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I have an old laptop with only a WiFi card for internet access. I've installed lubuntu server since it would fit on a CD (no DVD). It didn't recognize my Linksys WPC54Gv3 adapter, so I downloaded the bcm43xx-fwcutter_005-2_i386.deb on another machine and copied it over on a thumb drive.

When I try to install the package (dpkg -i ...), it tries to download wl_apsta.o, which it of course can't. I've downloaded, this file, but can't figure out how to make the install it use the local file, rather than go to the network for it.

I've found some pages that make it look like you install b43-fwcutter, then use it to install the .0 file, but I can't seem to do it in two steps.

GAD3R
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RyanN
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  • Would it be an option to purchase a supported USB-Ethernet dongle or Wifi-dongle to get internet access while you do this work? Then when the driver is up and running you can remove the dongle again. – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Oct 01 '16 at 07:31
  • So, I did manage to find an old PCMCIA ethernet card and get online. When I try to install the package (bcm43xx-fwcutter), it fails because the installer is trying to download the required .o file from a non-existent web address (http://boredklink.googlepages.com/wl_apsta.o). I think this has now evolved into a bug in the Debian package. Not sure how to report this. – RyanN Oct 01 '16 at 15:45
  • Got WiFi working by plugging in to Ethernet and running: sudo apt-get download firmware-b43-installer, then sudo dpkg -i firmware-b43-installer*.deb This all has to be done connected to internet, because package downloads more stuff. – RyanN Oct 01 '16 at 19:31

3 Answers3

3

UPDATED

All updated content is bold.

I can provide you with a short outline for one possible solution (there are multiple ways of course as usual). As soon as I have more time I can give more detail for each step.

  1. Download the deb package
  2. extract the deb archive - ar vx bcm43xx-fwcutter_005-2_i386.deb
  3. extract the data.tar.gz and control.tar.gz
  4. in there modify the file usr/share/bcmxx-fwcutter/install_bcm43_firmware.sh
  5. Delete line 10 saying $DL http...
  6. Save the file and do md5sum usr/share/bcmxx-fwcutter/install_bcm43_firmware.sh
  7. Copy the generated checksum and paste it into the control/md5sums on line 2 (overwriting the prior checkum)
  8. save the modified md5sums file
  9. put wl_apsta.o into the /tmp directory
  10. package the data.tar.gz archive with the modified file
  11. package the control.tar.gz with the modified checksums file
  12. package the deb archive with the modified data and control archive (How to create debian file manually)
  13. Install the deb package

EDIT EXPLANATION

Forgot about the step to recreate the md5sum of the edited file and put the value into the control/md5sums.

Community
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Jan
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2

According to linux-wireless, you can install the b43 driver as follows:

Download the b43-fwcutter from here e,g (b43-fwcutter_019-3_i386.deb):

wget https://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/b/b43-fwcutter/b43-fwcutter_019-3_i386.deb

Then install it:

sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter_019-3_i386.deb

Download the broadcom-wl packge:

wget http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2

Install the driver:

export FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR="/lib/firmware"
sudo b43-fwcutter -w "$FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR" broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o

Unload driver:

modprobe -r b43 bcma wl brcmsmac

Load the right one (e,g): b43:

modprobe b43

Edit:

It is possible to install packages on your offline machine through Cube-server , it can be installed also on windows machine ( Online ) to download the needed package:

To install cube-server on your linux machine, you need to download zip file through the navigator or using wget:

wget https://launchpad.net/cube-server/trunk/0.1/+download/cube-server-installer-0.1.98_Linux64bit.zip

to install it run:

 unzip cube-server-installer-0.1.119_Linux64bit.zip
 ./cube-server-installer install

To launch it run: cube-server

Follow the 4 steps described here:

  1. Install and Run cube-server on Linux
  2. Install and run Cube Server on Windows
  3. Download repositories, upgrade outdated installed applications, and download new applications on Windows ( in your case download the broadcom-sta-dkms or the b43fwcutter , it depends on the model of your wifi-card )
  4. Install applications on Linux
GAD3R
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0

You can also use USB tethering. Connect your mobile to your wifi (or you can use mobile data). Now you can access internet on your system and easily install drivers.

Emulator
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