en:users:drivers:b43

For relicensing, the content of this page was removed.

The old website for now has a copy of the old content:

http://linuxwireless.sipsolutions.net/en/users/Drivers/b43/

b43 and b43legacy are wireless drivers for Broadcom SoftMAC chipsets. Kernel will automatically pick a proper module for you:

b43 for any new (supported) hardware

b43legacy for BCM4301 and early BCM4306 versions

Summary

You need to have firmware files (usually in /lib/firmware/ ) so b43(legacy) can upload them to the card and run properly.

For FullMAC devices support see brcmfmac and rndis_wlan

Known problems & limitations

Some stalls (on G-PHY only?) possibly related to CCK vs. OFDM, see WRT54g / b43 / mac802.11 BREAKTHROUGH

N-PHY: 5 GHz support requires kernel 3.17+

HT-PHY: no support for 5 GHz

No support for 802.11n features (HT, aggregation, 40 MHz width)

Resolved problems

G-PHY devices: not working with kernels 3.15 and 3.16-rc1 (a regression). This was fixed in 3.15.5 ( 6f3f164 ) and 3.16-rc3 ( 2fc68eb ).

b43 bug exposed with kernel 3.8 (by Scanning/connectivity problems: caused bybug exposed with kernel 3.8 (by 0172bb7 ). Fixed in kernel 3.14 (by 64e5acb ) and backported to 3.13.2, 3.12.10, 3.10.29.

List of hardware

To check for a present hardware model execute following command: lspci -nn -d 14e4: If the chipset isn't listed, check if it's connected via SSB (Sonics Silicon Backplane). Such connected chipsets only become visible after the ssb kernel module has been loaded. Please look carefully at device ID and chipset name. PCI-ID Supported? Chip ID Modes PHY version Alternative 14e4:0576 not tested BCM43224 a/b/g/n ? brcm80211 14e4:4301 yes (b43legacy) BCM4301 b B 14e4:4306 yes (b43legacy) BCM4306/2 b/g G 14e4:4307 yes BCM4306/3 b/g G 14e4:4311 yes BCM4311 b/g G wl 14e4:4312 yes BCM4311 a/b/g G (r8) wl 14e4:4313 not tested BCM4311 a ? wl no BCM4313 b/g/n LCN (r1) brcm80211 14e4:4315 yes BCM4312 b/g LP (r1) wl 14e4:4318 yes BCM4318 b/g G (r7) 14e4:4319 yes BCM4318 a/b/g G 14e4:4320 yes (b43legacy) BCM4306/2 b/g G (r1) yes BCM4306/3 ? G (r2) 14e4:4321 partially BCM4321 ? N (r2) 14e4:4322 yes (3.18+) BCM4322 b/g/n N (r4) 14e4:4324 yes (b43legacy) BCM4306 a/b/g G (r1) yes BCM4306/3 a/b/g G (r5) 14e4:4325 yes (b43legacy) BCM4306/2 b/g G (r1) 14e4:4328 partially BCM4321 a/b/g/n N (r2) wl 14e4:4329 partially BCM4321 b/g/n N (r1) wl 14e4:432a not tested BCM4321 a/n N wl 14e4:432b partially BCM4322 a/b/g/n N (r4) wl 14e4:432c yes BCM4322 b/g/n N wl 14e4:432d not tested BCM4322 a/n N wl 14e4:4331 yes (3.2-rc3+) BCM4331 a/b/g/n HT (r1) wl 14e4:4350 yes (3.8+) BCM43222 a/b/g/n N (r6) 14e4:4353 yes (3.1+) BCM43224 a/b/g/n N (r6) wl/brcm80211 14e4:4357 yes (3.1+) BCM43225 b/g/n N (r6) wl/brcm80211 14e4:4358 yes (3.17+) BCM43227 b/g/n N (r16) wl 14e4:4359 yes (3.17+) BCM43228 a/b/g/n N (r16) wl 14e4:4360 no BCM4360 ? AC (r1) 14e4:4365 no BCM43142 b/g/n LCN40 (r3) wl 14e4:43a0 no BCM4360 a/b/g/n/ac AC? wl no BCM4352 a/b/g/n/ac ? wl 14e4:43a9 yes (3.17+) BCM43217 b/g/n N (r17) 14e4:43aa yes (3.17+) BCM43131 b/g/n N (r17) 14e4:43b1 no BCM4352 a/b/g/n/ac AC (r3) 14e4:4727 no BCM4313 b/g/n LCN (r1) wl/brcm80211 14e4:a8d6 not tested BCM43222 ? N (6) 14e4:a8d8 yes (3.6+) BCM43224 a/b/g/n N (r6) brcm80211 yes (3.6+) BCM43225 ? N (r6) brcm80211 14e4:a8db partially (3.18+) BCM43217 b/g/n N (r17) 14e4:a99d not tested BCM43421? ? ?