David McGuffey wrote:

How do I back out of these directions?

"yum install iwl4965-firmware

rmmod iwl4965; modprobe iwl4965

rmmod iwl4965 yum erase iwl4965-firmware

Your wireless device should be working now. Enable NetworkManager to use it. Starting from CentOS 5.3 (kernel 2.6.18-128) the kernel includes the iwlagn kernel module. If you are running an older kernel, please look at the ipw4965 method above. First download and install the firmware (see above), then just reload the iwlagn kernel module:

rmmod iwlagn; modprobe iwlagn"

I managed to grab the wrong set of firmware for my Dell Latitude D830. There was conflicting guidance on the Internet as to which device was installed...I've now found out that it is a Broadcom device. I need to remove the Intel firmware and install the Broadcom firmware.

No, not really. Firmwares are generaly installed to /etc/firmware and the correct firmware will automatically be loaded and used by the wireless driver, so it really doesn't matter if a bunch of other firmwares are present on your system or not.

But if you want to uninstall them, just use:

yum erase iwl4965-firmware

BTW, it appears that support for the Broadcom wireless device is not in the CentOS repositories. I think I 'm going to have to download the Broadcom files and "make" the firmware module. I'd like to avoid that...any guidance?

Please show us:

lspci

then:

lspci -n | grep '0X:0Y.Z'

where 0X:0Y.Z is the first column output for the Broadcom wireless device. Then we may be able to tell you if it's supported or not, and what driver to use.