Feb/0927
Debian: Lenny cannot load Broadcom NIC drivers, asking for firmware bnx2-06-4.0.5.fw or bnx2-09-4.0.5.fw during install
If you have a Dell server, dump it, or keep reading 
Well… to me it sounds like some copyright crap Broadcom is pulling, or perhaps Debian is trying to be more compliant with restricted drivers. Three ways I can think of to work around this:
- Download the deb package from http://packages.debian.org/etch/firmware-bnx2, copy it to a flash drive and insert when prompted during installation. You don’t have to mount anything… install process will automatically find and load the driver. Do not unpack the .deb package, copy it to your USB drive without any modifications. OS will access the file and extract what it needs accordingly.
- Install an old or supported NIC (Intel?) and proceed with installation. Once it’s done install the deb package and restart networking.
- Install without a NIC, then download and copy the file to a flash drive or CD, mount and install. Just make sure you’re not using Debian NetInst CD!
One of the readers suggested that I should also post a link to the page where different versions of the driver can be downloaded http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&keywords=bnx2.
Updated Feb 18th 2010 by Mark (comment reply):
To the people struggling with BCM5716: Even the latest Lenny 5.0.4 stable installer (with kernel 2.6.26-2 rev 21lenny3) doesn’t yet have the PCI IDs required to load the drivers. Here is some useful info:
- http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=565353
- http://www.mail-archive.com/debian-kernel@lists.debian.org/msg52571.html
- http://wiki.debian.org/HowToRebuildAnOfficialDebianKernelPackage
I’ve just spent the last 2 days working out how to roll my own Debian installer image with a patched kernel. All this work just to get some tiny changes into bnx2.ko and preseed the firmware 
I’ve uploaded working Debian Lenny netinstall images:
MegaUpload Links:
amd64: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8O5D782S
i386: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3B9W1MHP
RapidShare Links:
amd64: http://rapidshare.com/files/359005652/debian-lenny-5.04-netinst-amd64-bcm5716.tar.bz2.html
i386: http://rapidshare.com/files/359005127/debian-lenny-5.04-netinst-i386-bcm5716.tar.bz2.html
Note: For anybody just looking for an install image containing the bnx2 firmware, this is for you too. Well, it works for me – YMMV.
btw, the next point release (5.0.5) of Lenny will work without any of these problems.”
Related posts:
- Debian: Debian 5 (Lenny) has been released!
- Debian: Upgrade Etch to Lenny, and error message “There is no public key available for the following key IDs: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”
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5:24 AM on February 23rd, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.0.6) Gecko/2009020407 Iceweasel/3.0.6 (Debian-3.0.6-1)
Solution number 1 works like a charm.
Developers made a really good job.
Thanks for sharing this information.
4:59 PM on February 23rd, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.6) Gecko/2009011913 Firefox/3.0.3
I think this is a case of open source developers being a little too strict in their approach to distributing “free” software. Excluding bnx2 from the Lenny installer may agree well with Debian “computing ethics” but at the end of the day creates a barrier to their distribution being used on more systems. I think a fair compromise should have been to include firmware-bnx2 in the installer with a grave warning about the social dangers of non-free software but still giving the user a chance to actually finish the install.
After all, Debian is still distributing the same (zomg! evil! non-free!) firmware via an official package repository anyway. What’s the difference, except inconvenience to the user?? Silly.
5:02 PM on February 23rd, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.2; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
True… just an extra step but thank god it’s an easy one to deal with.
4:11 PM on March 24th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.0.7) Gecko/2009021910 Firefox/3.0.7
I have already wasted 3 hours on this (including going out to get a USB stick which I have never needed to install Linux) and have not yet solved it.
I can’t find anything on the Debian site explaining how to resolve this either.
When I put the USB stick into the server (with the FW file on it) it indicates it’s accessing the USB stick (the little light blinks) but then just prompts me again for removable media. I will spend another 2 hours trying to debug this now.
How is Linux ever going to grow with things like this constantly coming up? Every time I install Linux it’s something new. Every time I need to change a JDK or an /etc/profile I have to search on Google for 2 hours to find some cryptic solution to some unexpected problem. Two of my customers went back to Debian 4 because of this “network driver issue” and now I see what they’re talking about.
It’s so sad, but it really explains why Microsoft continues to rule the OS world.
Sorry for the rant, but good grief! I’ve been working for 5 years with Linux and it’s always the same story.
4:17 PM on March 24th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
This is unfortunate that you are having problems, but I know quite a few users who were able to use a USB stick and had no issues. Are you sure your stick is fine and file is being transferred properly? Did you try to check the MD5 hash before and after transferring the file to your USB drive?
4:18 PM on March 24th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.0.7) Gecko/2009021910 Firefox/3.0.7
I wanted to follow my rant with something useful: if I put the firmware-bnx2_0.14_all.deb file onto the memory stick (formatted FAT32) then the network drivers install.
It does not work if you unpack the .deb file and get the file the installer is requesting specifically.
4:19 PM on March 24th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.0.7) Gecko/2009021910 Firefox/3.0.7
Ah.. also thanks Ali for your reply. I thought these posts just went to outer space. Nice to know someone is listening…
4:21 PM on March 24th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
You’re most welcome. As I mentioned in my post you did not have to unpack the .deb package… that’s why it couldn’t use it. Glad all is well now
5:48 PM on April 1st, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.0.6) Gecko/2009020911 Ubuntu/8.10 (intrepid) Firefox/3.0.6
Even formatting ext2 does not work with the .deb file. You have to format fat32 and then move the .deb file over. Also after the modules are loaded remove the stick before setting up drives or…in my case debian got confused on installing grub.
5:53 PM on April 1st, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Well, normally when we talk about a flash drive it’s normally formatted as FAT32 or vFAT. I don’t format mine any other way since I want them to be good in Windows and Linux. Removing the drive is a good recommendation… I didn’t run into any problems but I don’t recall if it was still connected during installation or not. Good call, though.
9:06 AM on May 7th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; pl; rv:1.9.0.10) Gecko/2009042316 Firefox/3.0.10 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Thanks for the tip!!!
5:21 PM on August 12th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120122 Firefox/3.0.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
The link in option 1 is referring to Etch instead of Lenny. Use this link (http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&keywords=bnx2) of the link in the article.
1:10 AM on August 13th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.13) Gecko/2009073022 Firefox/3.0.13 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
The old trick did the job. I don’t remember if that page was available earlier when that post was published, but thanks anyway! I have updated the post with your comment.
10:14 AM on August 18th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.2) Gecko/20090803 Ubuntu/9.04 (jaunty) Shiretoko/3.5.2
the first step works fine, u save my life =*
thx
12:33 PM on September 1st, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.2) Gecko/20090729 Firefox/3.5.2 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Great info – thanks!!
7:26 PM on September 11th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/530.17
Just a tip for everyone else out there so they don’t waste time like I did. Only insert the flash drive when asked for the driver, and then remove it as soon as you configure networking. The installer will detect the flash drive on scanning disks and cause havok with the ordering of drives. After the reboot it will look for sda2 instead of 0.
2:46 PM on November 6th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.1.4) Gecko/20091028 Ubuntu/9.04 (jaunty) Shiretoko/3.5.4
I downloaded this file: firmware-bnx2_0.14+lenny2_all.deb
and tried to install the driver, but the installer came back saying it found no kernel modules… indeed looking at the contents of the package, it only contains *.fw files… no *.ko files…. did I get the wrong file?
3:00 PM on November 6th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.2; en-US; rv:1.9.1.3) Gecko/20090824 Firefox/3.5.3 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Get the file from the link I posted in the article and try again and it should work.
1:02 PM on December 16th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.3) Gecko/20090824 Firefox/3.5.3 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
I apparently have a newer Broadcom 5716 card, and even using the sid .deb package, it still isn’t working for me. I’m trying to install squeeze, I’ve tried the firmware debs for lenny, squeeze and sid; no joy on any of them. Any other suggestions?
1:07 PM on December 16th, 2009
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091102 Firefox/3.5.5 GTB6 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Unfortunately I don’t have a 5716 to test it, but found this article. Give it a shot.
9:54 AM on January 25th, 2010
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; pl; rv:1.9.1.7) Gecko/20091221 Firefox/3.5.7 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
What about the poor chaps that have to drive 200 miles to put usb stick in the machine
I use PXE and IP KVM to install Debian on my machines and that’s the only way if I don’t want to spend a whole day in a car driving to the datacentre
1:22 PM on February 15th, 2010
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Thanks working with my Broadcom NetXtreme 5721
6:16 AM on February 18th, 2010
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/532.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/4.0.249.89 Safari/532.5
To the people struggling with BCM5716: Even the latest Lenny 5.0.4 stable installer (with kernel 2.6.26-2 rev 21lenny3) doesn’t yet have the PCI IDs required to load the drivers. Here is some useful info:
1) http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=565353
2) http://www.mail-archive.com/debian-kernel@lists.debian.org/msg52571.html
3) http://wiki.debian.org/HowToRebuildAnOfficialDebianKernelPackage
I’ve just spent the last 2 days working out how to roll my own Debian installer image with a patched kernel. All this work just to get some tiny changes into bnx2.ko and preseed the firmware
I’ve uploaded working Debian Lenny netinstall images (on megaupload, sorry!)
amd64: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8O5D782S
i386: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3B9W1MHP
Note: For anybody just looking for an install image containing the bnx2 firmware, this is for you too. Well, it works for me – YMMV.
btw, the next point release (5.0.5) of Lenny will work without any of these problems.
11:15 AM on February 18th, 2010
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.7) Gecko/20091221 Firefox/3.5.7 GTBDFff GTB7.0 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Thanks for the update, Mark. I am adding this with proper credits to the main post.
2:48 PM on February 18th, 2010
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/532.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/4.0.249.89 Safari/532.5
Hi Ali, that’s great, hopefully some people will find it useful!
2:52 PM on February 18th, 2010
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.7) Gecko/20091221 Firefox/3.5.7 GTBDFff GTB7.0 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Thank you for helping out… I’m sure it will be very useful
12:28 PM on February 19th, 2010
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/532.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/4.0.249.89 Safari/532.5
Oh, I recently found this. Kenshi Muto is on the Debian installer team but he creates unofficial images with backported or latest kernels. This will be a big help!
http://kmuto.jp/debian/d-i/