BCMFW(8)

📦 version 15.1, in freebsd 14.5, freebsd 15.1

💖 BCMFW(8) — the bcmfw manual, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because today we're talking about bcmfw from the System Manager's Manual, and honestly? she's niche, she's specific, and she only talks to one very particular little chip. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

bcmfw — the girl whose whole entire job is loading firmware for Broadcom BCM2033 Bluetooth USB devices. that's it. that's the gig. 💅

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

bcmfw [-h] -f firmware_file_name -m mini-driver_file_name -n device_name

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so the bcmfw utility downloads the mini-driver and firmware files you specified to the device you specified. like, it's a handoff. you bring the files, you bring the device, she makes the introduction. ✨

⚠️ heads up: this utility will only work with Broadcom BCM2033 chip based Bluetooth USB devices. no cap. it's not flexible, she knows what she likes.

the identification is currently based on the USB vendor ID/product ID pair. specifically:

  • the vendor ID should be 0x0a5c (USB_VENDOR_BROADCOM)
  • the product ID should be 0x2033

so yes, this is a vibe check at the USB descriptor level. if your device doesn't match, she's not interested 😭

okay and here's the part where i have to be the bearer of bad news: due to copyright issues, the author will no longer provide mini-driver and firmware files for the device. periodt. you have to go get them yourself, bestie. these files can be obtained from the Linux BlueZ bluez-firmware package.

visit http://www.bluez.org/download.html for details. 👑

the author is using the following files from the bluez-firmware-1.0 package:

MD5 (BCM2033-MD.hex) = 5580317158d07fc4ace90af04f8e1c73
MD5 (BCM2033-FW.bin) = b4e142b3272cfe5a84b32fda6b4b032f

like, those are the exact checksums. iconic of them to include receipts, honestly. 🧾💖

💅 OPTIONS 💅

the options are as follows:

  • -f firmware_file_name — specify firmware file name for download.
  • -h — display usage message and exit. your classic "help me help you" moment 🙈
  • -m mini-driver_file_name — specify mini-driver file name for download.
  • -n device_name — specify device name.

🦋 FILES 🦋

  • BCM2033-MD.hex — mini-driver image.
  • BCM2033-FW.bin — firmware image.
  • /dev/ubtbcmfwN.EE — endpoint EE of device N.

🌈 EXIT STATUS 🌈

the bcmfw utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs. simple. clean. we love a binary outcome 🎀

⭐ EXAMPLES ⭐

to download the firmware into the /dev/ubtbcmfw0 device:

bcmfw -n ubtbcmfw0 -m BCM2033-MD.hex -f BCM2033-FW.bin

look at her go. main character energy fr fr 🔥

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

go read those too, iykyk 💜

🍓 AUTHORS 🍓

Maksim Yevmenkin <m_evmenkin@yahoo.com> — thank you for your service 🫡

💀 BUGS 💀

most likely. please report if found.

like... that's the whole section. "most likely." the confidence is nonexistent and honestly? relatable. if you find one, please report it 🙏

and that's the page, bestie!! 💖

<cute sign-off> this iconic little slice of the System Manager's Manual is brought to you by the Debian crew, dated July 15, 2025 — she's giving vintage hardware support with a fresh timestamp, and we're obsessed 🌸✨💅 </cute sign-off>

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