On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:04:49 -0400
scrat <[email protected]> wrote:

> I have completed a LFS-6.8 build and it actually boots and functions :)
> 
> I have it on a Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop which has a broadcomm b44 
> ethernet adapter and a B43 wireless adapter.
> I used to run Arch linux on this laptop with the wireless fully 
> usable/functional.

Good. Well done. When I first bought this Dell netbook it had a
broadcom b43 wireless card. I could only get it to work with the closed
source broadcom drivers. It made recompiling the kernel a total pain.
In the end I gave up on it and spent £15 on an atheros card. Atheros
have good open source drivers that are in the kernel.

> I have the B44 ethernet working and would like to get the wireless 
> functional.

If it works with Arch it will work with LFS. Some of the B43 cards work
with the kernel drivers. Please forgive my rant above, I was unlucky.

> Does LFS-6.8 support wireless out of the box with just wireless_tools 
> and the firmware installed?

Err I don't know, I don't use the networking scripts from the LFS
bootscripts. I rolled my own scripts based on commands that worked.

> 
> Here is what I have so far
> 
> iwfconfig shows wlan0 is available
> 
> ip link shows
> 2: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAR,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state 
> DOWN qlen 1000
> 
> ip link set wlan0 up responds with
> [   24.321056] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 478.104 (2008-07-01 
> 00:50:23)
> ip link shows
> 2: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state 
> DOWN qlen 1000

That all looks good. I remember getting similar encouraging results
with my B43.

> iwlist wlan0 scan responds with
> wlan0 No scan results

That doesn't look good. It really was a horrible experience dealing
with that broadcrap...

> It looks like the wireless interface is still down
> 
> Is there something I am missing?

If I were you I would boot into your Arch system and work out what they
did at the kernel level to get the card working. If that doesn't work
and you're desperate, try the broadcrap sta driver
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php
but please don't.
I recommend spending a small amount on a suitable atheros card. Support
companies who work to get their code into the kernel!

What works for me is:

ip addr add 192.168.1.4 dev wlan0
ip link set wlan0 up
wpa_supplicant -B -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -iwlan0 -Dwext
ip route add 192.168.1.1 dev wlan0
ip route add default via 192.168.1.1 dev wlan0

ip is part of iproute installed in LFS. wpa_supplicant is needed to
access a secure access point http://hostap.epitest.fi/wpa_supplicant/
wpa_supplicant is an excellent tool. /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf just
holds the SSID and psk (pre-shared key) for the networks. Before I got
wpa/psk2 working I used iwconfig to associate with an unsecure access
point but I can't remember the details. The commands above uses static
addresses. If I was using someone else's router and they had dhcpd I
would use this:

wpa_supplicant -B -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -iwlan0 -Dwext
sleep 2
dhcpcd

Static routes make it easier to navigate my home network.

But those scripts are no use to you if iwlist wlan0 scan sees no access
points. That suggests a problem with the B43 driver. Good luck with
that. :/ But keep going, it's not too hard to get it all working.

Andy
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