Jump to content

Broadcom BCM 5787M NIC in HP 6701b notebook


magare
 Share

62 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

Well. http://code.google.com/p/kmbge/, you know, and things.

 

It compiles. It installs. It manages to read out the frigging MAC address. And that is all, folks. No packet gets ever transmitted over it.

 

Well, I then peered into the code. Took also if_bge from OpenBSD (there's less code to start with). And you know what? The friggin' IOEthernetDriver documentation does not seem to tell me how to do actual packet reading and writing. There is an awful lot of documentation text, but not a working example whatsoever. What the hell, I know enough of C++ (or, well, “C with classes” which it really is) to make the thing work somewhat, but I also need some pointers on how things are actually done.

 

BTW, kmbge author seems to have disappeared. I have emailed him and still got no answer, after probably three months or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well. http://code.google.com/p/kmbge/, you know, and things.

 

It compiles. It installs. It manages to read out the frigging MAC address. And that is all, folks. No packet gets ever transmitted over it.

Right. It's about 0.1% of what's needed.

 

Well, I then peered into the code. Took also if_bge from OpenBSD (there's less code to start with).

The OSX BSD code base was FreeBSD, not OpenBSD. They're probably similar, though. What do you mean less code? Compared to what?

 

And you know what? The friggin' IOEthernetDriver documentation does not seem to tell me how to do actual packet reading and writing. There is an awful lot of documentation text, but not a working example whatsoever. What the hell, I know enough of C++ (or, well, "C with classes" which it really is) to make the thing work somewhat, but I also need some pointers on how things are actually done.

There are 4 or 5 complete examples on Apple's developer site. Don't forget about IONetworkController, IOEthernetController and IOUserClient. You need to understand all of them inside and out. Too many programmers just want to throw code at a problem without writing any text descriptions or specifications. Apple's documentation, as opposed to Linux or FreeBSD, is excellent.

 

BTW, kmbge author seems to have disappeared. I have emailed him and still got no answer, after probably three months or so.

He's long gone. That code isn't even a good starting point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

BigPimpin, first, thanks for a reply. I'm registered at Apple's dev site but did not find any commented examples. I took the code for RTL8139 and it's design is, well, *too* different (I think because 100Mbit and GigE are, well, different by design). If you have links that go straight where you told, I would appreciate it if you published them here.

 

Apple's documentation is really scarce when it comes to real business, not overviews for just curious people. FreeBSD has so clean code that docs are really not needed if you can read C. Linux is somewhere in between and even better when you have LKML archives somewhere close to you.

 

Hmmm... What if there was a filter on this forum which would hide those "Any progress?????////??" inquiries? Or better yet, autoreplied with "any donations?"

 

One more moment to it.

 

I'm trying to pick this up not because I'm a mecenate. In reality, I want to polish my C/C++ skills and have in my resume something more than frigging PHP development for over 5 years. And because I've got a laptop with BCM5787M, you see, so it's like scratching my personal itch.The problem actually was solved for fifty bucks, I've bought a wireless AP and BCM4311 is working like charm.

 

I'm not satisfied though, because I've got a battery which has no meter since 10.5.3, and a card reader which works only under Linux (it's Texas Systems 5-in-1 something). And I want these things with every system I use.

 

However I don't understand when people stare blankly at the thread and just flood it with "Any progress?" replies. I have far better uses for my time, after all, than hacking in Xcode.

 

People, if you want to be of any help, then go Google useful documents. Contact those who are willing to make it and ask how you can shell out $300 per our wasted weekend per person because you want it faster. Dig mailing list archives and come up with useful suggestions. What the hell, you all can be of help, even if you don't give a damn about drivers development.

 

But, then, please *be* of some help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

No progress? I am running a Acer 7720G With Vista OSX and Kubuntu. Everything works from Sound to Video except the freaking Wireless (Intel 4965AGN) and Ethernet (Broadcom 5787).

Dont want to use a USB to Ethernet Solution! Please help us out!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No progress? I am running a Acer 7720G With Vista OSX and Kubuntu. Everything works from Sound to Video except the freaking Wireless (Intel 4965AGN) and Ethernet (Broadcom 5787).

Dont want to use a USB to Ethernet Solution! Please help us out!

 

don't buy an ethernet<->usb adapter :blink:

 

wait few more days, maybe a solution is nearest than that you think.

 

OUT NOW!

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=127903

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...