B3rtm3n
February 25, 2023, 6:12am
1
So I have an old laptop (Dell D620) which had a 32bit processor and I upgraded it with a 64bit processor.
All is working well except the wifi.
lspci
0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4311 802.11a/b/g (rev 01)
and
inxi -Nx
Device-2: Broadcom BCM4311 802.11a/b/g vendor: Dell Wireless 1490 Dual Band WLAN Mini-Card driver: N/A bus-ID: 0c:00.0
after I did
sudo dnf search wireless
the driver was not available so after a lot of reading
sudo dnf install kernel-devel kernel-headers
and trying the several available broadcom drivers
sudo dnf install broadcom-wl
sudo dnf install kmod-wl
sudo dnf install akmod-wl
Still no wifi
dmesg | grep -i b43
gave nothing so I entered
lsmod | grep wl
wl 6467584 0
cfg80211 872448 1 wl
and looked also for
lspci -vv -s 0c:00.0
0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4311 802.11a/b/g (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1490 Dual Band WLAN Mini-Card
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 17
Region 0: Memory at efdfc000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: wl
So I started looking into the boot and saw the wifi driver was not being loaded for some reason.
I was wandering if this was the cause of it:
journalctl -k | grep taint
feb 25 04:55:11 localhost.localdomain kernel: wl: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
feb 25 04:55:11 localhost.localdomain kernel: wl: module license 'MIXED/Proprietary' taints kernel.
feb 25 04:55:11 localhost.localdomain kernel: Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
feb 25 04:55:11 localhost.localdomain kernel: wl: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
I remember reading somewhere certain drivers are not being loaded into the kernel.
Could this be the problem why my wifi is not working?
How can I solve this?
efdevse
February 25, 2023, 8:05am
2
I had a simular experience with my old Fujitsu Amilo laptop. Had no interface’s at all, and the drivers wouldn’t load: #8438 …»
I took the suggestion to use El-Repo. So, I’m using the mainline kernel (kernel-ml
), and it’s been really good.
B3rtm3n
February 25, 2023, 10:15am
3
Thanks for the reply.
I installed kernel-ml
sudo yum --enablerepo=elrepo-kernel install kernel-ml
It did clear almost all the messages
journalctl -k | grep taint
localhost.localdomain kernel: fuse: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing -tainting kernel
I rebooted : nothing …
reinstalled all drivers and rebooted : nothing
no wifi available
B3rtm3n:
lspci -vv -s 0c:00.0
Add option -nn
so that the Device ID is shown too. We usually seek/check with the ID.
The kernel and its modules can be signed. The unsigned cannot load, if the Secure Boot is enabled in EFI.
The kernel-ml is not signed. You could not boot it at all with Secure Boot is enabled.
Look at dnf list kernel\*
. Aren’t there ‘-modules-extras’ in addition to ' -modules’?
Not sure whether the extras actually help, but if they are not installed now …
efdevse
February 25, 2023, 10:45pm
5
Guess I never had to deal with that since there’s no UEFI on this old laptop - it’s just an old normal GPT/LegacyBios setup.
Glad you got most of the msgs out.
efdevse
February 25, 2023, 11:02pm
6
If it’s to any help - this is what I have:
# slightly modified/cleaned up output
# only last kernel of each listed (instead of 2 of each)
$ dnf list installed kernel*
Installed Packages
kernel.x86_64 4.18.0-425.13.1.el8_7 @baseos
kernel-core.x86_64 4.18.0-425.13.1.el8_7 @baseos
kernel-devel.x86_64 4.18.0-425.13.1.el8_7 @baseos
kernel-headers.x86_64 4.18.0-425.13.1.el8_7 @baseos
kernel-ml.x86_64 6.2.0-1.el8.elrepo @elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-core.x86_64 6.2.0-1.el8.elrepo @elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-modules.x86_64 6.2.0-1.el8.elrepo @elrepo-kernel
kernel-modules.x86_64 4.18.0-425.13.1.el8_7 @baseos
kernel-modules-extra.x86_64 4.18.0-425.13.1.el8_7 @baseos
kernel-tools.x86_64 4.18.0-425.13.1.el8_7 @baseos
kernel-tools-libs.x86_64 4.18.0-425.13.1.el8_7 @baseos
toracat
February 26, 2023, 12:41am
7
@B3rtm3n
I have yet to see the output @jlehtone asked for. Run ‘lspci -nn’ so we can see the Device ID in the form of [xxxx:yyyy].
B3rtm3n
February 26, 2023, 9:02am
8
Ok thanks for all the help.
Here is the output.
lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub [8086:27a0] (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a2] (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 01)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 [8086:27d2] (rev 01)
[user@localhost ~]$ lspci -nn
\00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub [8086:27a0] (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a2] (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 01)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 [8086:27d2] (rev 01)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 3 [8086:27d4] (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:27c8] (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:27c9] (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:27ca] (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:27cb] (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:27cc] (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:27b9] (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) SATA Controller [IDE mode] [8086:27c4] (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SMBus Controller [8086:27da] (rev 01)
03:01.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ601/6912/711E0 CardBus/SmartCardBus Controller [1217:6972] (rev 40)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries NetXtreme BCM5752 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express [14e4:1600] (rev 02)
0c:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4311 802.11a/b/g [14e4:4312] (rev 01)
Wired NIC: 14e4:1600
WiFi NIC: 14e4:4312
I don’t see 14E4:4312 listed in ELRepo | DeviceIDs nor with modprobe -c
in el7, el8, or el9.
The ‘wl’ could be the driver: Broadcom Limited BCM4311 802.11a/b/g
@toracat can tell more.
efdevse
February 26, 2023, 9:27am
10
Ethrnet: pci 14E4:1600 kmod-tg3
= kmod-tg3
Wi-Fi: cannot find 14e4:4312
in the DeviceIDs list.
There’s a broadcom-wl
in rpmfusion-nonfree-updates, that seem to have the BCM4312-
. I don’t know if that’s the one you need.
broadcom-wl.noarch 6.30.223.271-21.el8 rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
B3rtm3n
February 26, 2023, 10:40am
11
Yes I already tried
sudo dnf install broadcom-wl
But for some reason it did not work.
There is also kmod-wl which I tried too.
sudo dnf install kmod-wl
It states however:
Please note: The current Broadcom closed-source Linux drivers when built according to the instructions provided here have provided functional wireless capability to some users, but have failed for other users.
I do not know what the problem is, for some it seems to work, for others not.
toracat
February 26, 2023, 5:01pm
12
When you said “did not work”, did you mean the “yum install” command did not work? If so, did you enable the rpmfusion-nonfree repo?
B3rtm3n
February 27, 2023, 8:16am
13
I have this repo enabled.
The command works, it also pulls in other dependencies.
I removed it, reinstalled.
No wifi.
I tried it out on another identical laptop.
Same problem. I can install the driver but no wifi.
Broadcom really is a pain for many Linux distributions.
I ordered another wifi card Intel based for less than 5 EUR for this laptop.
I hope the Bios accepts it and the drivers will be working.
I do not know what else to do.
Thanks for the help anyway.