Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01) issues with 5.0rc3 x86-64 XFCE4.12

[Rava]

Creating a new thread since it would be off topic in the Knoppix News one.

hi Rava,i am curious of your wifi hardware can you share the model of it

Sure, glad to oblige.
System Porteus 5.0rc3 XFCE4.12

For content here what I all tried (aside from booting an older Porteus Finale version including the original kernel that version came with - but that kernel crashed at boot, so that approach was no option; (when I recall correctly it was Port 3.2.2 with kernel 4.9 - but I am on my i586 4.0 Porteus system and the 5.0rc3 with the setup for that older Port is switched off)
Skip to the "my Wireless Card seems running." (coloured red) part below if you only want to read the current still unresolved issue with the NetworkManager.

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root@porteus:~# lspci |grep -i wireless
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

Porteus System Info:

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07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Askey Computer Corp. Device 7175
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
	Memory at d7300000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [58] Vendor Specific Information: Len=78 <?>
	Capabilities: [48] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
	Capabilities: [d0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
	Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel
	Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 00-00-fe-[…]
	Capabilities: [16c] Power Budgeting <?>
	Kernel modules: bcma

I tried several variations of blacklisting drivers via /etc/modprobe.d/*.conf . What struck me as odd is that even when I blacklisted bcma it still would be listed as "Kernel modules: bcma" in Porteus System Info; and it would still not work, of course.

This is all NetworkManager Applet offers


https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/use ... []=bcm4313 says

Please note: at least BCM4313 is not fully supported. Some models appears to work (users reported success), but some don't, and there's no indication that this is going to change.

and then this:

Both brcmsmac and brcmfmac drivers require firmware files that need to be separately downloaded. Firmware is available from the Linux firmware repository at:

git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g ... rmware.git
https://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/ ... rmware.git

How do I set this up? https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/use ... []=bcm4313 is quite confusing to me…

And then there is this
https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/use ... []=bcm4313

The old website for now has a copy of the old content:

http://linuxwireless.sipsolutions.net/e ... ivers/b43/

b43 and b43legacy are wireless drivers for Broadcom SoftMAC chipsets. Kernel will automatically pick a proper module for you:

b43 for any new (supported) hardware
b43legacy for BCM4301 and early BCM4306 versions

Summary

You need to have firmware files (usually in /lib/firmware/) so b43(legacy) can upload them to the card and run properly.
For FullMAC devices support see brcmfmac and rndis_wlan

How do I know if I have FullMAC devices?
_____________________________________

I try only following the [HOWTO] Broadcom wifi under Porteus since that is the HOWTO found in /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom_blacklist.conf

What is missing in /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom_blacklist.conf is that when one uses a different kernel (like I use the newest kernel supporting my NVidia driver - 5.4.30-porteus) there can be a separate .conf file blocking even more drivers:
In my case that was /etc/modprobe.d/b43_blacklist.conf :

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# wl module from Broadcom conflicts with the following modules:
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist b44
blacklist bcma
blacklist brcm80211
blacklist brcmfmac
blacklist brcmsmac
blacklist ssb

After I changed both /etc/modprobe.d/b43_blacklist.conf and /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom_blacklist.conf and rebooted the "Wireless connections available" (or similar worded) popup notification came up.

So, my Wireless Card seems running.

But it only displays 3 or 4 network options. Porteus i586 4.0 shows more, and it has a submenu entry showing even more networks, and when fresh booted into Port 4.0 i586 I have to always click the submenu to get to the one network I need.
Since that submenu is missing in NetworkManager Applet of Porteus 5.0rc3 I still cannot connect to the network.
The network I need is not a hidden network.

This is what the main menu looks like in 5.0rc3

No, the Telekom_FON is not the one I want and while it appears open you need credentials to use it or pay for using it.

and this is what it looks like in i586 Port 4.0:

the needed submenu highlighted with red outline.

What to do next? How to get NetworkManager Applet to show the submenu?


Added in 23 minutes 25 seconds:
Update
I forgot to add: while browsing several forums and blog entries on the Broadcom Wireless issue I also found the tip replacing NetworkManager with a different solution, but I have to search where I wrote down the info on that; when I find it I will post the info in here (could be helpful for others with a different Broadcom Wifi Module, or maybe even with a different company's Wifi issue), so far I did not try out the "replace Network Manager with ???" approach.

Added in 9 minutes 28 seconds:
Found the info:

https://archived.forum.manjaro.org/t/bc ... /121010/48

There are a number of broadcom adapters that benefit from replacing Network Manager with ConnMan and IWD.
[…]
Some Broadcom adapters benefit from disabling background scanning in "/etc/connman/main.conf" as it can contribute to disconnects.

BackgroundScanning=false

https://manpages.debian.org/testing/con ... .5.en.html

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ConnMan

https://wiki.tizen.org/IVI/ConnMan_Tips_%26_Tricks

The post then goes on quoting from other threads e.g.
https://archived.forum.manjaro.org/t/re ... nman/99259

Added in 7 minutes 37 seconds:
And approach via device ID 0x14e4 0x4727 or 14e4:4727 gives the e.g. this info
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiD ... er/bcm43xx

As per the Broadcom readme file for driver version 6.30.223.271, the following devices are compatible:
[…]
4313 2.4 Ghz 0x14e4 0x4727

As I wrote above, I got the Broadcom WIfi working, but with the missing submenu in NetworkManager I cannot connect to the one needed unencrypted WLAN.

[beny]

hi Rava well the wifi driver are working on your system so would you try iw that you know is a cli app but very powerful in search the provider id if your essid is not hidden,is just a try, i know that NetworkManager is a good software,but do this try.

[Rava]

beny, first I have to reconfige my system to have the same kind of blacklisting that enabled my WLAN module.

I used the Ports standard again which means no WLAN - since I did not want to have open WLAN ports to be possibly be attacked with - without the benefit of being able to use WLAN myself..

It will take at least some hours to set up my system the same way since there is some RL stuff as well to be taken care of, and I do not start with the approach to try get my WLAN running probably without at least some hours of my time available right then to make enough tests. Lucky me I have a 2nd machine - albeit a slow one (the Port 4.0 i585 one running the 3.1 kernel) - where I can still post results and stuff when my WLAN on the more powerful machine is still malfunctioning.

Then I try iw.

And I also try nanZor's tip

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rfkill unblock all

to see if that might help.

See you then when I restarted my system and I try these two approaches.

[beny]

hi Rava take a look at this link: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Networ ... ireless#iw

[donald]

@Rava
Does the wifi work (better) with another live linux like ubuntu, knoppix, antix etc.?
If yes, which driver is used?

[nanZor]

Hi Rava!

Note that RFKILL is usually meant to activate a physical hardware switch sometimes seen on laptops where one could quickly toggle wifi on and off under windows. Under Linux, sometimes this hardware switch stays permanently switched off or disabled and the network card is never seen, thus rfkill unblock enables it again.

In your case, since the card is actually working somewhat, rfkill is totally unnecessary.

I have no other solutions since I'm just too old to fight with old broadcom hardware.

I take the slacker solution of finding a modern dongle that does work perfectly with Porteus / linux and not lose gray hairs. The advantage of the new dongle is that they are relatively cheap, sometimes include better internal radios that can also take advantage of 802.11 AC (5ghz), run cooler and you can easily put them on a shielded usb extension cable to move it around to a better location than the side or back of the machine and elevate it a little bit for better signal / less interference - sometimes resulting in much faster speeds too.

So sorry, no help other than to say that maybe an old proprietary wifi card is a signal to ignore it and move on for a couple of $..

[Rava]

@Rava
Does the wifi work (better) with another live linux like ubuntu, knoppix, antix etc.?
If yes, which driver is used?

Just tried knoppix 9.1 cd and dvd. the CD said something about a driver missing. See here: Knoppix news (Post by Rava #86077)

Not tried Ubuntu or AntiX.

I will try my installed on the internal harddrive Puppy and TinyCore, maybe these give me tips. They are both older systems, but so is the Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01) .
____________________________________

hi Rava take a look at this link: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Networ ... ireless#iw

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root@porteus:~# iw dev
root@porteus:~# 

Currently xpsinfo (=psinfo = Porteus System Info) gives this:

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07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Askey Computer Corp. Device 7175
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
	Memory at d7300000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [58] Vendor Specific Information: Len=78 <?>
	Capabilities: [48] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
	Capabilities: [d0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
	Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel
	Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 00-00-fe-[…]-[…]
	Capabilities: [16c] Power Budgeting <?>
	Kernel modules: bcma

[beny]

hi: https://forum.salixos.org/viewtopic.php?t=7377 maybe useful

[Rava]

hi: https://forum.salixos.org/viewtopic.php?t=7377 maybe useful

Looks quite elaborate, I will look into it. Thanks for now, I think I try that approach next.

Added in 2 hours 42 minutes 38 seconds:

@Rava
Does the wifi work (better) with another live linux like ubuntu, knoppix, antix etc.?
If yes, which driver is used?

Currently downloading antiX-21_x64-full.iso but its 1.5 GB - will take a while to finish. I will report back, hopefully during the weekend (depending on what other work unsurprisingly pops up; hopefully: none)

Or maybe I try antiX first, now that I made my etcher-bin-1.7.1-x86_64 module. (see here: etcher-bin-1.7.1-x86_64 - KISS Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drive writer utility )

[Rava]

from the thread Out of The Box Everything.

here are a couple of scripts I used for a netbook with Porteus 4.0 and a broadcom nic.
broadcomrc32-1.sh

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#!/bin/sh
# https://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=5823&start=75#p45413

ls /etc/modprobe.d/*blacklist.conf
ls /var/log/packages/broadcom-*
ls /var/log/scripts/broadcom-*
#sudo lspci

ARCH=`echo $MACHTYPE | sed -e 's/-.*$//'`                #x86_64
KERNEL=`uname -a`

echo 
echo "Arch:  " $ARCH
echo "Kernel: "${KERNEL:14:14}


echo
echo -en "Press Enter to remove old driver files, Ctrl+C to end.\n"
read answer

# The following will remove all obsolete files:

rm /etc/modprobe.d/b43_blacklist.conf
rm /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom_blacklist.conf
rm /var/log/packages/broadcom-sta-6.30.223.248-$ARCH-1ftm
rm /var/log/packages/broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271_4.4.3_porteus-$ARCH-1jay
rm /var/log/scripts/broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271_4.4.3_porteus-$ARCH-1jay
rm -r /usr/doc/broadcom-sta-6.30.223.141
rm -r /usr/doc/broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271


# If we wish to install the current wl.ko for some particular kernel you have just 
# compiled (say 4.4.10-porteus, for example), the following will do all the job:

wget --no-check-certificate https://slackbuilds.org/slackbuilds/14.1/network/broadcom-sta.tar.gz
tar xf broadcom-sta.tar.gz
cd broadcom-sta/

wget --no-check-certificate https://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/hybrid-v35-nodebug-pcoem-6_30_223_271.tar.gz
wget --no-check-certificate https://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/hybrid-v35_64-nodebug-pcoem-6_30_223_271.tar.gz
wget --no-check-certificate https://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/README_6.30.223.271.txt

KERNEL=4.4.10-porteus broadcom-sta.SlackBuild

echo $KERNEL

installpkg /tmp/broadcom-sta-*_SBo.tgz

broadcomrc32-2.sh

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#!/bin/sh
# https://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?p=64647#p64647

# Download b43-firmware-classic-5.100.138-1-noarch.xzm and copy to modules folder of Porteus.
# http://www.mediafire.com/file/lsdn0vh8a4u5ypw/b43-firmware-classic-5.100.138-1-noarch.xzm

su
#toor
cp    /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom_blacklist.conf /home/guest/Backups/
cp    /etc/modprobe.d/b43_blacklist.conf      /home/guest/Backups/
echo 'blacklist wl' > /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom_blacklist.conf
echo 'blacklist wl' > /etc/modprobe.d/b43_blacklist.conf
echo "Reboot"

su
#toor
dmesg | grep -i b43
modprobe b43

Do you also have versions for x86-64 Porteus?

I presume the kernel version needs to be adjusted for the currently used kernel?
Because the newest kernel I can use due to my needed NVidia driver V340.108 is k5.4.30-porteus …

Added in 11 minutes 31 seconds:
Seems there is a prerequisite needed in broadcomrc32-2.sh :

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root@porteus:~# ls -o /home/guest/Backups/
/bin/ls: cannot access '/home/guest/Backups/': No such file or directory

broadcomrc32-2.sh needs as guest a

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mkdir /home/guest/Backups/

or as root a

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mkdir /home/guest/Backups/
chown guest.users /home/guest/Backups/

prior any use of /home/guest/Backups/

Added in 27 minutes 13 seconds:

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root@porteus:~# modprobe b43
root@porteus:~# dmesg | grep -i b43
[1212383.207841] Support for cores revisions 0x17 and 0x18 disabled by module param allhwsupport=0. Try b43.allhwsupport=1
[1212383.207846] b43: probe of bcma0:1 failed with error -524

How does one configure this

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b43.allhwsupport=1

part?

Added in 43 minutes 16 seconds:
My newest attempt, since ArchLinux is mentioned more than once concerning a Broadcom WLAN issue - e.g. here Version 4.0 questions (Post by Blaze #65573) - currently downloading archlinux-2021.12.01-x86_64.iso - I then will use the stripped version of etcher-bin-1.7.1-x86_64 - KISS Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drive writer utility (Post by Rava #86109) to copy that to yet another USB stick - having then tested the stripped etcher-bin-1.7.1-x86_64-stripped_rava.xzm as well.
I choose a more or less local download site, but still the server seems quite slow:

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guest@porteus:/mybin/linux/archlinux$ wget https://ftp.fau.de/archlinux/iso/2021.12.01/archlinux-2021.12.01-x86_64.iso
--2021-12-13 02:21:11--  https://ftp.fau.de/archlinux/iso/2021.12.01/archlinux-2021.12.01-x86_64.iso
Resolving ftp.fau.de (ftp.fau.de)... 131.188.12.211, 2001:638:a000:1021:21::1
Connecting to ftp.fau.de (ftp.fau.de)|131.188.12.211|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 891629568 (850M) [application/x-iso9660-image]
Saving to: ‘archlinux-2021.12.01-x86_64.iso’

nux-2021.12.01-x86_  67%[============>       ] 573.71M  1.03MB/s    eta 7m 13s 

but like they say, patience is a virtue.

Added in 3 minutes 21 seconds:
Seems "one shall complain and thus the download gets quicker" is the new rule:

saving to: ‘archlinux-2021.12.01-x86_64.iso’

-2021.12.01-x86_64. 87%[================> ] 739.79M 1.05MB/s eta 3m 3s

(highlighting by me)

[Ed_P]

Do you also have versions for x86-64 Porteus?

No.

broadcomrc32-2.sh needs as guest a

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mkdir /home/guest/Backups/

Or any other folder you'd like to store backup files in.

[Rava]

No.

okay.

Archlinux live cd via USB is weird - it tells you how to install

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Arch Linux 5.15.5-arch1-1 (tty1)

archiso login: root (automatic login)

To install Arch Linux follow the installation guide:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide

For Wi-Fi, authenticate to the wireless network using the iwctl utility.
For mobile broadband (WWAN) modems, connect with the mmcli utility.
Ethernet, WLAN and WWAN interfaces using DHCP should work automatically.

After connecting to the internet, the installation guide can be accessed
via the convenience script Installation_guide.

but there seems to be no GUI or DE

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root@archiso ~ # startx
zsh: correct 'startx' to 'stat' [nyae]? n
zsh: command not found: startx
127 root@archiso ~ # 

The Wlan looks like it works out of the box

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root@archiso ~ # iwctl
NetworkConfigurationEnabled: disabled
StateDirectory: /var/lib/iwd
Version: 1.20
[iwd]# device list
                                    Devices
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Name                Address             Powered   Adapter   Mode
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  wlan0               b4:82[… …]          on        phy0      station

[iwd]# station wlan0 scan
[iwd]# station wlan0 get-networks
                               Available networks                                      *
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Network name                    Security          Signal
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    WLAN-305633                     psk               ****
    WLAN-273807                     psk               ****
    Telekom_FON                     open              ****
    WiFi-876512                     psk               ****

but same with Port 5.0rc3 x86-64 - only 4 found, and not the one needed.
And the Signal info cannot be copied via plain text - it ranges from 3 out of 4 stars for the first 3 and 1 out of 4 stars for the last one. (it uses bold text markup to distinguish the quality)

When it's already running (only Virtual Terminals aka text only mode though) at least I now try gathering all info on its setup (does archlinux use blacklisting?), kernel wlan driver used etcetera.

Added in 1 hour 1 minute 3 seconds:
Update

archlinux lspci -nn -d 14e4: info:

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1 root@archiso ~ # lspci -nn -d 14e4:
07:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:4727] (rev 01)

but dmesg seems quite different: No info for net wire or lan

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root@archiso ~ # dmesg|grep -i net
1 root@archiso ~ # dmesg|grep -i wire
1 root@archiso ~ # dmesg|grep -i lan
1 root@archiso ~ # 

this is what the 2 initial lines of the full dmesg output look like as example

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[ 3588.608693] audit: type=1334 audit(1639393291.430:1753): prog-id=364 op=LOAD
[ 3588.867375] audit: type=1130 audit(1639393291.690:1754): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 msg='unit=reflector comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=failed'

I then tried modinfo b43 but seems that only gives me info on the mod itself - or do I miss the info about it used or not used?

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filename:       /lib/modules/5.15.5-arch1-1/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/b43.ko.zst
firmware:       b43/ucode9.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode42.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode40.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode5.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode30_mimo.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode33_lcn40.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode29_mimo.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode26_mimo.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode25_mimo.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode25_lcn.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode24_lcn.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode16_mimo.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode16_lp.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode15.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode14.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode13.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode11.fw
license:        GPL
author:         Rafał Miłecki
author:         Gábor Stefanik
author:         Michael Buesch
author:         Stefano Brivio
author:         Martin Langer
description:    Broadcom B43 wireless driver
srcversion:     63A111D0CFA7D1C675382EB
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev10*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev0F*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev0D*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev0C*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev0B*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev0A*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev09*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev07*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev06*
alias:          ssb:v4243id0812rev05*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev2Acl*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev28cl*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev1Ecl*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev1Dcl*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev1Ccl*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev18cl*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev17cl*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev15cl*
alias:          bcma:m04BFid0812rev11cl*
depends:        mac80211,ssb,bcma,mmc_core,cfg80211,cordic,rng-core
retpoline:      Y
intree:         Y
name:           b43
vermagic:       5.15.5-arch1-1 SMP preempt mod_unload 
sig_id:         PKCS#7
signer:         Build time autogenerated kernel key
sig_key:        04:B0:7A:E1:15:3E:10:E9:11:75:AB:B3:05:9F:24:8A:F9:46:EA:49
sig_hashalgo:   sha512
signature:      30:65:02:31:00:E9:59:97:99:8E:8F:9D:EC:1D:A9:F2:70:4A:B1:7C:
		87:31:52:76:1E:48:9F:22:E5:16:86:21:2E:65:D3:0E:64:E3:9D:93:
		9C:BC:06:5E:86:24:6F:58:D4:10:2E:6C:AE:02:30:03:4B:75:87:F5:
		06:ED:13:B2:A5:11:E2:F3:2B:41:4B:A5:0A:D0:15:77:96:B2:00:F4:
		D5:39:E3:74:6D:79:8F:DD:28:04:64:54:96:6F:6C:9F:6A:B4:05:88:
		6A:3F:68
parm:           bad_frames_preempt:enable(1) / disable(0) Bad Frames Preemption (int)
parm:           fwpostfix:Postfix for the .fw files to load. (string)
parm:           hwpctl:Enable hardware-side power control (default off) (int)
parm:           nohwcrypt:Disable hardware encryption. (int)
parm:           hwtkip:Enable hardware tkip. (int)
parm:           qos:Enable QOS support (default on) (int)
parm:           btcoex:Enable Bluetooth coexistence (default on) (int)
parm:           verbose:Log message verbosity: 0=error, 1=warn, 2=info(default), 3=debug (int)
parm:           pio:Use PIO accesses by default: 0=DMA, 1=PIO (int)
parm:           allhwsupport:Enable support for all hardware (even it if overlaps with the brcmsmac driver) (int)

For now I am at my wits end and just try Kali next, hopefully that gives me a GUI / DE.

(technically arch has a GUI since it has mc and mc is a kind of GUI)

Added in 41 minutes 42 seconds:
Kali Linux has a funny approach hardware detection and non-free firmware driver-wise.
I used its rescue mode since its default was Graphical install and switched it to German.

And during hardware detect it stops:

At least it gives me the non-free firmware driver names.

[Rava]

Kali Linux was unable to find the drivers.
I read on its forum that you should the drivers in the root of a USB thumbdrive.
I also put them in the folder as named in its log:

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/ # ls -l /mnt/sdd1/*fw /mnt/sdd1/rtl_nic/* /mnt/sdd1/brcm/*
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root         96224 Dec 13 12:48 /mnt/sdd1/bcm43xx-0.fw
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root         96224 Dec 13 12:55 /mnt/sdd1/brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root          2804 Dec 13 12:48 /mnt/sdd1/rtl8168e-3.fw
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root          2804 Dec 13 12:55 /mnt/sdd1/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-3.fw

But to no avail. It's Virtual Terminal that logs still said:

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Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3076.904064] libphy: r8169: probed
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3076.904434] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: RTL8168e/8111e, 70:5a:b6:c1:eb:ac, XID 2c1, IRQ 32
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3076.904442] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: jumbo features [frames: 9194 bytes, tx checksumming: ko]
Dec 13 12:57:28 net/hw-detect.hotplug: Detected hotpluggable network interface eth0
Dec 13 12:57:28 check-missing-firmware: taking network interface eth0 up/down
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3076.921516] r8169 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw (-2)
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3076.921528] r8169 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw failed with error -2 
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3076.921536] r8169 0000:02:00.0: Unable to load firmware rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw (-2)
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3076.922744] RTL8211DN Gigabit Ethernet r8169-0-200:00: attached PHY driver (mii_bus:phy_addr=r8169-0-200:00, irq=MAC)
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3076.998938] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: Link is Down
Dec 13 12:57:28 check-missing-firmware: taking network interface wlan0 up/down 
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3077.004496] brcmsmac bcma0:1: firmware: failed to load brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw (-2)
Dec 13 12:57:28 kernel: [ 3077.004505] brcmsmac bcma0:1: Direct firmware load for brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw failed with error -2
Dec 13 12:57:29 check-missing-firmware: looking at dmesg again, restarting from timestamp: [ 2689.438089]
Dec 13 12:57:29 check-missing-firmware: timestamp found, truncating dmesg accordingly
Dec 13 12:57:29 check-missing-firmware: saving timestamp for a later use: [ 3077.004505]
Dec 13 12:57:29 check-missing-firmware: looking for firmware file rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw requested by r8169
Dec 13 12:57:29 check-missing-firmware: looking for firmware file brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw requested by brcmsmac
Dec 13 12:57:29 check-missing-firmware: missing firmware files (rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw) for brcmsmac r8169

____________________

Back on Porteus 5.0rc3 x86-64

As you can see, both rtl8168e-1.fw and bcm43xx-0.fw as requested by Kali are part of my Porteus kernel drivers:

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root@porteus:/mnt/live/memory/images# find .|grep -E "rtl8168e-1.fw|bcm43xx-0.fw"
./000-kernel5.4.30.xzm/lib/firmware/brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw
./000-kernel5.4.30.xzm/lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw

Do I need to manual make these drivers known?

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root@porteus:/# file /lib/firmware/brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw
/lib/firmware/brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw:     data
/lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw: data

[beny]

hi the firmware is loaded when there is a driver requires it,i suggest you to install iw from the slackware repository,why? with this:
iw dev interface scan | less all the net link are listed maybe..

[Rava]

iw dev interface scan | less all the net link are listed maybe..

I was sure it was wlan0 - but seems I was wrong, or maybe that changes with a different boot?

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root@porteus:~# iw dev wlan0 scan
command failed: No such device (-19)

Porteus System info also not gives the info in its Wireless info:

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07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Askey Computer Corp. Device 7175
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
	Memory at d7300000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [58] Vendor Specific Information: Len=78 <?>
	Capabilities: [48] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
	Capabilities: [d0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
	Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel
	Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 00-00-fe-… - …
	Capabilities: [16c] Power Budgeting <?>
	Kernel modules: bcma

Is the info somewhere else in Porteus System Info to be found?

Added in 3 minutes 37 seconds:
No "wlan" found even in the full report:

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root@porteus:~# grep -i wlan /tmp/psinfo_report.txt

root@porteus:~# grep -i network /tmp/psinfo_report.txt |wc
    107    1428   14347

root@porteus:~# grep -i wireless /tmp/psinfo_report.txt 
07:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:4727] (rev 01)
wireless_tools-30.pre9-x86_64-5
wireless.txt
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

root@porteus:~# grep -i wifi /tmp/psinfo_report.txt 
Dec 13 13:12:45 porteus NetworkManager[1396]: <info>  [1639397565.8426] Loaded device plugin: NMWifiFactory (/usr/lib64/NetworkManager/1.32.12/libnm-device-plugin-wifi.so)

Added in 4 minutes 13 seconds:
And man iw is quite cryptic about the <interface name> - how do I find the correct name?

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IW - COMMAND SYNTAX
   OBJECT
       dev <interface name>
              - network interface.

       phy <phy name>
              - wireless hardware device (by name).

       phy#<phy index>
              - wireless hardware device (by index).