Getting The Macbook Pro Mid 2009 Wifi Working on FreeBSD 13.5

 Wifi modules are terribly hard and complex to configure on FreeBSD especially when dealing with Broadcom wifi modules. I had been trying to install these on my Macbook Pro Mid 2009 model and make it work but eventually able to managed to get it working. Here's how I'm doing to install this (PS: I'm still need an internet connection coming from the LAN cable):

Note: This guide is for FreeBSD version 13.5. 

1. Obtain the copy of kernel source file (src.txz) from the FreeBSD install disk. It should be located at FreeBSD_Install/usr/freebsd-dist. Much faster than downloading the file from the internet. Copy the src.txz file and extract it. Then, paste the kernel directory into /usr directory

$ tar -xvf src.txz
$ cd usr && cp -r src /usr


2. Go to /usr/src/sys/amd64/conf and make a copy of the file called GENERIC into a new file called WIFI

$ cd /usr/src/sys/amd64/conf
$ cp GENERIC WIFI


3. Edit the WIFI file to add the lines and search for lines that contain bwn and then uncommenting it. Then add these lines below:
$ nano WIFI

device      bwn     #Broadcom BCM43XX wireless NICs
option      BWN_DEBUG
option      BWN_GPL_PHY


4. I had to make some changes in kernel source code due to Clang compiler throws out error due to differences in enumeration. to fix this, open up the source code:
$ nano /usr/src/sys/gnu/dev/bwn/phy_n/if_bwn_phy_n_ppr.c

Then, fine the code in line 250 and edit into something like this:
//old default code in line 250
if(band == BWN_BAND_2G)

 //new edited code in line 250, hope it works
if((uint16_t)band == (uint16_t)BWN_BAND_2G)


5. Compile the custom kernel and install the custom kernel. It may take at least an hour. 
$ cd /usr/src
$ make buildkernel KERNCONF=WIFI
$ make installkernel KERNCONF=WIFI


6. Install the bwn-firmware-kmod module. Has to be installed in ports. 
$ cd /usr/ports/net/bwn-firmware-kmod
$ make install


7. Add modules to /boot/loader.conf
$ nano /boot/loader.conf

hw.bwn_pci.preferred="1"
if_bwn_pci_load="YES"
bwn_v4_ucode_load="YES"
bwn_v4_n_ucode_load="YES"
bwn_v4_lp_ucode_load="YES"


8. Add wlan interface in /etc/rc.conf
$ nano /etc/rc.conf

wlans_bwn0="wlan0"
ifconfig_wlan0="WPA SYNCDHCP"

9. Edit the wpa_supplicant.conf file
$ nano /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

network={
   ssid="MyWIFI_2.4GHz"
   psk="12345678abcde"
}

10. Reboot the machine and test the connection with ping command. If no internet connection detected, double-check the SSID and also look for ifconfig status. If you see the SSID in the ifconfig, run the command ifconfig wlan0 up to initiate the connection. 

Reference links:
    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Installing nvidia-drm-kmod on FreeBSD

Image
   The nvidia-drm-kmod is a brand new open-source driver which is a FreeBSD port of Linux's nvidia-drm.ko file that interfaces with DRM subsystem. While Intel and AMD GPU drivers have already official drm-kmod drivers, Nvidia is still stuck with proprietary drivers until the introduction of nvidia-drm-kmod. The main purpose for this driver is to make Wayland compositor to work correctly albeit there are some issues. You can install it into your FreeBSD system instead of readily-made non-DRM Nvidia drivers, however, it is still in testing stage so expect some hiccups. Note that you will need to install outside the ports collection to make it work properly. You can also install it from ports collection, however, it needs a similar setup like here. 1. Gathering the kernel source tree files and drm-kmod source file. i) Download the kernel source tree:             $ git clone https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/ /usr/src ...
Read more

Setting Up GPU Cards on FreeBSD 13

Image
Back then, you will need to create the Xorg.conf file and write something in it just to get the GPU card working. However, for some GPU cards, things doesn't well when following the configuration guide from its official handbook doesn't work. Today, you won't need this thing anymore and you can just load it without the useless Xorg.config file.  What you only need is just load the GPU kernel modules. That's it!     1. Installing the kernel module package.       You will need these to enable your installed GPU to work with the FreeBSD 13 operating sysrtem. It can be done by 2 ways:     i) Installing the pre-built package:              $ pkg install drm-kmod     ii) Installing it from ports source:              $ cd /usr/ports/graphics-drm-kmod && make install  Note: For Nvidia GPUs, see the section "2 iii) Nvidia GPUs" below. ...
Read more

Installing Jdownloader on FreeBSD

Image
JDownloader is a magnificent tool for downloading stuffs from various websites and it uses Java and pretty much portable across platforms. This article will show you on how to setup JDownloader application for FreeBSD. 1. Install Java Runtime via OpenJDK package:                   $  pkg install openjdk17-jre   2. Download JDownloader in JAR file. It should be located under "Others" and it will redirect to its MEGA file download.  3. Make a direcotry called "JDownloader" and paste the JDownloader.jar into the directory                 $ mkdir JDownloader && mv JDownloader.jar JDownloader 4. Launch JDownloader with Java Runtime                 $ java -jar JDownloader.jar   5. You can paste the link in the JDownloader to download the c...
Read more