Media keys and keyboard backlight on laptops
Install and enable pbbuttonsd:
# xbps-install pbbuttonsd
# ln -s /etc/sv/pbbuttonsd /var/service/
Right click emulation
Install and enable mouseemu:
# xbps-install mouseemu
# ln -s /etc/sv/mouseemu /var/service/
Middle click defaults to F10, right click to F11. Scrolling modifier defaults to Alt.
Wireless networking
The b43 driver is usually used. Unfortunately, the firmware for that is not redistributable. Our templates collection ships some templates which you can use to build your own firmware packages.
Using void-packages
You will need to set up void-packages. Follow the standard instructions, using our void-ppc fork. The condensed version would be:
# xbps-install base-devel git
$ git clone https://github.com/void-ppc/void-packages.git
$ cd void-packages
$ ./xbps-src binary-bootstrap
Follow the official documentation for xbps-src usage for more information.
Enable restricted packages:
$ echo XBPS_ALLOW_RESTRICTED=yes >> etc/conf
Then build the appropriate firmware package:
$ ./xbps-src pkg b43-firmware
or:
$ ./xbps-src pkg b43-firmware-classic
Whether you should use b43-firmware (version 6.x.x.x) or b43-firmware-classic (version 5.x.x) depends on the wireless card you have. First, find out which one it is:
$ lspci | grep Wireless
The output may be something like (this is from a 2005 PowerBook G4 15″):
0001:10:12.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 03)
If you have one of BCM4306 rev.3 (this is the above), BCM4311, BCM4312 or BCM4318 rev.2, you should use b43-firmware-classic. If you have a BCM4331, you should use b43-firmware. In other cases, you should probably be able to use either.
Install the firmware:
# xbps-install -R hostdir/binpkgs/nonfree b43-firmware
or:
# xbps-install -R hostdir/binpkgs/nonfree b43-firmware-classic
If one doesn’t work for you, try the other.
Using b43-fwcutter manually
If you don’t want to clone the void-packages repository for some reason, you can always set it up manually. First, read the section above anyway; it contains useful information about compatibility. Then install b43-fwcutter:
# xbps-install b43-fwcutter
Make a dedicated directory:
$ mkdir broadcom_fw && cd broadcom_fw
Then fetch the firmware. This is for b43-firmware:
$ xbps-uhelper fetch http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-6.30.163.46.tar.bz2
or for b43-firmware-classic:
$ xbps-uhelper fetch http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2
You’re free to use any other tool you want to fetch it (wget, curl, etc).
Extract it:
$ tar xf broadcom-wl-*.tar.bz2
And finally use the cutter to extract the firmware. For b43-firmware:
# b43-fwcutter -w /usr/lib/firmware broadcom-wl-*.wl_apsta.o
Or for b43-firmware-classic:
# b43-fwcutter -w /usr/lib/firmware linux/wl_apsta.o
This will make sure to place the firmware in the appropriate location. After that, just reboot and wireless network should just work, but don’t expect it to be fast 🙂
If you need to remove it later, just
# rm -rf /usr/lib/firmware/b43
Particularly you will need to do that when switching versions, as you should not install two conflicting versions at the same time.
Audio
By default, it might seem like audio “doesn’t work”. This is not actually true, it’s just that PCM is muted by default.
To remedy this, install alsa-utils:
# xbps-install alsa-utils
Then open alsamixer. Press the F6 key to switch the card to something like SoundByLayout; if you’re using plain ALSA, you might not have to switch anything, but PulseAudio will show its own mixer first.
Then once you see the PCM slider (you might have to scroll a little to the right), up its level, it’ll probably be at 0 by default. Don’t up it too much, or you will introduce distortion; it seems 80 is the maximum safe value.
Audio should work afterwards and you can change the volume using the Master slider or using PulseAudio or whichever other solution you like. Don’t get confused by there being just one output instead of separate ones for headphones and speakers; automatic jack sensing works and it will switch depending on if there’s anything plugged in.
