> works pretty good, except wireless. It works with [ndis], but it
>>>> doesn’t work with existing [bwi-firmware-kmod] and
>>>> [bwn-firmware-kmod] facilities.
>>>> 
>>>> I’ve looked into [bwn] port Makefile
>>>> (https://github.com/aperechnev/freebsd-ports/blob/master/net/bwn-firmware-kmod/Makefile)
>>>> and found that all it does is just to download necessary firmware
>>>> (4.150.10.5 and 4.178.10.4), extracts it via [b43-fwcutter-015] and
>>>> compiles it into kernel module.
>>>> 
>>>> So the first problem is that 4th gen firmware does not support my
>>>> BCM4331.
>>>> 
>>>> Also i’ve found the [siba-bwn], which recognizes the broadcom
>>>> devices:
>>>> https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd/blob/master/sys/dev/siba/siba_bwn.c.
>>>> 
>>>> So summary it seems that it is not so hard to support my BCM4331. I
>>>> have to:
>>>> 
>>>> - port [b43-fwcutter-018] to FreeBSD, because earlier versions
>>>> doesn’t work with newest firmware
>>>> - update existing [bwn-firmware-kmod] to point it to newest firmware
>>>> - add my BCM4331 device to [siba-bwn]
>>>> 
>>>> I expect that after this steps my BCM4331 should be working. But I am
>>>> new in FreeBSD and I’m just asking you for any help like related
>>>> information, existing problems, links, etc.
>>>> 
>>>> I am not sure if I am right in my theory, but for me it seems that it
>>>> should work. So if you know another problems, which I don’t, please
>>>> let me know before I go through this steps.
>>>> 
>>>> Thank you for excellent operating system, now it’s my favorite one!
>>>> 
>>>> Best regards,
>>>> Alexander Perechnev.
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> freebsd-wireless at freebsd.org mailing list
>>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-wireless
>>>> To unsubscribe, send any mail to
>>>> "freebsd-wireless-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"
>>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> out of curiosity I reviewed the BCM status.
>>> 
>>> IMO you don't have to port the b43-fwcutter to BSD. It would be nice,
>>> but you can use any Linux to get the firmware (from /lib/firmware/). For
>>> example.
>>> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro8-2/Oneiric#Wireless
>>> 
>>> As of the support, JFYI
>>> BCM4331 Linux driver is provided by Broadcom
>>> http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/README_6.30.223.248.txt
>>> 
>>> ,there is no support in the Linux kernel atm
>>> https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/brcm80211
>>> 
>>> and I'm not sure, where do the bwi/bwn drivers come from (to see how
>>> probable is the support of BCM4331).
>>> bwi -- Broadcom BCM43xx IEEE 802.11b/g wireless network driver
>>> bwn -- Broadcom BCM43xx IEEE 802.11b/g wireless network driver
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Cheers,
>>> 
>>>      -vlado
>> Just out of curiosity, is anyone working on this ATM? I’ve had the same problem, and it is (no offence to anyone intended) a bit ridiculous that the latest Broadcom chips we support are around 5 years old now. I don’t actually know enough to say this for sure, but judging by the first message it looks like this is a (relatively) simple fix  - simply add newer firmware and sell siba to detect the new cards. Is this the case, or am I misreading the whole situation?
> Well, looking at the commit history of both the siba source and the
> port containing the firmware binaries, I'd say the driver is in
> maintenance mode since March 2010. Which nicely lines up with the five
> year old chips, unfortunately. No idea if it is indeed as simple as
> adding a few PCI-IDs and the binaries but if you have such a device,
> maybe you could try it?
I’ll try, however my coding skills are truly woeful :-). I have access to devices with BCM4331 and BCM43224 (I’m a convert from the Mac world), as well as older ones to make sure I don’t break anything.
> 
>> Also, the Broadcom-provided linux STA driver you referenced above is not very widely used - b43 (the kernel driver) is much more common, and requires extracting the firmware just like the FreeBSD drivers. See https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43 <https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43>
> The page also claims that the operation of b43 is limited to 11g? Is
> this correct?
Nope, it’s not. b43 can do 11n for sure, not sure about 11ac or others. b43 is a much more capable driver than the wl STA driver, and is also open (as opposed to the STA which is sort-of, kind-of open depending on who you ask).
> Johannes

--
Felix Friedlander <felixphew0 at gmail.com>