Ubuntu
linux-source-2.6.15 package

[dapper] g4-based Mac Mini's bcm43xx wireless fails to work

Bug #38109 reported by Michael R. Head
10
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
linux-source-2.6.15 (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

I've got a powerpc Mac Mini and the bcm43xx driver doesn't seem to work. I have obtained a copy of the necessary firmware, as far as I know, but I can't convince dhclient to obtain a DHCP address, and when I set a static address, I can't ping other addresses on the same subnet.

Oddly, network-manager can detect the networks in my area, but when I select my local (open) wireless, nm-applet spins until it obtains an address via autoconf. It also is unable to determine the link quality on the local networks (it finds the names, but the link quality bars go to 100%).

Here are the lspci lines:
0001:10:12.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Apple Computer Inc. AirPort Extreme
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 16, IRQ 52
        Memory at 80084000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
        Capabilities: <available only to root>

Revision history for this message
Michael R. Head (burner) wrote :

Gotta test against the -20 kernel tonight.

Revision history for this message
Michael R. Head (burner) wrote :

Still no luck with -20.

Revision history for this message
Michael R. Head (burner) wrote :

Somehow it's now somewhat working. I'm submitting this bug report comment via a the wireless connection.

I can now often get network-manager to get a proper IP address over DHCP (though sometimes it times out and gives me an autoip address).

One problem that remains is that it is still unable to measure signal strength, so when connected, nm-applet shows four blank bars even though I'm 10 feet from the transmitter.

Revision history for this message
Michael R. Head (burner) wrote :

Well, I just tried to use the wireless again after a couple weeks, and I can't get it to work anymore. I've tried cold booting and warm booting, but network-manager can't seem to get a dhcp address, it always goes to autoip.

Revision history for this message
Michael R. Head (burner) wrote :

With the -22 kernel package, it seems to work reliably now. Scanning works, but signal strength is still measured at 100% for all discovered channels. Of course, users still need to find the firmware somewhere on the web.

Revision history for this message
sam tygier (samtygier) wrote :

there are lots of threads in the forums about this driver. setting the rate to 11mb is a common solution. have you tried this?

Revision history for this message
sam tygier (samtygier) wrote :

oops failed to read the last message. looks like the original problem is fixed.

Changed in linux-source-2.6.15:
status: Unconfirmed → Fix Released
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