How to install Broadcom 43xx wireless driver in linux
Broadcom is a real nag. I was in a rush and careless when I was buying laptop. If I remembered to ask, would never-ever bought any device with Broadcom wireless. But things usually don’t go smoothly in life. Especially if you DO NOT have wired ethernet nearby and wireless is all you get.
Following is tested on openSUSE 11.3, 11.4 RC, Mint 10 Julia, Ubuntu 10.x,Kubuntu 10.x and LMDE.
1. download the official driver for your device from official site. Names are usually “hybrid-portsrc_x86*****.tar.gz”.
2. unpack it (with command “tar xzvf hybrid[PRESS TAB]“), and KEEP THIS DIRECTORY IN BACKUP
3. compile it (with command “make”. Before you can do that, you need basic development package installed, and kernel headers/source)
4. now you need to be root and follow the commands:
cp wl.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r’/kernel/net/wireless
insmod wl.ko
depmod -a
modprobe wl
(if last command fails, try before it : modprobe lib80211)
that is it… you can use wireless immediately
On openSUSE, module will be loaded on boot. In Mint/Ubuntu/Kubuntu/LMDE I needed to add it manually in /etc/modules file
