Wie ich bereits vor ein paar Tagen geschrieben hatte, befindet sich der Treiber allerdings schon seit Monaten in den Quellen von Intrepid und auch in den proposed-Quellen von Hardy. Das haben wir wohl der Firma Dell zu verdanken, die teilweise auch Ubuntu auf ihre Produkte aufspielt.

Warum kommt also Broadcom erst jetzt mit den Treibern heraus? Da fallen mir eigentlich nur zwei Gründe ein: Entweder wollten sie sicher gehen, dass ihre Treiber stabil laufen, was allerdings sehr unwahrscheinlich ist, wenn sie die Treiber schon länger an Hardware-Hersteller verteilen, oder, was mir plausibler erscheint, Broadcom wollte nicht, dass Dell die Lorbeeren für die Bereitstellung von Treibern für die Broadcom Produkte erntet und hat auf den letzten Drücker noch schnell eine Pressemeldung rausgehauen.

Sei's drum, nun laufen die Wlan-Chips endlich ohne ndiswrapper und evtl. helfen selbige auch den Reverse Engineers bei ihren Arbeiten an einem quelloffenen Treiber.

Ein kleiner Zusatz sei noch für diejenigen die den Treiber benutzen wollen angebracht:

Bevor der Treiber läuft müssen nicht nur die Module ssb b43 und b43legacy geblacklistet werden, sondern auch folgender Befehl ausgeführt werden, da sonst das ssb Modul trotzdem geladen wird:

sudo update-initramfs -u

Weiterführende Links: LP #263184, #227158; Pro-Linux

I'll tell you how I fixed the problem, but first, let me tell you what doesn't work for me about the new 1.5.3 version of wicd:

1. The gui is laggy.  When you open it, it takes a while before any of the options will respond, and even when they do, they sometimes take awhile to start working.
2. I have a broadcom card (a source of woe within itself -- curse all those companies that refuse play nice with the open source community) and the new version of wicd didn't give an option to use the broadcom wpa supplicant driver.
3. The install moves files around.  You will get a few notifications after the upgrade telling you that things moved around, but being a total n00b, I didn't appreciate the gravity of this would bork the program.

So after much googling, I eventually found out how to fix my problem.  To be specific, I figured out how to unstall version 1.5.3 and reinstall version 1.4.2.  Let somebody else beta test their bugs, I need my wireless to work.  This thread on the Ubuntu forums provided the answer.  Here are the steps I followed to restore my wireless and my sanity:

• Delete /var/lib/dpkg/info/wicd.prerm by entering the following in a terminal (found under Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal):

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/wicd.prerm

• Purge the borked version by entering the following in the terminal:

sudo aptitude purge wicd

• Download the deb package with the 1.4.2 version of wicd from this post in the thread.  Note that you will have to register on the forum in order to be able to download the package.
• Install the 1.4.2 version by opening Thunar and exploring to where you downloaded the deb package.  Simply double-click it, and it the gdebi program will open and let you install the package.
• Restart.

After I restared, my wireless just worked fine again.  I hope the same holds true for you.  Beware that the Update Manager will keep bugging you about the new version of wicd.  Fight the urge to give in.  And if anyone knows how to keep Update Manager from nagging you about the upgrade, please let me know.

Thanks to Noob on Xubuntu for the tip about installing a deb package from Thunar, to itsjareds for sharing version 1.4.2, to cutOff for posting the full instructions for restoring the old version. And finally, Thanks to diva_urd for expressing her indignation so well.

Tech leaders are obviously disappointed that the Senate and the House have not been able to resolve their differences in renewing the provision, though this is understandable given that asking for tax money at a time when a $700B financial bailout is being considered doesn't rank too high up the priority list. The tax relief provision is an important financial incentive, and provides tax breaks of up to 20% of R&D spending and is worth around $60B in total.

One issue from a stock perspective is that U.S. tech companies will likely have expected this measure to have passed by now - if lawmakers are chastising U.S. companies for increasingly looking overseas for R&D talent, then the fact that 21 OECD countries offered substantive R&D tax credits in 2008 could result in this trend accelerating going forward. For every quarter that the tax measure doesn't pass, short-term financial results could be impacted, especially for Tech companies which rely on R&D to maintain their competitive leads (e.g. Broadcom, Intel, Nvidia, Microsoft, Google). The big problem from an accounting perspective is that the financial landscape is very different than it was one year ago - a potential change in government and a looming financial crisis could add up to a reasonable expectation that this R&D tax credit doesn't come back any time soon, which would have a material impact on after-tax profitability and EPS for these companies. In the near-term, more lay-offs and shifting of resources of overseas is a very likely possibility.

In summary, a stalled R&D tax plan shouldn't have been delayed for so long, and should be re-instated in order to maintain the U.S.'s position as an important R&D center globally. However, given a wonky political climate where lawmakers have much bigger fish to fry, near-term clarity may be some time aways, which unfortunately for the Tech world, could have some negative consequences over the coming quarters.

First, was the key issue of moving virtual machines using VMware's VMotion administration tool between AMD and Intel servers. Unable to do so, companies will then have to decide very early on whether to choose between AMD or Intel hardware platforms.

"It's possible but under certain conditions [AMD promised to "get back to us" with more details. Comments Margareth?]. But there are also issues in moving virtual machines from Intel to Intel servers", said AMD’s server and workstation division general manager, Patrick Patla.

AMD's executive also confirmed that virtualization and virtualized I/O was the #1 driver for the company's push into the server chipset business. Effectively competing with partners like Broadcom or Nvidia that had so far supplied the chipsets for AMD's server processors.

"Virtualization is now in our DNA and when we do silicon design or we're thinking of enhancements we always think about what we can do for virtualization
... We need it [the chipset] to make sure that it's done right, that we bring the feature [virtualized I/O] to market when we think it needs to be there", explains Patla.

Nach einer frischen Installation von Ubuntu 8.04 wurde der Laptop erst einmal per Kabel internetfähig gemacht. Anschliessend habe ich ein Systemupdate gemacht und den Rechner neu gestartet.
Nach dem Neustart erschien im oberen Panel ein neues Icon und ich wurde daraufhingewiesen, dass ein proprietärer Treiber verwendet werde. Und tatsächlich erschien im Netzwerkfenster der Systemverwaltung eine Funkverbindung. Leider war es mir jedoch nicht möglich mich mit einem WLAN Netz zu verbinden.

Somit entschied ich mich, der oben erwähnten Anleitung eine Chance zu geben.

Zunächst sollte man in Erfahrung bringen, ob überhaupt die richtige WLAN-Karte im Notebook werkelt. Der folgende Befehl

lspci -nn | grep 14e4

brachte bei mir folgende Rückmeldung

0b:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] (rev 01)

Um eventuellen Konflikten vorzubeugen, entschloss ich mich den proprietären Treiber zu deaktivieren:

Im Systemverwaltungsmenü einfach Hardware-Treiber auswählen. Und dann im folgenden Fenster bei aktiviert den Haken entfernen:

Anschliessend den Rechner neu starten und mit folgenden Schritten fortfahren.

1. bcm43xx auf die Blacklist setzen:

echo blacklist bcm43xx | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

2. ndiswrapper installieren

sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 ndisgtk

3. Treiber runterladen

R174291.exe

4. Treiber entpacken

unzip R174291.exe

5. Ins Verzeichnis DRIVER_US wechseln und Treiber installieren

sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf

6. rc.local anpassen

gksudo gedit /etc/rc.local

7. Folgende Zeilen über der Zeile "exit 0" einfügen

modprobe -r b44
modprobe -r ssb
modprobe -r ndiswrapper
modprobe ndiswrapper
modprobe ssb
modprobe b44

8. Rechner neu starten
9. Jetzt sollte das WLAN funktionieren
10. Zur bequemeren oder tiefergehenden Konfiguration kann ich Wicd wärmstens empfehlen

Skyhook also has a deal with GPS chipmakers SiRF and CSR and even provided location through Wi-Fi on the first generation iPhone, which did not contain a GPS chip. Adding Wi-Fi to its chips gives Broadcom a backup option when GPS won't work. Satellite signals don't always penetrate buildings or urban areas, making it challenging to get an accurate location. Skyhook's Wi-Fi positioning technology uses a database of registered Wi-Fi networks to triangulate a person's position. Since Wi-Fi is often used indoors and in urban areas, the two technologies work well together.

With integrated Wi-Fi-location and GPS on a chip Broadcom can offer device makers better location detection. It also means any device wanting to take advantage of the hybrid technology will need a Wi-Fi chip, which Broadcom will happily sell. Consumers would benefit too as it could mean more Wi-Fi enabled phones.

It is very easy to download the required files to get the card working, but of course you will not be able to use your wireless card to do it. Connect to the internet with another network connection (eg a ethernet cable), then go to System -> Administration -> Synaptics Package Manager. Reload the package information. Search for and install b43-fwcutter. On install, check the box to download the required files. Close the package manager.

Now you can go to System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers and see if your driver is in use. You should then be able to right-click the network icon in the system tray to disable then re-enable wireless and hopefully then find your wireless network.

Oils from the glands combine with dead skin cells to block hair follicles. Under the blocked pore, oil builds up. Skin bacteria can then grow very quickly. This infection makes the skin become swollen and red, which becomes visible.

The face, chest, back, and upper arms are most common places for acne to happen.

Acne is common during puberty, when a person is turning from a child into an adult, because of high levels of hormones. Acne becomes less common as people reach adulthood.

Er funktioniert also tatsächlich mit meinem bcm4328 Chip, der bis dato nur über ndiswrapper lief.
Allerdings muss man bisher noch etwas Hand anlegen, denn das Modul verträgt sich wie auch ndiswrapper nicht mit dem Modul ssb. Um den Treiber zu nutzen, sollte man also folgenden Eintrag in der Datei /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist vornehmen:

blacklist ssb
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy

Um andere Konflikte im Vornherein auszuschließen, habe ich ebenfalls die Module b43 und b43legacy, die freien Treiberversionen für Broadcom Chips, geblacklistet.

Wer die Funktionalität nur testen will, der kann die Module händisch mittels rmmod entladen.
Dann sollte der Chip zumindest für 802.11b/g einwandfrei erkannt werden. Hier funktioniert sogar die WPA2-Verschlüsselung.

Was die Unterstützung durch den freien Treiber angeht, werde ich weiter aufmerksam bleiben. Wenigstens wurde der bcm4328 endlich aus der unsupported Kategorie entfernt, auch wenn er wegen seiner draft-n Unterstützung noch nicht supportet wird.

Biggest winners - Stewart Information Services (24.84%), Kodak (12.57%), Garmin (10.07%)

Biggest losers - Intermap (-16.96%), Oce (-11.50%), Microsoft (-8.91%)

News

Broadcom (-3.43%) - Downgraded by UBS.

GeoEye (-3.60%) - Resolved NASDAQ compliance issue.

Google (2.63%) - BMW Assist will have Google search and Google Maps capability.

Oracle (2.35%) - Oracle's fiscal first-quarter profit is up 28 percent.

Pitney Bowes (-3.06%) - MapInfo introduces MapXtreme 2008 .net platform.

SiRF (-7.07%) - Downgraded by UBS.

Тема это достаточно утомительная и трудоемкая, но вооружившись компилятором и желанием добраться до результата всетаки можно добиться сбоки GNU/Linux с рабочими драйверами для Broadcom.

Где-то около года назад я писал в журнале, что мне удалось подключить Broadcom к FreeBSD с использованием NDISWrapper оболочки, но сегодня этим уже наверное не удивить!

Итак приступим! Для начала Вам нужно выбрать какую версию ядра Вы собираетесь использовать? Консервативным пользователям Debian настроеными на высокую производительность компьютера и его стабильность живущим с ядром 2.6.18, пожалуй, достаточно будет выдрать из родных драйверов под MS-Windows прошивку для карты (при запуске устройство каждый раз требует загрузки прошивки). Положив получившиеся в результате работы bcm43xx-fwcutter файлы bcm84xx* в /lib/firmware можно смело делать ifconfig eth0 up и наприме глянуть чего рядом есть за WiFi командой iwlist. Вообщем-то в этом случае на этом настройка закончена.

Если же руки чешуться и талант эксперементатора не спит, то собирая версию ядра старше чем 2.6.24 где стек WIFI изменился с softmac (был помечен как deprecated) на какой-то новый mac80211, нужно будет не забыть что и драйвер нужен будет новый либо b43, либо b43-legacy. Отличие очень простое legacy версия это переходный вариант (мне не известно работает ли он вообще). А во всех более поздних версиях ядра разработчики призывают использовать b43. Что я собственно и успешно делаю!

Итак портачен почти целый день на изучение деклараций и пересборку ядра и выдиранию этого firmware. Дабы упростить сложную жизнь владельцев бюджетных ноутбуков от компании Dell в конце приведу очень полезную ссылку с порядком действий для выдирания прошивок.

Ссылка: http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

Biggest winners - SiRF (42.70%), GeoEye (18.14%), Pitney Bowes (3.87%)

Biggest losers - Deere (-8.25%), Trimble (-7.98%), Telvent (-7.46%)

News

Garmin (-5.29%) - Settles with Nuvio regarding the nuvifone name.  My opinion:  I don't think much of Nuvio.  No one with half a brain would think a nuvifone was from Nuvio, and if there was someone that stupid, the nuvifone would only make Nuvio look good.  I bet this whole nuvifone dispute got Nuvio more attention than they ever had before.

GeoEye (18.14%) - GeoEye-1 satellite launched successfully.

Kodak (-5.31%) - Citi Investment Research initiates coverage at Sell.

SiRF (42.70%), Broadcom (-5.44%) - Broadcom settlement rumor.

Other - DeLorme releases new version of XMap.

Hers the steps l took to get the broadcom bcm43xx wireless network card working under Fedora 9 (sulphur) on my HP dv6626us AMD Turion64 based laptop.

1)

[root@localhost ~]# yum install bcm43xx-fwcutter
Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit
Setting up Install Process
Parsing package install arguments
Package bcm43xx-fwcutter-006-4.fc9.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Nothing to do

2)

Download firmware

wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/source...80.53.0.tar.bz2

3)

[root@localhost steve]# cd broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0
[root@localhost broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0]# ls
kmod  libbcmcrypto.so  nas  WHERE_FROM  wl

4)

[root@localhost broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0]# cd kmod
[root@localhost kmod]# ls
wl_apsta_mimo.o  wl_apsta.o
[root@localhost kmod]# bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta.o
*** WARNING ***
This file contains new version4
firmware. v4 firmware is _not_ supported by
the driver in mainline kernels. For v4 firmware
you need latest bcm43xx development version
(wireless-dev kernel tree). If you don't know what
this warning is about, use a 3.xx.xx.xx driver version
instead to extract the firmware.

filename   :  wl_apsta.o
version    :  4.80.53.0
MD5        :  9207bc565c2fc9fa1591f6c7911d3fc0
microcodes :  4 5 11 13
pcms       :  4 5

... and so on..................
extracting bcm43xx_initval25.fw ...
[root@localhost kmod]#

Now , reboot your laptop

Biggest winners - GeoEye (5.95%), Deere (4.91%), Stewart Information Services (4.47%)

Biggest losers - Broadcom (-10.92%), SiRF (-7.96%), Google (-4.69%)

News

Broadcom (-10.92%) - Downgraded by Oppenheimer.

Garmin (-2.88%) - Purchases Portuguese distributor.  Introduces nuMaps Guarantee program for nuvi and zumo receivers.  New nuvi 2x5 series receivers to have handsfree calling and lifetime traffic data capability.  nuvi 7x5 series has Lane Assist and lifetime traffic.\

GeoEye (5.95%) - GeoEye-1 scheduled to launch September 4.  Subject to delisting from NASDAQ.

Google (-4.69%) - Google to be the sole mapping site to use imagery from GeoEye-1.  Imagery from Google Earth used to do research about cows.

Microsoft (-1.16%) - u-Blox 5 to be used in a USB GPS receiver bundled with MapPoint.  Imagery from UltraCam, used on Virtual Earth, will be for sale for offline usage.

SiRF (-7.96%) - Judge recommends banning the importation of some SiRF products due to the recent Broadcom patent decision.  SiRF appealing findings.

TimeWarner (3.02%) - MapQuest site updates.

In the short-term, there doesn't appear to be any upside from this deal, as it should be dilutive by around 3 cents in Q4/08, and things with the ATI DTV business don't change overnight. Sales cycles are determined at least a year in advance, and with increasing integration of components and TVs expected to "do more", more traction for Broadcom's DTV business as a result of this transaction may be more like 18 months off.

However, the long-term prospects for this move come at a perfect time for Broadcom, especially as Sony and Samsung look to integrate more functionality into their TVs. Already, Sony is pushing the Bravia link device which adds Internet connectivity to their televisions, and Samsung has announced that it is partnering with Yahoo to deliver Internet content directly to TVs. In other words, television makers are starting to push the envelope into content, delivering more on-demand content in addition to live broadcasted content (through initiatives like Tru2way from the cable industry). To me, this sounds like the consumer OEM makers are trying to replicate what the set top box makers (Thomson, Pace Micro, Motorola, Scientific Atlanta) and the gaming console makers (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PS3) are trying to do. Broadcom's ability to do video decoding, image scaling, and image quality improvements should be boosted by the addition of more than 500 ex-ATI engineers as well as their DTV patents.

We very well could see a lot of replication or overlap between what these boxes are trying to accomplish, which could be a goldmine for a chip maker like Broadcom. Why? The issue is that consumers will want this functionality essentially "for free", meaning that this will put pressure on the component makers to deliver "good enough" performance at the best cost. For Broadcom, supporting DTV makers is a full-time effort, and getting hundreds of experienced engineers from AMD/ATI at a firesale is a necessary move on their part.

On the whole, Broadcom has historically shown that one of its strengths is in integrating functionality from its multiple acquisitions to provide a very cost-competitive part as an industry moves to high-volume consumption. The rapid adoption of BlueTooth on mobile phones is a perfect example of this and helped drive Broadcom's quarterely revenue run rate above $1B. The next market inflection point could be in developing truly networked televisions that provide access to on-demand and broadcasted content, while allowing content owners to control how that content gets shuttled around the home and even between homes. With Broadcom having solid market share and capabilities within the mobile phone world, high speed networking (GigE interfaces and Wi-Fi), personal networking (BlueTooth), front end DTV demodulators (from ATI's DTV), integrated single chip DTV components (65nm SoC parts), and storage interfaces, Broadcom has all of the pieces of the puzzle that it can mix-and-match for demanding DTV clients... like Sony and Samsung.

The bottom line is that Broadcom gave up very little in order to gain a more significant piece of the STB and DTV markets, more human resources, and a better intellectual property base. From a strategic perspective, this is a logical move for the Irvine California giant, and does set up the company to be a leading player as DTV makers look to play a bigger role in the digital living room of the future. While the "smart TV" has been long on promise but has seen little interest from consumers, this time should be different as Sony and Samsung will at least be putting these some of these new capabilities into their televisions starting in 2009 and 2010.

AMD Sells Off Digital TV Chip Division; Broadcom buys it for $192.8 million in cash. (GigaOM)

Vudu Hires New CFO; former eBay finance exec Chris Watts joins the company amidst recent layoffs. (release)

Classics Still Can't Be Found Online; digital downloads favor newly released titles; films like The Godfather and Jaws can't be found legally online as rights are cleared and there's more money to be made from DVD sales. (Variety)

Brian Conley Released from Chinese Detention; citizen journalist and seven other Americans freed six days early and deported back to the U.S. (Next New Networks)

ABC News' Web Newscast Not Going Away; network will keep producing the the 15-minute news program with Charlie Gibson. (The Hollywood Reporter)

From Reuters:

AMD shares rose 4.5 percent after the news but Broadcom shares fell 3.5 percent after it said the deal would hurt earnings in the first year.

However, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Cody Acree applauded the agreement, saying it opens high-volume, high-growth consumer markets for Broadcom's TV chip unit.

"If Broadcom gets into a lower end DTV box, it allows them to target markets like China, India and Brazil," said Acree, adding that sales of cheaper televisions could be lifted by economic uncertainty among consumers.

After the deal, Broadcom would be selling chips for television sets with screens of up to 20 inches priced around $200 to $300. Broadcom, which makes chips for a range of consumer electronics including cell phones and set-top boxes, had previously focused on chips for more expensive TVs.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter and is forecast to cut Broadcom's full year 2009 net earnings per share by a range of 4 cents to 5 cents, including 2 cents of stock-based compensation, the company said. It expects the impact on earnings to lessen and "approach neutrality" by the fourth quarter of 2009.

Meanwhile, just a few miles up the road from AMD's Austin campus, Freescale may be entertaining buyers as well. An article in the Austin American Statesman gives substance to some rumors I'd heard about the wireless chip division being for sale and my general theory that Freescale needs to slim down. We knew the wireless division was in trouble, especially as Motorola, its largest customer (and former parent company) began buying its chips from Qualcomm and TI. Unfortunately for Freescale, most of its wireless technology wouldn't be that interesting to a big wireless chip firm because it would already have much of Freescale's know how. That makes a foreign buyer seeking bargain basement prices much more likely.

Here in Austin the news of cheap chip units for sale might be disappointing, but there's still plenty to cheer about. The city may have lost most of the fabrication plants that gave it the Silicon Hills nickname, (and may lose more depending on AMD's asset-light strategy), but it still is home to several important design efforts. IBM's cell processor was designed in Austin, as were aspects of Intel's Atom chip. ARM Holdings, Via Technologies and AMD all have design engineers here working on big projects.

Perhaps most enticingly, there are some interesting startups. Luxtera, a CMOS-based optical chip maker has the potential to achieve optical speeds between chips and on individual chips cheaper than current generation technology, and Black Sand Technology, which is designing a silicon-based power amplifier, are both in Austin. If its chips work, Black Sands could benefit greatly from California's recent ruling that gallium arsenide, a popular semiconductor compound used in most power amplifiers is a carcinogen.

Austin's Silicon Hills may be eroding, but for high-end jobs, the hills are still alive.

image of AMD's new Austin HQ under construction in Aug. 2007 from AMD

Biggest winners - Cobra (12.11%), Stewart Information Services (10.17%), Autodesk (8.82%)

Biggest losers - SiRF (-29.60%), Nokia (-5.91%), Oce (-5.78%)

News

Autodesk (8.82%) - Upgraded by Needham.

Boeing (-5.03%) - Awarded a Navy contract to develop High Integrity GPS concepts.

Broadcom (5.57%), SiRF (-29.60%) - Patent ruling against SiRF will not be reviewed.

Garmin (0.32%) - Supplying Garmin Mobile XT for Seamless Internet device.

General Dynamics (0.65%) - Downgraded by JP Morgan.

GeoEye (3.53%) - GeoEye-1 satellite to be launched September 4.  Coverage initiated by Collins Stewart.

Intermap (7.93%) - Second quarter earnings reported.

ITT (-1.44%) - Downgraded by JP Morgan.

Lockheed Martin (4.11%) - Awarded a $32M contract from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency for geospatial training.

SiRF (-29.60%) - Review of SiRF's troubles this year.

Yahoo (2.71%) - Flickr using OpenSteetMap data for Beijing to aid geotagging of photos.