Lenovo Z560 - Broadcom Driver BCMWL664 advice

[JPS]

hi guys,

first post on the forums and I'm looking to dual boot my laptop. Im looking for a UNIX or LINUX based OS to work from with a wireless driver that works... Ive read the link about Broadcom on the FreeBSD forums:

http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=2477&highlight=Broadcom+802.11n&page=11

I've trolled the forums and net in general but came up with nada for my wireless card...

Broadcom 802.11n BCMWL664

QUESTION: Should I go with an OS like Ubunto or Suse...? I'd prefer FreeBSD as I plan on going back to school with a BS focus on Net Sec. I was using Red Hat 7 years ago before I was diagnosed with a tumor but even back then FreeBSD was fairly complicated too me.

In the end I'd be looking for an OS that supports the above wireless card for net access for penetration testing, securing ports, honey pots, to use in conjunction with my desktops, something I can write code on, etc...

 

[kpedersen]

JPS,

Your ideapad sounds quite new so some of the components might not be compatible but I would generally suggest giving it a shot anyway.

http://www.freebsd.org/releases/8.2R/relnotes-detailed.html

Doesn't say anything about your exact wifi card version but lists a bunch of broadcom drivers that *could* work with it.

# kldload if_bge
# kldload if_bwi
# kldload if_bwn

So I would suggest kldloading them all, and see if any of them brings up some text in the dmesg (which normally means they are working).

If none of them work, just use a compatible usb device. It would be a shame to pick Ubuntu over FreeBSD just because of a wireless device.

However... the biggist issue you may run into is that your gfx card (intel?) might not be supported by FreeBSD since it could be one of the newer ones that require GEM/KMS to work (don't know too much about this). This means you will have to make do with the vesa driver which could be a pain if you have a widescreen resolution screen (which I think the Z-series thinkpads usually have).

 

[JPS]

Thanks for the reply. See below for future reference.

"Broadcom Wireless Drivers”

This package contains Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA wireless driverfor use with Broadcom's BCM4311-, BCM4312-, BCM4313-, BCM4321-,BCM4322-, BCM43224-, and BCM43225-, BCM43227- and BCM43228-basedhardware"


"Nvidia GeForce 310M"

The below info was copied and pasted from a prior post...

Hello,

I updated the ports collection (ports-all).
I updated the source system (sys-all).

I installed the drivers for the video card:

# echo 'nvidia_load="YES"' >> /boot/loader.conf
# echo 'nvidia_load="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# cd /usr/ports/x11/nvidia-driver/
# make && make install clean

# cd /usr/ports/x11/nvidia-settings/
# make && make install clean

# cd /usr/ports/x11/nvidia-xconfig/
# make && make install clean

# nvidia-xconfig
...
New X configuration file written to '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'
-> All Ok.


# cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
...
Section "Device"
...
    Indentifier        "Card0"
    Driver             "nvidia" # << All OK.
    VendorName         "nVidia Corporation"
    BoardName          "GT218 [GeForce 310M]"
...

# reboot now

Also had another setting:

# cd /usr/ports/x11/nvidia-settings/
# nvidia-settings

The video card is configured. But I have stopped running some programs, such as Game/Chess. Prior to this run Chess.

Just do not start:
Cruet stand
Turn off the lights
Swell Foop

I have little interest in the game (not including Battlefield Bad Company 2) - but it can talk about wrong video card settings.

So with that being said...

I might be able to use the wireless driver with this laptop. I think I remember seeing one of the above drivers on another post. Ill have to check to be for certain.

As for the graphics driver... Yes, it's a newer laptop with a newer chip. It's a Nvidia 310m. I copied the above INFO about the g-card from a post last month.

The screen Res is standard. 15.6-inch display with a 1366 x 768 res.

The biggest issue would be not being able to boot up if I tried to install FreeBSD. I installed Ubunto (traitor, I know...!) so at this point IM dual booting windows 7 and Ubunto. It seems the wireless card and graphics card will work on other laptops so... question is will FreeBSD work in conjunction with Window7 and Grub...? Ive got Windows7 before Ubunto and would put BSD after that; once stable then I'd remove Ubunto. Unfortunately the laptop did not come with an install disk though I have made a back copy of the system on disk(s).