Dennis HilkLinux diagnosticsDE

Wi-Fi adapters

Broadcom BCM43236 USB FullMAC family

A Broadcom FullMAC radio over USB with a chip-revision-specific 43236B firmware branch and a re-enumeration stage.

Editorial source review: Share public profileOpen in the identification tool
On this page
  1. Overview & identity
  2. Driver & binding
  3. Firmware
  4. Read-only diagnostics
  5. Limitations & related issues
  6. References

Overview & identity

0a5c:bd17 is the BRCM_USB_43236_DEVICE_ID entry. The loader selects firmware after reading the actual chip and revision; the product pair alone is not that complete observation.

Curated identifiers
usb 0a5c:bd17

A numeric match establishes a candidate family within the reviewed evidence. Marketing names, board variants, subsystem conditions and successful operation remain separate questions.

Driver & binding

brcmfmac handles the USB transport and distinguishes pre-download from already-running firmware identities. The 43236B filename is a checked revision mapping example.

  • brcmfmac — kernel driver/module candidate

Detected, bound, operational: learn the difference

Firmware

Host-loaded firmware required

The firmware mapping is chip-specific. Board NVRAM and optional regulatory data, where listed, depend on the detected platform and loader result.

Checked examples or filename branches, not a complete installation list:

  • brcm/brcmfmac43236b.bin

Inspect firmware packaging on your distribution

Read-only diagnostics

Run one displayed command at a time. Replace uppercase placeholders with the affected device, interface or module from your own output. Commands are never executed here. Read-only output can still contain private identifiers.

Read USB interface binding

lsusb -t

Locate the port of this adapter in the USB tree. Driver identifies an interface binding; a vendor/device pair alone does not. Reading the tree normally needs no root privileges.

Read firmware metadata

modinfo -F firmware MODULE

Replace MODULE with brcmfmac or the actual candidate module in your report. Metadata lists declared filenames; it does not prove a file was loaded. This query needs no root privileges.

Read existing Wi-Fi association

iw dev INTERFACE link

Replace INTERFACE with the wireless interface from iw dev. Association and rate are observations, not a throughput or firmware test. This query normally needs no root privileges.

Limitations & related issues

A USB ID may change during initialization. The source maps only selected chip revisions to this blob; do not assume every Broadcom USB device uses it.

These guides are linked for relevant observations, not as known defects of every device in this family.

Choose a hardware diagnostic workflow · Inspect a log excerpt in Fix Lab

References

Source review records a checked implementation or document, not a reproduced hardware test. Version-specific tables do not establish a minimum kernel or guaranteed operation.