I have a new Asus WL500W with a fresh install of openwrt 8.09 brcm47xx.  Everything works great except wifi.  The home page mentions that the b43 drivers are not fully stable, but I was hoping to get it working with some help.  When I run a wifi up command I receive the following output:

 Configuration file: /var/run/hostapd-wlan0.conf
Failed to update rate sets in kernel module
Mode: IEEE 802.11g  Channel: 5  Frequency: 2432 MHz
Failed to set CTS protect in kernel driver
Failed to set Short Slot Time option in kernel driver
Could not set preamble for kernel driver
Using interface wlan0 with hwaddr 00:22:15:ea:b1:d1 and ssid 'OpenWrt'
Failed to set CTS protect in kernel driver
Failed to set Short Slot Time option in kernel driver
Could not set preamble for kernel driver

When I tail dmesg I see this:

br-lan: topology change detected, propagating
br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entering forwarding state
b43-phy0 debug: Set beacon interval to 100
b43-phy0 debug: Set beacon interval to 100
b43-phy0 debug: Updated beacon template at 0x68
b43-phy0 debug: Updated beacon template at 0x468
b43-phy0 debug: Updated beacon template at 0x468
b43-phy0 debug: Set beacon interval to 100
b43-phy0 debug: Updated beacon template at 0x68
b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to DISABLED

Below are my settings/configs:

uname -a
Linux OpenWrt 2.6.25.17 #3 Wed Feb 18 04:48:29 CST 2009 mips unknown

/etc/config/network

#### VLAN configuration 
config switch eth0
        option vlan0    "0 1 2 3 4 5u"


#### Loopback configuration
config interface loopback
        option ifname   "lo"
        option proto    static
        option ipaddr   127.0.0.1
        option netmask  255.0.0.0


#### LAN configuration
config interface lan
        option type     bridge
        option ifname   "eth0"
        option proto    static
        option ipaddr   192.168.1.1
        option netmask  255.255.255.0


#### WAN configuration
config interface        wan
        option ifname   "eth1"
        option proto    dhcp

/etc/config/wireless

config 'wifi-device' 'wlan0'
        option 'type' 'mac80211'
        option 'country' ''
        option 'hwmode' ''
        option 'channel' '05'
        option 'maxassoc' ''
        option 'distance' ''
        option 'diversity' ''
        option 'txantenna' ''
        option 'rxantenna' ''
        option 'disabled' '0'
        option 'antenna' ''

config 'wifi-iface'
        option 'device' 'wlan0'
        option 'network' 'lan'
        option 'mode' 'ap'
        option 'ssid' 'OpenWrt'
        option 'encryption' 'none'
        option 'bssid' ''
        option 'server' ''
        option 'port' ''
        option 'hidden' '0'
        option 'isolate' '0'
        option 'txpower' ''
        option 'bgscan' '0'
        option 'frag' ''
        option 'rts' '' 
        option 'wds' '0'
        option 'key1' ''
        option 'key2' ''
        option 'key3' ''
        option 'key4' ''
        option '80211h' ''
        option 'compression' ''
        option 'bursting' ''
        option 'ff' ''  
        option 'wmm' '' 
        option 'xr' ''  
        option 'ar' ''  
        option 'turbo' ''
        option 'macpolicy' 'none'
        option 'maclist' ''

/var/run/hostapd-wlan0.conf

ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd-wlan0
driver=nl80211
interface=wlan0
hw_mode=g
channel=05
bridge=br-lan
ssid=OpenWrt
debug=0
wpa=0
wpa_pairwise=TKIP

I've been trying to figure this out for two days with no luck.  If there are any logs or other configs that can help let me know and I'll post them right away.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Any chance anybody can help with this? I have an Asus WL-500W with the exact same problem. It works fine, but no wireless.

I also have a Asus-WL 500GP, I have no problems with the 8.09 RC1 on the 2.4 kernel.
I don't think that 2.6 kernel version works with wifi...

/Selepo

there is not working 802.11n for stock standard version, not sure if you can run it in g mode.

have a look here http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=18577, though you will have to change to a atheros card

WL-500W won't work with kmod-brcm-wl driver that is included with Kamikaze 8.09. It works fine with BRCM-2.4 and not BRCM47xx. you need to go to Packages and uninstall kmod-brcm-wl, Update Package list, and install kmod-brcm-wl-mimo, after reboot you should be able to setup and use W-Fi on WL-500W without any issues, there is no support for 802.11n but b & g work fine.

(Last edited by fareedf on 25 Feb 2009, 04:19)

brcm47xx is a 2.6 kernel build; the kmod-brcm-wl-mimo package is only in the 2.4 build (ie brcm-2.4 section of the downloads). you need to reflash and use the 2.4 tree exclusively for this device, OR buy an atheros miniPCI and swap out the wifi chip.

The wl driver in 2.6 does not support the Broadcom 4329 chip in your router at all - not in b,g, or n mode. There is a binary-only nub in the wl_mimo driver that lets the chip run, under a 2.4 kernel, in g mode (still no n mode though!) and Broadcom are, as usual, pathetic at supporting projects like ours - don't expect 2.6 support for these chips anytime soon.

I'm typing this through a WL500-W set up this way right now.

Is there any consensus as to whether or not wireless will work with the ASUS WL-500W?  In the information about the 8.09 release, there is mention of the b43 driver for broadcom support with a version 2.6 kernel; however, I can't find any information about how to configure it.  Any assistance would be much greatly appreciated.

I have a WL-500W running with kernel 2.4 and wl-mimo driver. It works in 802.11g mode only. Not in n.

No idea if b43 supports this chip.

I can confirm that the wireless card of this router only works with 2.4 kernel and wl-mimo driver. No chance to make the wireless work with 2.6 kernel, if you don't want to open your unit and replace the mini-wifi broadcom mimo card with (for example) an atheros one.

If you use kernel 2.4 with this router I recommend uploading this patched 8.09 firmware as the 8.09 official has a port forwarding very nasty bug (you can read about it here).

(Last edited by pegasus on 10 Apr 2009, 13:14)

I'm going to replace my WL-500W Wifi card with a Gigabyte GN-WI01HT (Atheros based abg) or with a WLI-MPCI-G54 (BCM4306KFB based), but they didn't work either as AP.

I used ath5k  driver for the atheros and b43 for the broadcom. What about madwifi should I give it try?

Please give me some advice because I have to use kernel 2.6 due to the fact that I need an ADSL USB Modem (Speedtouch or eagle compatible) to connect to the Internet using RFC1483 ( If someone is interested and has problems I can help with this)

As a last resort, which cards are known to work as APs, if any? Intel ipw2200? USB Sticks?

TIA

(Last edited by ttsherpa on 26 Apr 2009, 15:26)

madwifi should be fine

Thanks,
yes madwifi and atheros work well as AP. No problem for now

Sorry for terminology, I am noob at openWRT.

I could get my WL500W wifi working.
I've downloaded the R30835 via SVN, and didn't hit ./scripts/feeds/update.

Afterthat in make menuconfig, change b43 to wl, and you can use, the newest kernel, with working wifi. of course if you need some WPA2 and things like theese, you should enable more modules in kernel.

So create a folder, download source, enter folder, config the kernel, and make.

mkdir openwrt
cd openwrt
svn co -r 30835 svn://svn.openwrt.org/openwrt/trunk
cd trunk
make menuconfig
make V=99

If you have multicore CPU, you can add as an parameter. For example, with corei7, you have 8 cores, you can build faster, with:

make -j 9 V=99

I've also found some new patch:
http://patchwork.openwrt.org/patch/1950/
but I haven't tried it yet.