Memory Upgrade Kills Broadcom Wireless

[jeffrey franc-law]

I have been running Suse 9.2 with the Linuxant Broadcom driver for the
past 2 years, with not difficulty. R3420ca, athlon 64.

Last week I upgraded my ram (replaced the "second" slot 256m with a 1gb)
to 1.2gb total. Now, when I turn the machine on the wireless will not
run.

Initially, when the boot advances to the network setup, the loopback and
eth0 are set up fine, then when the wlan0 appears, the computer either
freezes, or runs VERY slowly. If I press the wireless button, the
computer resumes.

Once the machine is booted, and I do the "iwlist scan", there is a
"failed to read data" message. I can go to the linuxant driver web
tool, and it states that the driver is loaded and working. twice I have
succeeded in getting the wireless running, by a random combination of
reinstalling the linuxant driver, pressing the switch on/off,
reinstalling using Yast, and rcnetwork restart. However, I cannot
replicate the sequence of events.

The wireless works fine under windows. When I put the original 256m RAM
stick back, the machine works fine, put the 1gb back, and it doesn't

Any thoughts?

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: jeffrey franc-law <***@voltarace.com>

| I have been running Suse 9.2 with the Linuxant Broadcom driver for the
| past 2 years, with not difficulty. R3420ca, athlon 64.
|
| Last week I upgraded my ram (replaced the "second" slot 256m with a 1gb)
| to 1.2gb total. Now, when I turn the machine on the wireless will not
| run.

The chip has some crazy limitation: it can only DMA into memory
addresses below 1G (or something like this). Not documented by
Broadcom, but what is?

This was discovered two years ago. I think that ndiswrapper,
linuxant, and the native driver all were adjusted to reflect this. So
I am surprised that you are observing it now. Maybe you are observing
something else.

Here is the start of a thread about the problem
http://lists.pcxperience.com/pipermail/linuxr3000/2005-March/005085.html

SuSE 9.2 came out just before this. Could your linuxant driver be
older than the fix?

| Jeffrey Michael Franc-Law, MD, CCFP.EM, D Sport Med, EMDM Candidate
| Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Alberta

Hello from Toronto!

[John Jason Jordan]

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 21:27:36 -0400 (EDT)

Post by D. Hugh Redelmeier
| I have been running Suse 9.2 with the Linuxant Broadcom driver for the
| past 2 years, with not difficulty. R3420ca, athlon 64.
|
| Last week I upgraded my ram (replaced the "second" slot 256m with a 1gb)
| to 1.2gb total. Now, when I turn the machine on the wireless will not
| run.
The chip has some crazy limitation: it can only DMA into memory
addresses below 1G (or something like this). Not documented by
Broadcom, but what is?
This was discovered two years ago. I think that ndiswrapper,
linuxant, and the native driver all were adjusted to reflect this. So
I am surprised that you are observing it now. Maybe you are observing
something else.
Here is the start of a thread about the problem
http://lists.pcxperience.com/pipermail/linuxr3000/2005-March/005085.html
SuSE 9.2 came out just before this. Could your linuxant driver be
older than the fix?

Omigod, I have the same computer and did the same thing with the RAM. My Broadcom 4306 is running just great with ndiswrapper.

However, I am an Ubuntuoid, not a SUSEoid. And I also note that SUSE 9.2 is getting kind of long in the tooth. On the other hand I upgraded to 1.25 GB RAM back in the days of Hoary (always amd64) and still never had a problem with the wireless chip. I always had to redo ndiswrapper after every dist-upgrade, but it always worked after reinstalling. I also note that I have never used the Linuxant driver.

Here is a post on an Ubuntu forum that I followed after upgrading to Edgy. Maybe it will help:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=340689&highlight=broadcom+4306

[jeffrey franc-law]

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[Prarit Bhargava]

Post by D. Hugh Redelmeier
The chip has some crazy limitation: it can only DMA into memory
addresses below 1G (or something like this). Not documented by
Broadcom, but what is?
This was discovered two years ago. I think that ndiswrapper,
linuxant, and the native driver all were adjusted to reflect this. So
I am surprised that you are observing it now. Maybe you are observing
something else.
Here is the start of a thread about the problem
http://lists.pcxperience.com/pipermail/linuxr3000/2005-March/005085.html
SuSE 9.2 came out just before this. Could your linuxant driver be
older than the fix?

Thanks. I followed the forum, and simply passed the "mem=1024M" to
grub. I am only using 1024 of the 1280m of ram, but I think i'll just
tough it out: wireless works fine.
Obviously, I need to upgrade from the rather old suse 9.2, however, I
am using a VERY expensive piece of simulation software, my licence has
run out, and I really don't want to pay to renew it, and I'm sure I'd
have to do so if I reinstall on a different machine.
Thanks for the help.
ciao,
jfl

Jeffrey,

I submitted fixes to BOTH linuxant & ndiswrapper for this issue. Could
you send me the version info of ndiswrapper and/or linuxant that you're
using?

The mini-FAQ below has the specific versions that are known to work. If
you're reluctant to upgrade to a new version of ndiswrapper or
linuxant, I can help you out with a patch :)

... Like D. Hugh, I'm Canadian as well -- although I'm living in Boston,
MA (and now have a Green Card). I used to live in Calgary...

P.


Broadcom Wireless & 64-bit Linux FAQ

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Broadcom & Linux
3.0 Why doesn't the Microsoft driver just work?
4.0 How was the Microsoft driver fixed?
5.0 What versions of ndiswrapper and linuxant work?
6.0 How do I install ndiswrapper/linuxant?

1.0 Introduction

I've noticed a few people here and there requesting information on how
to get the Broadcom Wireless card working with 64-bit Linux (x86_64).

This is a quick overview of how to do it.

2.0 Broadcom & Linux

For their own reasons, Broadcom does not support or release Linux drivers.

This has forced users to resort to two Microsoft driver wrapper programs
one of which is GPL, ndiswrapper, and one which is proprietary.

3.0 Why doesn't the Microsoft driver just work?

The Broadcom Wireless card is a 30-bit card, and only supports 1G
addressing. ndiswrapper and linuxant both assume 32-bit addressing
on the card which results in DMA access hangs when the card attempts
to DMA to an address above 1G. This bug typically manifests itself as
a system hang.

4.0 How was the Microsoft driver fixed?

It wasn't -- Microsoft isn't open source remember? In May 2005,
Prarit Bhargava presented patches to both ndiswrapper and linuxant
so that the Broadcom Wireless would work the 64-bit systems. The
patches involved setting the DMA mask to force the card to DMA within
1G of memory.

5.0 What versions of ndiswrapper and linuxant work?

The latest CVS pull of ndiswrapper and ndiswrapper 1.2 should work.
Earlier versions of ndiswrapper do not work.

linuxant's driverloader 2.28 should contain a proper fix for the issue
as well.

6.0 How do I install ndiswrapper/linuxant?

The details of ndiswrapper and linuxant installations can be found
at http://http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/ and http://www.ndiswrapper.com.

[jeffrey franc-law]

Post by Prarit Bhargava

Post by D. Hugh Redelmeier
The chip has some crazy limitation: it can only DMA into memory
addresses below 1G (or something like this). Not documented by
Broadcom, but what is?
This was discovered two years ago. I think that ndiswrapper,
linuxant, and the native driver all were adjusted to reflect this. So
I am surprised that you are observing it now. Maybe you are observing
something else.
Here is the start of a thread about the problem
http://lists.pcxperience.com/pipermail/linuxr3000/2005-March/005085.html
SuSE 9.2 came out just before this. Could your linuxant driver be
older than the fix?

Thanks. I followed the forum, and simply passed the "mem=1024M" to
grub. I am only using 1024 of the 1280m of ram, but I think i'll
just tough it out: wireless works fine.
Obviously, I need to upgrade from the rather old suse 9.2, however, I
am using a VERY expensive piece of simulation software, my licence
has run out, and I really don't want to pay to renew it, and I'm sure
I'd have to do so if I reinstall on a different machine.
Thanks for the help.
ciao,
jfl

Jeffrey,
I submitted fixes to BOTH linuxant & ndiswrapper for this issue.
Could you send me the version info of ndiswrapper and/or linuxant that
you're using?
The mini-FAQ below has the specific versions that are known to work.
If you're reluctant to upgrade to a new version of ndiswrapper or
linuxant, I can help you out with a patch :)
... Like D. Hugh, I'm Canadian as well -- although I'm living in
Boston, MA (and now have a Green Card). I used to live in Calgary...
P.
Broadcom Wireless & 64-bit Linux FAQ
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Broadcom & Linux
3.0 Why doesn't the Microsoft driver just work?
4.0 How was the Microsoft driver fixed?
5.0 What versions of ndiswrapper and linuxant work?
6.0 How do I install ndiswrapper/linuxant?
1.0 Introduction
I've noticed a few people here and there requesting information on how
to get the Broadcom Wireless card working with 64-bit Linux (x86_64).
This is a quick overview of how to do it.
2.0 Broadcom & Linux
For their own reasons, Broadcom does not support or release Linux drivers.
This has forced users to resort to two Microsoft driver wrapper programs
one of which is GPL, ndiswrapper, and one which is proprietary.
3.0 Why doesn't the Microsoft driver just work?
The Broadcom Wireless card is a 30-bit card, and only supports 1G
addressing. ndiswrapper and linuxant both assume 32-bit addressing
on the card which results in DMA access hangs when the card attempts
to DMA to an address above 1G. This bug typically manifests itself as
a system hang.
4.0 How was the Microsoft driver fixed?
It wasn't -- Microsoft isn't open source remember? In May 2005,
Prarit Bhargava presented patches to both ndiswrapper and linuxant
so that the Broadcom Wireless would work the 64-bit systems. The
patches involved setting the DMA mask to force the card to DMA within
1G of memory.
5.0 What versions of ndiswrapper and linuxant work?
The latest CVS pull of ndiswrapper and ndiswrapper 1.2 should work.
Earlier versions of ndiswrapper do not work.
linuxant's driverloader 2.28 should contain a proper fix for the issue
as well.
6.0 How do I install ndiswrapper/linuxant?
The details of ndiswrapper and linuxant installations can be found
at http://http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/ and
http://www.ndiswrapper.com.
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Apparently, I am using Linuxant V2.26. So, I assume, what you are
saying, is that if i upgrade to a more current version of Linuxant, then
this would fix the problem?

ciao,
jfl

[jeffrey franc-law]

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[Prarit Bhargava]

Post by jeffrey franc-law
Apparently, I am using Linuxant V2.26. So, I assume, what you are
saying, is that if i upgrade to a more current version of Linuxant, then
this would fix the problem?

Hi Jeffrey,

Yes it should.

P.

Post by jeffrey franc-law
ciao,
jfl