[CentOS] CentOS 6, Broadcom, missing wlan0

Mon Sep 12 13:55:19 UTC 2011
Michael D. Berger <m_d_berger_1900 at yahoo.com>

This is a continuation of my previous thread:
   "Broadcom Wifi Problem"

Following a post from "James A. Peltier", who said:

   You can use the rpmforge version or compile it
   yourself.  I've used this one with success using the
   details described earlier.

   http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php


   I did however have to patch it with

   http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/5_100_82_38.patch

   the driver built and installed fine.  In fact, I'm using it
   on my laptop as we speak.

On my CentOS 6, with BCM4311 802.11b/g. I installed:

   hybrid-portsrc_x86_32-v5_100_82_38.tar.gz

With NetworkManager shut off, I see:

   #lsmod | grep "b43\|ssb\|wl"
   wl                   2635904  0
   lib80211                4858  1 wl

and I try to start with:

   ifup wlan0

I put debug in the script, following into nested scripts,
and see that it ultimately fails because:

   ip -o link

fails to return wlan0 . I rechecked the MAC address,
which is correct.  Also ifconfig and iwconfig do
not see wlan0 .

Also, the wlan0 light on the box doesn't turn from
red to green.  If, however, I reenable b43, the
light does turn green.  Also, on this dual boot box,
the WinXP partition runs WLAN0 with no problem.

Thanks for your suggestions.
Mike.