Configuring the b43 driver for Broadcom based wireless controllers in Fedora 9

Bill Giannikos

This guide will help you configure the b43 and b43legacy driver for Broadcom based wireless controllers on Fedora 9.

The b43 and b43legacy drivers are still in a very early stage. It is possible that despite correctly configuring this driver that wireless will still not work for you. In this case you may like to consider using NDISwrapper. Check our guides for more details on NDISwrapper.

You should run a full update for your installation of Fedora to ensure you have all the latest packages installed.

Fedora 9 includes the b43 and b43legacy driver in the kernel. All you need to do is install the firmware required.

First we will need to work out which Broadcom controller we are using and which firmware to get.

Open up a terminal window and type in “lspci”. Look for a line which has 'Network controller' in it. You will likely have two of these lines, one is your wireless controller while the other is your wired controller. Make a note on which Broadcom controller you are using.

You will need to use the b43legacy driver and version 3 firmware for the 4301 and 4303 cards and for 4306 and 4309 cards with a MAC core revision of 4 or lower. All other cards use the version 4 firmware and b43 driver.

If you need to use the b43legacy driver follow these steps to install the required firmware.

1. Download this file

2. Load up a terminal window if you are in the graphic interface.

3. Switch to the root user by entering the command “su -” (without the quotes) and typing in your root password

4. We now need to use the b43-fwcutter tool. A standard Fedora installation already has this tool installed however if you don't have it type in the following:

yum install b43-fwcutter

5. Now run the following:

b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware /path/to/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o

Replace the “path/to” section with the path to the file you downloaded.

6. Now type in following following:

echo "modprobe b43legacy" >> /etc/rc.modules"
chmod 755 /etc/rc.modules"

7. Reboot your system and hopefully you will have functioning wireless.

If you need to use the b43 driver follow these steps to install the required firmware.

1. Download this file

2. Load up a terminal window if you are in the graphic interface.

3. Switch to the root user by entering the command “su -” (without the quotes) and typing in your root password

4. Extract the contents of the file you downloaded by typing the following:

tar -xjvf /path/to/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2

Replace the “path/to” section with the path to the file you downloaded.

5. We now need to use the b43-fwcutter tool. A standard Fedora installation already has this tool installed however if you don't have it type in the following:

yum install b43-fwcutter

6. Now run the following:

b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware kmod/wl_apsta.o

The above assumes you are in the directory that you extracted the downloaded file to.

7. Now type in following following:

echo "modprobe b43" >> /etc/rc.modules"
chmod 755 /etc/rc.modules"

8. Reboot your system and hopefully you will have functioning wireless.