Linux Tablet?

Axios

BuzzPCSOS Found this might be worth checking
That should be all that is needed to get SDIO working. Linux will automatically poll the SDIO port once every second. Any devices that enumerate will appear in the sysfs folder /sys/bus/sdio. Provided Linux has the correct driver, and the driver has a compatibility string that matches the vendor and device IDs in /sys/bus/sdio, everything should Just Work.
Might let us know if its seeing the wifi correctly
I havent looked on my asus to see what it has.

BuzzPCSOS

Axios Inside the/sys/bus/sdio are 3 files and two folders.
drivers_autoprobe is empty, drivers_probe and uevent are locked but also appear to be empty.
The devices folder has three sub folders marked mmc1:001:# the contents looks like dummy files to me.
The drivers folder has two sub folders brcmfmac and btsdio. The btsdio folder has what looks like 3 empty dummy files in it. The brcmfmac folder contains a module folder which looks like it contains a lot.
What am I looking for here?

WetGeek

BuzzPCSOS

I routinely use Bluetooth to operate my Samsung phone. I have a mouse and keyboard that pair with three different devices, so #1 is my laptop, #2 is the TV streaming computer across the living room, and #3 is my smartphone, on a stand in front of my chair. I only use its USB-C port for charging.

Is there any chance that Bluetooth could help simplify your problems with multiple USB devices?

BuzzPCSOS

WetGeek I already use a Bluetooth mouse and am looking at various options for Bluetooth keyboards. Unfortunately external drives are where my heaviest external traffic is,
Also my tablet does not work with Bluetooth at bios level which is where I would want the most connections to peripherals.

Axios

BuzzPCSOS Ah ok it works like posted earlier looks like its not enumerating properly
so kernel or driver
Here is mine you got have the mmc folders the mmc in the driver folders will have alot in it (its the second screen shot)
if you dont have it wont work

Once its creating the mmc stuff properly it should work
Will press on later. (No Worries I love this stuff gives me something to do)
It enumerates the device first then the driver from what you said its seeing the device let me know what the driver folder
looks likes the mmc
If it turns out not looking like that its a driver issue but gives you a point of reference when trying drivers which is a big step in telling if stuff is loading properly.

WetGeek

BuzzPCSOS am looking at various options for Bluetooth keyboards

If you'll pardon a suggestion, look for the Artech brand of keyboards. I use their compact (no numpad) version that pairs with three devices, and costs less than $20 US on Amazon. They last for years, and allow me to type as easily as on a high-quality laptop.

BuzzPCSOS

Axios Thanks. My /sys/bus/sdio/drivers/brcmfmac folder does not have any of the mmc0:0001:# folders in it that you have.
At the moment I am running a fresh install without any additional drivers loaded for the WiFi so the no drivers theory certainly makes sense.
These drivers let me 'see' nearby networks but would not let me connect when I entered a WiFi password. Possibly some experimenting here could be worth a try.

Axios

BuzzPCSOS I would try it like this since this guy got it to work (Dunno if you have) I know you got those drivers. (If anything do a fresh install dont mess with anything and install drivers directly before anything else)
1 download wifi drivers on usb and extrac
2 install manjaro (dont plug usb wifi in )(dont want it plugged in to confuse things it shouldnt but who knows at this point)
3 install the drivers from step 1 (use his commands since they worked)
4 see if it works
5 If it wrote that stuff doesnt work we have dig little deeper

Just at this point kinda how I see it
(Just some info)

BuzzPCSOS

Axios well seeing as I have just installed from scratch I did not fancy starting again just yet.
So I ran the live environment instead and patched it with the brazen winter drivers. WiFi worked and all the local networks showed up but as soon as I tried to connect by entering a password I just got "Incorrect password for network ### please try again"
I know it's not a miss type because I can peek at password entered. Also same password works if I use it with a USB WiFi dongle.
So close and yet so far away.
I am pretty sure that the driver is right but there is another part not making the right connection, maybe because of a five years newer kernel. That's a long time in computer years.
Edit: Could this just be some other generic broadcom drivers getting in the way? I wonder if an install driver, uninstall driver, install driver sequence might clear the way to make the provided driver work properly. I remember there was a modprobe command to uninstall a specific driver. Might be worth a try seeing as with a live system boot I have an indefinitely resettable OS to experiment with.

Axios

BuzzPCSOS Delete the brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt
and sudo modprobe -r brcmfmac && sudo modprobe brcmfmac
Then see if it works
Did those entries show up in the directory?

Then if that didnt work try
cat /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/nvram-74b00bd9-805a-4d61-b51f-43268123d113 > /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt
and sudo modprobe -r brcmfmac && sudo modprobe brcmfmac

BuzzPCSOS

Axios Very late for me now, going to try this tomorrow.
So from a clean boot into live environment, do I need to install all parts of the driver including the brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt part and then delete it again or can I just avoid installing the brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt file in the first place?

Axios

BuzzPCSOS install the other 2 files leave that .txt out and try it and also the second part to if that dont work.
After researching Not sure if its even needed
The second example is taking the sys eufi nvram and copying to broadcom (From what I call tell my system is using
the eufi nvram)

This is just info I watched a video today she didnt really go into how she installed it but she had (Nobara)
running on a linx12x64 dont know if thats another avenue I dont know anything about it.
Just thought I would mention it

BuzzPCSOS

Axios Thanks again.
The .txt file seems to be an instruction file, without that the tablet does not enable the WiFi.
I tried a few other .txt files, one lifted from my working Windows WiFi driver and another from a post about Linx12x64 on a Ubuntu forum. None made any difference. I also compared the Windows driver .txt file with the brazenwinter file, they both appear to be very similar and have the same reference date 29/05/2015. I think the driver from brazenwinter might well have been a converted version of the Windows driver and therefore the right one for my tablet although that still doesn't explain why I cant enter a WiFi password.
I tried cat /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/nvram-74b00bd9-805a-4d61-b51f-43268123d113 > /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt which just returned permission denied.
I am going to try Nobora quickly and see what I get out of the box. I wonder how old the video featuring the Linx was. An old video with working WiFi could well point to built-in wireless getting broken by a Kernel update. Just a thought.

BuzzPCSOS

I hope this is the final fix.
Used the driver from brazenwinter and did the following running Nobara-40-KDE-2024-08-15.iso Live.
Unzipped the driver file and opened the files folder.
Used "Open Terminal here" command from the context menu.
In the terminal ran sudo cp 4345r6nvram.txt /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt and then sudo modprobe -r brcmfmac && sudo modprobe brcmfmac
That was it. The WiFi worked I entered the password and connection was established.
Running the installer now. I don't know if the patch will carry itself across to the installed version but it is as close as I have got.
I tried to run the same patch on the installed Manjero first but I seemed to have lost root for my user name. I didn't want to waste time trying to fix things so went ahead on Nobara install as I knew that it seemed to work there.
This should work on most up-to-date OS's and compatibility can be tested in the Live environment without committing to an install.
Many thanks @Axios you have been an absolute superstar, feeding me with new ideas and directions. If it wasn't for you I would still be using the USB dongle plugged in the only port it has.

Axios

BuzzPCSOS Ahh cool
Progress always makes one happy.
I guess biggest thing we know is it can work.
Stuff has to match with that file kernel and board if it dont shit happens..
Thats how it knows what drivers to use.
Seems from what you posted it was a file name issue Interesting

BuzzPCSOS

Turns out that the same fix did not work for Manjero so I will be keeping Nobara for the Linx 12x64.
At some time in the future I will have to try the patch on Solus Live but I think there was no support for battery status so that is less of a priority.
Many thanks to everyone who contributed with help, advice or an opinion, Although I didn't find a tablet that would work well on Solus I do have a fully working Linux powered tablet PC which I am very happy with.

Axios

BuzzPCSOS Just for your info I forgot something..lol

sudo cat /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/nvram-74b00bd9-805a-4d61-b51f-43268123d113 > /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt

BuzzPCSOS

Axios confused.
I tried cat /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/nvram-74b00bd9-805a-4d61-b51f-43268123d113 > /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt which just returned permission denied.
Anyhow now everything is working I'm not going to risk breaking it again. Updates took ages.
Really appreciated your efforts on this, I hope that some day I can return the gesture.

BuzzPCSOS

OK so this is my last post on the Linux Linx 12x64 WiFi fix, posting this just in case someone else ends up here after searching for a replacement OS for their Linx.
I finally used Fedora Workstation which has not been optimised for gaming like Nobara and runs much better on the Linx which is not a gaming machine.
Download the drivers from Github
Download Fedora Workstation, create your boot medium and run the Live environment. Don't try to install just yet.
Extract the drivers and copy the folder to the Documents folder on the Live environment.
Open the "files" folder. Right click and select "Open Terminal Here".
Write these two instructions into the terminal pressing enter after each entry.
sudo cp 4345r6nvram.txt /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt
sudo modprobe -r brcmfmac && sudo modprobe brcmfmac
You should now have networks available and can connect to the internet and carry on with the install.
You will need to run the same procedure again after rebooting into the installed environment to enable your WiFi one last time, after that everything should be fine. The only thing that obviously did not work was the camera - no great loss for me as it wasn't up to much anyway. Other cameras will work via the USB port if you really need one. On-screen keyboards are all configured to run straight away although sometimes you need to wait a moment for them to appear, it is only an Atom CPU after all. Battery life is more than ten hours and you can charge up via USB so an ideal computer to travel with.

Axios

BuzzPCSOS I think you be happier with fedora the camera doesnt work on mine either
never found a solution for it either but its something I dont use so nothing was lost.
(Cameras in tablets seem to be oddball ones)

Glad its working.

BuzzPCSOS

Axios Well I know the previous was meant to be my last post on this subject BUT....
If you are using Fedora workstation then ZRAM is enabled by default, the same as Solus. However SWAPPINESS in Solus is set to 100 as spoken about here, whereas in Fedora it is set to 60. I changed the value in Fedora to 100 which seems to have improved the feel and stability of this fairly low end tablet.
Try it out (resets after a reboot) sudo sysctl vm.swappiness=100
Or
Make a permanent change sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf
Then add the following at the bottom

# Disable swap read-ahead
vm.page-cluster = 0

# Be more proactive in swapping pages to zram
vm.swappiness = 100

I hope this makes the same positive improvement for you as it did for me.

EDIT: Improved the code.

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