RPI Zero 2W | Not all versions supported?

[dolfje]

I tried to compile nexmon for Raspberry Zero 2W, but it didn't work. After searching I noticed that it loaded the brcmfmac43436s-sdio version instead of the compiled brcmfmac43436-sdio. So I searched the internet and learned there are at least 2 versions of the wifi chip used:

• BCM43430/2 "brcm/brcmfmac43436-sdio"
• BCM43430/1 "brcm/brcmfmac43436s-sdio"

Nexmon only has support for brcmfmac43436-sdio
https://github.com/seemoo-lab/nexmon/tree/master/firmwares/bcm43436b0/9_88_4_65

I tried to copy the brcmfmac43436-sdio to brcmfmac43436s-sdio, but that didn't work.
This guy also had the same problem #564 (comment)

So does anybody has a clue for the next steps?

[dolfje]

So compiling and patching the brcmfmac43430-sdio in this branch and copying to brcmfmac43436s-sdio works

[jlinktu]

Hi @dolfje,
I assume the original firmware blob that gets loaded on your device is this one: brcmfmac43436s-sdio.bin.
According to the build-string that it contains, it is build against the bcm43430a1 ROM:

43430a1-roml/sdio-... Version: 7.45.96.s1 (gf031a129) CRC: 6670a1e Date: Wed 2023-06-14 07:28:04 CST Ucode Ver: 1043.20744 FWID: 01-70bd2af7

I think the labeling of the firmware file as 43436 is simply wrong / misleading. It should be named 43430.

This also explains why using a patched version of a brcmfmac43430-sdio firmware works for you.

As a side note:
The brcmfmac43436-sdio.bin (note the missing s) that gets loaded on the other versions of the RPi Zero 2 W is build against the 43436b0 ROM. Hence, in this case the naming makes sense.