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/|http://linuxwireless.sipsolutions.net/en/users/Drivers/b43/]] **b43** and **b43legacy** are wireless drivers for Broadcom [[en/developers/Documentation/Glossary#softmac|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 [[en/developers/Documentation/Glossary#fullmac|FullMAC]] devices support see [[en/users/Drivers/brcm80211|brcmfmac]] and [[en/users/Drivers/rndis_wlan|rndis_wlan]] ===== Known problems & limitations ===== * Some stalls (on G-PHY only?) possibly related to CCK vs. OFDM, see [[https://lists.openwrt.org/pipermail/openwrt-devel/2012-August/016432.html|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 ([[https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/commit/?h=linux-3.15.y&id=6f3f164bd0efe9a090cd74e08d6195c95024a1d1|6f3f164]]) and 3.16-rc3 ([[http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=2fc68eb122c7ea6cd5be1fe7d6650c0beb2f4f40|2fc68eb]]). * Scanning/connectivity problems: caused by **b43** bug exposed with kernel 3.8 (by [[http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=0172bb75073e11a5aa9d8a953bdaefb8709f00c8|0172bb7]]). Fixed in kernel 3.14 (by [[http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=64e5acb09ca6b50c97299cff9ef51299470b29f2|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? | ? | ? | | ===== Contact ===== * For instant contact you can try #bcm-users channel in IRC freenode network. Please note the limited activity and that you may need to wait for an answer. * As a more reliable way you can use [[http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/b43-dev|b43-dev mailing list]]. In case of any problem, please start with providing hardware model (including ID) and description of the issue.