First, enable the following options in the kernel, then build and install as normal. The deselected options are possible extras or alternatives, depending on your device. (The instructions below are for the traditional "b43" kernel driver. The kernel configuration for the new Broadcom "brcm80211" driver can be seenhere)
Linux Kernel Configuration:b43 / b43-legacy kernel options (2.6.25+) |
Bus options (PCI etc.) --> < > PCCard (PCMCIA/CardBus) support ---> [*] Networking support --> Wireless --> -*- Improved wireless configuration API -*- Wireless extensions <*> Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211) Device Drivers --> [*] Network device support --> Wireless LAN [*] Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11) <*> Broadcom 43xx wireless support (mac80211 stack) [ ] Broadcom 43xx PCMCIA device support [*] Broadcom 43xx debugging < > Broadcom 43xx-legacy wireless support (mac80211 stack) [ ] Broadcom 43xx-legacy debugging Broadcom 43xx-legacy data transfer mode (DMA + PIO) --->* [*] DMA Engine Support --> |
(*) Broadcom 43xx-legacy data transfer mode (DMA + PIO) kernel option reports that "not all devices of the b43legacy series support PIO. You should use PIO only if DMA does not work for you."
The following options may enable support for laptop LEDs.
Linux Kernel Configuration:Extra Options for Laptops (2.6.25+) |
[*] Networking support ---> Wireless ---> <*> Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211) [*] Enable LED triggers <*> RF switch subsystem support ---> <*> Input layer to RF switch connector Device Drivers ---> [*] LED Support ---> [*] LED Trigger support <*> LED Timer Trigger <*> LED Heartbeat Trigger <*> LED Default ON Trigger Input device support ---> -*- Generic input layer (needed for keyboard, mouse, ...) <*> Polled input device skeleton |
In addition to the kernel driver, you will need the firmware for your card.
You can install the firmware from portage tree without fwcutter:
For manual installation you will need a firmware cutter (which extracts the firmware and places it in/lib/firmware)
Install the firmware cutter with:Download the appropriate firmware file from thedocumentation site.
Now extract the firmware file (replacing the example used below with the version of firmware recommended by the b43 documentation):
then
Cut the firmware with:
The firmware is available insys-kernel/linux-firmware
If you opted to compile the driver as a module, it will be named eitherb43orb43legacydepending on which you chose.
or
For most users, installation should now be complete. Reboot and configure your wireless.
If you wantmonitor mode, you will need to patch the kernel driver. If you don't know what Monitor Mode means, you probably don't need it.
Generally, monitor mode is only needed for networking research and packet injection by aircrack-ng and similar tools.
You can find documentation on these patches on theaircrack-ng website. The patches themselves can be downloaded fromhttp://patches.aircrack-ng.org/
It is best to use the wireless testing kernel to patch against:
If the process above doesn't work, you can try to use the ndiswrapper drivers which are the drivers that came with your laptop or wireless card. If those fail, check for the latest version from the manufacturers website.
If you own a macbook (4th or 5th generation) try using the bootcamp winxp driver. It's located on the 1st install DVD and named "broadcomxpinstaller.exe", just unrar it.
Then just followNdiswrapper.
Broadcom has released it's own kerneldriver. It's closed source but works and seems to release "often" (at least 3 times between the summer of 2008 and the February 2009). However, there has been no new releases since December, 2010.
There is now an ebuild (net-wireless/broadcom-sta) for this binary Broadcom-provided kernel module. The ebuild also contains patches so that it will work on the latest kernel. Just accept the license (by adding "Broadcom" to ACCEPT_LICENSE in /etc/make.conf), and emerge as usual.
Since 5.100.82.111 broadcom-sta driver supportsmonitor mode. To enable it run
and to disable:
When monitor mode is enabled, prism0 network interface appears. This interface can be used by wireshark, airodump-ng, etc to scan wireless network traffic.