[CentOS] How to remove the wrong wireless firmware module

Fri Jun 5 00:17:28 UTC 2009
David McGuffey <davidmcguffey at verizon.net>

> 
> 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.
> 

lspci shows:

[root at ErichLaptop ~]# /sbin/lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory
Controller Hub (rev 0c)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI
Express Root Port (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI
Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio
Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express
Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express
Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express
Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express
Port 6 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI
Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface
Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E)
IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E)
SATA IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller
(rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Quadro NVS 140M
(rev a1)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5755M
Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 02)
0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g
(rev 01)

uname -a shows:

[root at ErichLaptop ~]# uname -a
Linux ErichLaptop.mcguffeyfamily.net 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5 #1 SMP Thu May
7 10:39:21 EDT 2009 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

Based on this, I know I have a Broadcom NetXtreme ethernet adapter (eth0
in my case) and a Broadcom BCM4312 wireless adapter (eth1 in my case).

modprobe -l shows a b43 module.  But obviously it isn't sufficient for
the BCM4312.

eth0 works well (although DNS dies on a regular basis, for which there
are a lot of heated discussions about NetworkManager and dns on the
various linux sites). eth1 is not found and when I right-click on the
NetworkManager icon on the top right corner of the screen, it shows a
wireless in a grayed out text.  When I go to
System>Administration>Network, I cannot enable the wireless (eth1)
device.  It tries and then after trying to find an IP, it fails.