Using wicd i can connect only with a trick( enter hidden ssid, wicd-curses shows nothing, but shows after refresh). It should be a regression, because with older kernels (I don't remember version) I had no such problems. I don't have this problem with card with ralink chip for example. But 3 laptops with broadcom cards (and b43 driver) have the same problem.
Created attachment 107322 [details] lspci
Created attachment 107326 [details] dmesg|grep b43
Your dmesg output is completely normal. The usual reason for difficulty in connecting to hidden networks is caused by the code that controls the network. In this case, that is wicd. Does wicd produce a log file? If so, post this. What kind of encryption do you use? If wpa_supplicant is in use, what does its log say? I do not see a kernel version listed for your problem. My experience is that hidden SSIDs are much more trouble than the miniscule increase in security. A strong WPA2 passphrase is a much better choice. Besides the connection problem such as you are experiencing, you will suffer from increased contention on your selected channel as the people setting up other networks in your area will not see your network.
I think this is not a wicd problem. I have 2 AP's with hidden ssids: without encryption and with WPA2. With both i have the same problem. I also can't connect to hidden network using iwconfig. If ssid is not hidden then everything is fine. Kernel version(current uname -a): Linux nb2 3.10.9-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed Aug 21 13:49:35 CEST 2013 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Created attachment 107334 [details] wicd.log
can be the same bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1142385
Your wicd log only shows that you need to connect manually, which is what I expect with a hidden SSID. Using NetworkManager, I was able to connect to an unencrypted network with a hidden SSID using b43 from kernel 3.11.0-rc7+ from the mainline git tree. This response was posted using that connection.
Could you please make your text postings use a filename with .txt or .dat ending to the name? Without that, I cannot view the attachment in the browser, and it must be downloaded first. That is an annoyance.
With NetworkManager and the NM applet for KDE, b43 will automatically connect to an AP with a hidden SSID as long as the "Connect automatically" is checked. I am using the latest kernel from Torvalds' mainline git repo. The results of "git describe" are "v3.11-rc7-94-gfa17604". Are you sure the problem is not with wicd?
I'm not 100% sure, but I have an another card (rt2500) and with this card wicd works fine. After start, wicd-curses with doesn't display hidden networks (which are already added) in b43 case. With rt2500 wicd shows both my hidden networks and connects automatically. Both systems are arch linux current with the same kernel and wicd versions.
Created attachment 107375 [details] wicd with b43 and rt2500
Created attachment 107376 [details] wicd log with rt2500
Hello :) Seems it was fixed in 3.13 kernel (at least with 3.13.5 after distro kernel update). This bug can be closed. Thanks!
This could be a duplicate of #57581 then.
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 57581 ***