Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card for Dell Inspiron 1545: How to Drive It!

Thu Jun 19 14:49:52 UTC 2014

On 19.06.2014 16:27, Temlakos wrote:
> On 06/19/2014 10:19 AM, poma wrote:
>> On 19.06.2014 12:55, Temlakos wrote:
>>> On 06/18/2014 05:37 PM, poma wrote:
>>>> On 18.06.2014 22:42, Temlakos wrote:
>>>>> On 06/18/2014 04:37 PM, poma wrote:
>>>>>> On 18.06.2014 19:11, Temlakos wrote:
>>>>>>> On 06/18/2014 12:05 PM, poma wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 18.06.2014 17:13, Temlakos wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Everyone:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I have a three-year-old Dell Inspiron 1545. It came with the Dell
>>>>>>>>> Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The current output of lspci -k |grep -iA5 wire gives "Dell
>>>>>>>>> Wireless
>>>>>>>>> 1397
>>>>>>>>> WLAN Mini-Card" as a subsystem. The relevant kernel module is
>>>>>>>>> "ssb."
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> $ lspci -k |grep -iA5
>>>>>>>> Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILE]...
>>>>>>>> Try 'grep --help' for more information.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Currently this card will not connect. Nor can I force it to
>>>>>>>>> connect by
>>>>>>>>> directly editing the network interface. I've tried several times,
>>>>>>>>> but I
>>>>>>>>> can't get to a MAC address for it.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> What driver(s) or other kernel module(s) should I install, and
>>>>>>>>> where can
>>>>>>>>> I get them?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Broadcom has a 32-bit and a 64-bit tarball for what they say is a
>>>>>>>>> driver
>>>>>>>>> for this card. Should I install that on my system?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Please advise. It seems a shame to operate any laptop without
>>>>>>>>> wireless
>>>>>>>>> connectivity.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Temlakos
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The complete output of this command:
>>>>>>>> $ lspci -knn | grep -A100 Wireless
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> poma
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The output, after a couple of module installations, now reads:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card [1028:000c]
>>>>>>> Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
>>>>>>> Kernel modules: ssb, wl
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Still no wireless connection available on that laptop.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Temlakos
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Whence is "wl"?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> OK, to get to Vendor&Device ID, hit this command:
>>>>>> $ lspci -knn | grep -A10 BCM4312
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Output could look like this:
>>>>>> <bus>:<dev>.<func> Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation
>>>>>> BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
>>>>>>        Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card [1028:000c]
>>>>>>        Kernel driver in use: wl
>>>>>>        Kernel modules: wl, ssb
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "ssb" is a specific bus module, i.e. "Sonics Silicon Backplane
>>>>>> driver"
>>>>>> Your "BCM4312" is attached to it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> BTW do you have the firmware installed?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> poma
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Earlier I installed the broadcom-wl and kmod-wl packages.
>>>>>
>>>>> Output reads: 0c:00.0 Network controller [0280]: broadcom Corporation
>>>>> BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14d4:4315] (rev 01)
>>>>> Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
>>>>> Kernel modules: ssb, wl
>>>>>
>>>>> In that order.
>>>>>
>>>>> Temlakos
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So you are using the original Broadcom's module i.e. "wl",
>>>> http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php
>>>> i.e.
>>>> http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/updates/20/SRPMS/repoview/wl-kmod.html
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Is that right?
>>>>
>>>> However something there is not quite bright!
>>>> The device is advertised as "broadcom", but if you are looking at
>>>> hwdata databases i.e.
>>>> $ grep ^14e4 /usr/share/hwdata/pci.ids
>>>> 14e4  Broadcom Corporation
>>>> $ grep ^14d4 /usr/share/hwdata/pci.ids
>>>> 14d4  Panacom Technology Corp
>>>> "14d4" is not a Broadcom's vendor ID i.e. "14e4"
>>>>
>>>> If your device is advertised with "proper" vendor ID i.e. "14e4" it
>>>> "should" be supported by "b43" module,
>>>> http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43
>>>>
>>>> And even with that, you should install the firmware,
>>>> http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#Device_firmware_installation
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> $ man 1 b43-fwcutter
>>>> $ less /usr/share/doc/b43-fwcutter/README.too
>>>> http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43/developers
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps the only problem is "wrong" vendor ID, but to conclude that
>>>> you can play with the kernel's module source code or seek advice at
>>>> http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#Bug_reporting
>>>> &
>>>> http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html#linux-wireless
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> poma
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> I apologize. I made a typographical error. That top line should end in
>>> "[14e4:4315] (rev 01).
>>>
>>> I gather those commands give me a place to go to get the firmware and
>>> put it in. I never installed any firmware.
>>>
>>> By the way: the Dell Inspiron 1545 has a button with a picture of a
>>> wireless antenna tower on it. I assume that works in the Windows
>>> environment to turn wireless connectivity on and off. Does it work at
>>> all in the Linux environment? Or may I safely ignore it? (It also
>>> functions as "F2" if I strike the blue "Fn" key first.)
>>>
>>> Temlakos
>>>
>>
>> The explanation could be found in the user manual, right?
>> With a little salt and pepper. :)
>>
>> It should be a switch actually associated with a BIOS that manages the
>> connection and disconnection of wireless devices.
>> It can be called a "hardware" part of the story.
>> The other part of it is a "software" one, cause it can be managed in
>> that way.
>> When you combine these two i.e. hardware & software management,
>> problem arises.
>> You can read it yourself, all the logs related to the dell-laptop
>> rfkill interface,
>> https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/drivers/platform/x86/dell-laptop.c
>>
>>
>> What you can try is apply the parameter of module with the value
>> "enabled" adding it to the kernel command line:
>> "dell-laptop.force_rfkill=1"
>> If you ever need it.
>>
>> Did you understood all the steps necessary for working wifi?
>>
>>
>> poma
>>
>>
> Well, when I block out enough time to do the job, I will move in this
> order: seek out and download a firmware package, run the commands listed
> in the manual and at the other site, and make sure of the rfkill
> interface. And if I still cannot connect, you know I'll be back here.
>
> Thus far I've saved everything. I haven't had people answer me back so
> fast on a problem I ran into since I first signed on--thank you all. If
> this works, you'll have saved me about $500 US in getting another
> laptop. (Unless I can easily replace the hardware with something that
> obeys the open-hardware conventions of most wireless interfaces today.
> This is the only machine in which I even had to ask about wireless
> connectivity--I have a minitower with a wireless interface, that F20
> found right away, found the service set, and asked me for the WPA
> password. Why can't all wireless interfaces behave this way,
> straight-out-of-the-box? Oh, well.)
>
> Temlakos
>

Someone might ask the same question to you. :)
Here you are in the FOSS world.

poma