18/07/2009

Trying to achieve a more stable hybrid (broadcom-wl) kernel module for broadcom 4328

On my Macbook (4,1) I am currently using Debian with kernel 2.6.30-1-686-bigmem. This Macbook has Broadcom 4328 wireless chipset installed (02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03)) and unfortunately the necessary kernel module provided by Broadcom is pretty unstable. Or very unstable. Oh well…it’s totally unstable.

I had random freezes, usually when I first booted and tried to modprobe the module. After some searching around the net and a lot of experiments I’ve managed to create a kernel module that looks quite stable. At least I stopped getting any more lockups and freezes…To reproduce the module with the patches I’ve used follow the directions bellow step by step.

Find your kernel version:
mybox:~# uname -r
2.6.30-1-686-bigmem

Install kernel header files related to the kernel version you found (on the above example it is: 2.6.30-1-686-bigmem):
mybox:~# aptitude install linux-headers-2.6.30-1-686-bigmem

Remember to replace the version (2.6.30-1-6-bigmem) with the output of your mybox:~# uname -r

Create necessary dirs:
mybox:~# mkdir hybrid_wl
mybox:~# cd hybrid_wl

Download Linux drivers package from Broadcom:
802.11 Linux STA 32-bit Driver
(Driver info site: 802.11 Linux STA driver)
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# wget http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9.tar.gz

Download a few more patches from Archlinux and Gentoo:
hidden-essid patch
2.6.30 patch 1
2.6.30 patch 2
hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9-convert_to_net_device_ops.diff
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# wget http://aur.archlinux.org/packages/broadcom-wl/broadcom-wl/hidden-essid.patch
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# wget http://aur.archlinux.org/packages/broadcom-wl/broadcom-wl/broadcom-sta-5.10.91.9-linux-2.6.30.patch
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# wget http://aur.archlinux.org/packages/broadcom-wl/broadcom-wl/broadcom-sta-5.10.91.9-linux-2.6.30-2.patch
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# wget -O hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9-convert_to_net_device_ops.diff http://bugs.gentoo.org/attachment.cgi?id=195182

Extract package:
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# tar -xzf /path/to/hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9.tar.gz

Start Patching:
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# sed -i hidden-essid.patch -e 's|5.10.79.10|src/wl/sys|g'
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# patch -p0 < hidden-essid.patch
patching file src/wl/sys/wl_iw.c
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# sed -i broadcom-sta-5.10.91.9-linux-2.6.30.patch -e 's|hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9.orig/||g'
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# sed -i broadcom-sta-5.10.91.9-linux-2.6.30.patch -e 's|hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9/||g'
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# patch -p0 <broadcom-sta-5.10.91.9-linux-2.6.30.patch
patching file src/wl/sys/wl_iw.c
Hunk #1 succeeded at 611 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #2 succeeded at 640 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #3 succeeded at 1119 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #4 succeeded at 1147 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #5 succeeded at 1807 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #6 succeeded at 1942 (offset 1 line).
patching file src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c
patching file src/wl/sys/wl_linux.h
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# patch -p0 < broadcom-sta-5.10.91.9-linux-2.6.30-2.patch
patching file src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# sed -i hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9-convert_to_net_device_ops.diff -e 's|a/src/|src/|g'
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# sed -i hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9-convert_to_net_device_ops.diff -e 's|b/src/|src/|g'
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# patch -p0 < hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9-convert_to_net_device_ops.diff
patching file src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c
Hunk #1 succeeded at 225 (offset 6 lines).
patching file src/wl/sys/wl_iw.c

Compile the kernel module:
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# make -C /lib/modules/2.6.30-1-686-bigmem/build M=`pwd` clean
make: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.30-1-686-bigmem'
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.30-1-686-bigmem'
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# make -C /lib/modules/2.6.30-1-686-bigmem/build M=`pwd`
make: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.30-1-686-bigmem'
LD /root/hybrid_wl/built-in.o
CC [M] /root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_linux.o
CC [M] /root/hybrid_wl/src/wl/sys/wl_iw.o
CC [M] /root/hybrid_wl/src/shared/linux_osl.o
LD [M] /root/hybrid_wl/wl.o
Building modules, stage 2.
MODPOST 1 modules
WARNING: modpost: missing MODULE_LICENSE() in /root/hybrid_wl/wl.o
see include/linux/module.h for more information
CC /root/hybrid_wl/wl.mod.o
LD [M] /root/hybrid_wl/wl.ko
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.30-1-686-bigmem'

Install the new module:
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# cp wl.ko /lib/modules/2.6.30-1-686-bigmem/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# depmod
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# modprobe wl

Check if everything loads correctly:
mybox:~/hybrid_wl# dmesg |tail
[ 66.229797] lib80211: common routines for IEEE802.11 drivers
[ 66.229805] lib80211_crypt: registered algorithm 'NULL'
[ 66.301793] wl: module license 'unspecified' taints kernel.
[ 66.301802] Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
[ 66.305919] wl 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 66.305933] wl 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 66.406146] lib80211_crypt: registered algorithm 'TKIP'
[ 66.408646] eth1: Broadcom BCM4328 802.11 Wireless Controller 5.10.91.9
[ 76.524135] eth1: no IPv6 routers present

You can also chek the iwconfig output. Hopefully everything will be fine…
I hope this saves a few hours of searching and experimenting for some people…

References:
1) 802.11 Linux STA driver
2) AUR broadcom-wl 5.10.91.9-2
3) Gentoo Bug: 284450 (New ebuild: net/wireless/broadcom-sta)

* Filed by kargig at 00:22 under Linux
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* 9 Comments | 30,493 views

08/07/2009

Vodafone, Cosmote 3G on Linux (wvdial and umtsmon)

The following configs can be used when you have either Vodafone Mobile Internet or Cosmote Internet on the Go or both 3G USB sticks and you want to connect to the 3G Internet (in Greece) while using Linux. I’ll provide two ways to connect to 3G, the command line way using wvdial and the GUI way using umtsmon.

1) Using wvdial
Create /etc/wvdial.conf:

[Dialer Defaults]
New PPPD = yes
Dial Command = ATDT
Dial Attempts = 1
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Modem Type = Analog Modem
ISDN = 0
#commented out see the comments on the post.
#Baud = 460800
Username = user
Password = pass
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = AT&F E1 V1 X1 &D2 &C1 S
[Dialer cosmote]
Phone = *99#
Stupid Mode = 1
Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet"
[Dialer vodafone]
Phone = *99#
Stupid Mode = 1
Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet"
[Dialer vfPIN]
Init4 = AT+CPIN=1234
[Dialer cmPIN]
Init4 = AT+CPIN=5678

WARNING: You HAVE to change the PINs on the last part of the config

To connect to Cosmote, plug in the usb stick:

# wvdial cmPIN
# wvdial cosmote

To connect to Vodafone, plug in the usb stick:

# wvdial vfPIN
# wvdial vodafone

2) Using umtsmon
Connection->Manage Profiles and create the necessary profiles with settings that look like these:
umtsmon
Username and Password does not really matter. Enter something like User/Pass or Username/Password.

Both versions tested on Debian and Gentoo and they are working just fine.

If someone has the Wind ADSM settings please provide them as a comment so I can complete the post with all three Greek 3G providers.

References: List of AT commands

* Filed by kargig at 21:38 under Gentoo,Internet,Linux
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* 8 Comments | 24,621 views

02/07/2009

Using Firefox Password Exporter

I am using the Password Exporter addon for Firefox to sync my passwords between my various Firefox installations (2 OS on the laptop, 2 OS on the desktop and one for portable firefox on a usb stick). I am using it with version 3.0.X and 3.5 just fine.

I have created a shell script that finds the differences between two exported password files and creates a new xml with the differences of the two so that one can edit it and pick the ones he wants imported.
File: ff-password-sync.sh
To use it follow these two steps on each firefox installation:
Firefox->Tools->Add-ons->Password Exporter->Preferences->Export Passwords
Then use the script (you need bash and mktemp):
$ ./ff-password-sync.sh laptop-password-export-2009-07-01 dektop-password-export-2009-07-02
If it runs successfully you should have 2 files in your home dir:
ff-password-sync.diff: Contains the differences of the two files in diff format
ff-password-sync.xml: Contains the unique username password combinations that are missing
Edit ff-password-sync.xml to possibly remove entries you don’t want imported and then go to:
Firefox->Tools->Add-ons->Password Exporter->Preferences->Import Passwords
and load ff-password-sync.xml

If you engage in this process it’s almost certain that you will hit this bug:
“Can’t add a login with both a httpRealm and formSubmitURL.’ when calling method: [nsILoginManager::addLogin]”

The fix is provided by a user on his blog: Fix for Firefox’s Password Exporter Add-on

* Filed by kargig at 14:15 under Linux
Tags: , , ,
* 1 Comment | 10,148 views