b43 is not working after installation without internet connection in jockey

You can also use b43-fwcutter to extract the firmware from a MacOS X CD/installation, or a Windows driver CD that comes with the hardware. But it remains a wizardry tasks, and a chicken-egg-problem if your only way to get online is the Wifi.

(Broadcom should just allow us to redistribute that silly firmware...)

I'll open a jockey task for it again. We could at least add a check for being online, or some additional instructions.

>Broadcom should just allow us to redistribute that silly firmware...

I don't think, that it is just problem of Broadcom. As I know, GPL is not allowing to distribute GPL code along with non-GPL-compatible code. Whole Ubuntu is derived work of its GPL-licensed parts, and if derived work is distributed, there should be available all its source codes under GPL.
I am not lawyer, but I know that from situation when Kororaa came with binary nvidia module on its LiveCD. There was big discussion about this, but result was, as I remeber, that the nvidia module is not distributed anymore on its LiveCD. On Ubunt LiveCD is also not included nvidia binary module, and should be downloaded (and the derived work is not distributed then).

The legal way, I see, is to make package (or something), with all problematic binary drivers and firmwares. This package could be placed on second CD or USB disc, allowing user to make everything working out of the box without Internet connection.

Petr Dlouhý [2008-04-18 10:09 -0000]:
> I am not lawyer, but I know that from situation when Kororaa came
> with binary nvidia module on its LiveCD. There was big discussion
> about this, but result was, as I remeber, that the nvidia module is
> not distributed anymore on its LiveCD.

That's actually not the problem. We just stopped doing this because
they take a lot of RAM (since we have to build them on the fly).

> The legal way, I see, is to make package (or something), with all
> problematic binary drivers and firmwares.

We already have that: linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24, and it's
distributed by default. Really, as soon as we get permission to
redistribute that firmware, we'll stick it into that package, and we
are done with it. </dream>

--
Martin Pitt | http://www.piware.de
Ubuntu Developer (www.ubuntu.com) | Debian Developer (www.debian.org)

Since Ubuntu already distributes the proprietary Broadcom wl driver on the CD, can't jockey or fwcutter use it to extract the firmware instead of trying to download it from the internet?

Przemysław Kulczycki [2009-10-28 21:26 -0000]:
> Since Ubuntu already distributes the proprietary Broadcom wl driver on
> the CD, can't jockey or fwcutter use it to extract the firmware instead
> of trying to download it from the internet?

Those are two totally different drivers, so I'm afraid that won't
work.

2009/10/29 Martin Pitt <email address hidden>:
> Przemysław Kulczycki [2009-10-28 21:26 -0000]:
>> Since Ubuntu already distributes the proprietary Broadcom wl driver on
>> the CD, can't jockey or fwcutter use it to extract the firmware instead
>> of trying to download it from the internet?
>
> Those are two totally different drivers, so I'm afraid that won't
> work.

Current fwcutter probably won't work, but if someone would modify it,
then maybe it could extract the firmware from the Ubuntu's wl driver.

--
## Przemysław Kulczycki >><< Azrael Nightwalker ##
# jabber: azrael[na]jabster.pl | tlen: azrael29a #
### www: http://reksio.ftj.agh.edu.pl/~azrael/ ###

Did anyone try to contact OpenWRT people regarding this issue?
How did they get the permission to distribute the driver?
And what are the license terms?
http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o
http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
There is no Readme or License.txt in these files.
Maybe Canonical could get a permission to redistribute the driver?
If OpenWRT can, what's stopping Ubuntu to do that to?

Also, can Jockey be modified so users could be asked for specifying a path to the firmware downloaded manually? (ie. user downloads firmware on Windows, puts it on a USB stick, boots to Ubuntu, runs Jockey, tries to activate b43 driver, Jockey asks for the location of firmware and invokes b43-fwcutter accordingly).

Bug #487393 has been filed about packaging openfwwf: reverse-engineered open firmware for broadcom wireless cards.

Bug #29566 in hw-detect is similar to this bug in Jockey. It's about the same issue in a text-mode install, AFAIU.

Broadcom b43 really does need an offine installer. Has anyone been able to put one of these together?

eol reached https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases