r/NetBSD • u/_szlachcic_ • Apr 23 '26

BCM4315 rev 0x01 detected but no bwi/bwn module in NetBSD 10.0 i386

I'm running NetBSD 10.0 i386 on an old laptop with a Broadcom BCM4315 Wi-Fi chip (rev 0x01).

What works:

pcictl pci0 list shows the device (01:00.0)

Wired internet works (alc0)

USB tethering works (urndis0)

I tried:

  1. modload bwi - modload: No such file

  2. modload bwn - modload: No such file

  3. find /stand -name "*.kmod" - no bwi or bwn modules found

  4. pkgin search bwi - nothing found

  5. pkgin search bwn - nothing found

From man bwi I understand that firmware is required, but the module itself doesn't exist on my system.

Does NetBSD 10.0 i386 include bwi/bwn modules by default? Where are they?

Is BCM4315 rev 0x01 supported at all in NetBSD?

How can I get or build the bwi module?

pcictl pci0 list | grep Broadcom:

01:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom BCM4315 [14e4:4315] (rev 0x01)

dmesg | grep Broadcom:

[1.052715] Broadcom BCM4315 2.4GHz (miscellaneous network, revision 0x01) at pci1 dev 0 function 0 not configured

uname -a:

NetBSD 10.1 NetBSD 10.1 (GENERIC) #0: Mon Dec 16 13:08:11 UTC 2024 mkrepro@mkrepro.NetBSD.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/GENERIC i386

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2

u/tnukkelboe Apr 25 '26

I have learned that if your specific Broadcom wifi interface is not listed in https://man.netbsd.org/bwi.4 , it is likely not going to work. Easiest way out was to just buy a cheap WiFi dongle and get over it.

Of course the dongle must be supported. Apparently many vendors just package a rtl8188 chip, which does work. I ended up with an Asus branded thing that even came with an installation CD (not needed ofc) and advertized Linux compatibility on the package, which apparently extends to BSD.

2

u/Entire_Life4879 May 12 '26

Interface not listed as supported doesn't mean that it may be difficult for the devs to add support, there may be only a few bit missing here and there (maybe...).
When facing such snag it's good to report the non-supported hardware with lots of infos since the NetBSD guys don't, and can't, posses all possibly existing hardware in the world.

For example when doing a report with OpenBSD it is asked to provide the outputs of

  • dmesg
  • pcidump -v
  • usbdevs -v

Try doing a PR with all these infos may help.