Ubuntu – Difference between packages bcmwl-kernel-source and broadcom-sta-dkms

broadcomdkmsdrivers

I have a Broadcom Corporation BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter. I always install bcmwl-kernel-source and dkms to make this wireless device work.

However, I see that the package broadcom-sta-dkms has almost the same files.

The descriptions of these two packages are also confusingly similar (both referencing "Broadcom", "driver", "source", "wireless", and "STA"):

  1. bcmwl-kernel-source

    Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA wireless driver source

  2. broadcom-sta-dkms

    dkms source for the Broadcom STA Wireless driver

What is the dfference between bcmwl-kernel-source and broadcom-sta-dkms, and which should I be installing?

For quick reference, here is a list of files that have the same name in both packages :

802.11.h
802.1d.h
bcmdefs.h
bcmendian.h
bcmeth.h
bcmevent.h
bcmip.h
bcmutils.h
bcmwifi_channels.h
bcmwifi_rates.h
broadcom-sta-dkms
broadcom-sta-dkms.conf
broadcom-sta.ids
dkms.conf
epivers.h
ethernet.h
ieee80211_radiotap.h
linux_osl.c
linux_osl.h
linuxver.h
osl.h
packed_section_end.h
packed_section_start.h
pcicfg.h
siutils.h
tkhash.h
typedefs.h
wlc_ethereal.h
wl_cfg80211_hybrid.c
wl_cfg80211_hybrid.h
wlc_hybrid.o_amd64
wlc_hybrid.o_i386
wlc_hybrid.o_shipped_x86_64
wlc_key.h
wlc_pub.h
wlc_types.h
wlc_utils.h
wlc_wowl.h
wl_dbg.h
wl_export.h
wlioctl.h
wl_iw.c
wl_iw.h
wl_linux.c
wl_linux.h
wpa.h

Best Answer

According to the Community Wiki for the Broadcom drivers states the following:

The propietary Broadcom STA Wireless driver is maintained upstream by Broadcom. As this driver is closed source, fixes in the driver itself may only be provided by Broadcom. As a convenience, Ubuntu offers two versions of this driver:

  1. The bcmwl-kernel-source package aims to offer a later version for a given release. Instructions for installation may be found later in this article.

  2. The broadcom-sta package aims to offer an earlier version for a given release. For further installation instructions, please see here.

The link above takes you to https://wiki.debian.org/wl which shows the compatible chipsets that the broadcom-sta driver support and installation instructions.

Hope this helps!

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