lspci and wireless card

[davidcollins001]

Hi,

I have a wireless card that I got from a friend, I have plugged it into my mobo and have been looking around to see how to get it to work. I know that they can be a bit of a pain to install in linux, and I have heard of problems with debian too. When I run the command lspci -x I don't see anything that says wireless or belkin - does this mean that the card is dead?

Thanks

[Dapper Dan]

No, likely means it just has a different chipset than the manufacturer. Post here the output of:

lspci

AND

lspci -n

And that should give us what we need to identify exactly what you have.

If the machine has no wired connection, copy the output and paste it in an editor like gedit or kedit as a txt file, save it to usb stick or even floppy, boot to your other OS, and open and paste from there.

[davidcollins001]

Thanks for replying so quickly.

I have an intel ethernet card pluged in at the moment. I had a look at the wireless card, and here is a bit more info - it is a belking wireless G desktop card, f5d7000 version 2000, the chipset is broadcom bcm4306.

Thanks

root@debian:~# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
00:04.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:04.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:04.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
00:04.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
00:06.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AHA-2940U2/U2W / 7890/7891
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV11DDR [GeForce2 MX 100 DDR/200 DDR] (rev b2)

root@debian:~# lspci -n
00:00.0 0600: 8086:7190 (rev 03)
00:01.0 0604: 8086:7191 (rev 03)
00:04.0 0601: 8086:7110 (rev 02)
00:04.1 0101: 8086:7111 (rev 01)
00:04.2 0c03: 8086:7112 (rev 01)
00:04.3 0680: 8086:7113 (rev 02)
00:06.0 0100: 9005:001f
00:0a.0 0200: 8086:100e (rev 02)
01:00.0 0300: 10de:0111 (rev b2)

[Dapper Dan]

I see it's a pci device. I don't know why it's not showing up... Ubuntu already has the bcm43xx drivers included for it but I'm not sure if they are included in straight Debian. Do:

locate bcm43xx

...to see.

Many think this chipset works better with ndiswrapper. *scratches head* Maybe try it in a different pci slot to see if it gets picked up...

[davidcollins001]

I tried a different pci slot earlier today and I got the same result. I noticed that the light isn't coming on either!

I haven't tried ndiswrapper yet, but I will give that a go now

root@debian:~# locate bcm43xx
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval01.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval02.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval03.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval04.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval05.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval06.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval07.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval08.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval09.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_initval10.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_microcode11.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_microcode2.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_microcode4.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_microcode5.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_pcm4.fw
/lib/firmware/bcm43xx_pcm5.fw
/lib/modules/2.6.18-5-686/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx
/lib/modules/2.6.18-5-686/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.22-2-686/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx
/lib/modules/2.6.22-2-686/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx.ko
/root/linux-2.6.22/.tmp_versions/bcm43xx.mod
/root/linux-2.6.22/Documentation/networking/bcm43xx.txt
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx.ko.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx.mod.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_debugfs.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_dma.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_ethtool.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_ilt.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_leds.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_main.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_phy.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_pio.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_power.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_radio.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_sysfs.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_wx.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.bcm43xx_xmit.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/.built-in.o.cmd
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx.ko
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx.mod.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx.mod.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_debugfs.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_debugfs.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_debugfs.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_dma.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_dma.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_dma.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_ethtool.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_ethtool.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_ethtool.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_ilt.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_ilt.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_ilt.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_leds.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_leds.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_leds.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_main.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_main.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_main.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_phy.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_phy.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_phy.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_pio.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_pio.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_pio.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_power.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_power.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_power.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_radio.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_radio.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_radio.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_sysfs.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_sysfs.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_sysfs.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_wx.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_wx.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_wx.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_xmit.c
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_xmit.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx_xmit.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/built-in.o
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/Kconfig
/root/linux-2.6.22/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/Makefile
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx/debug.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx/dma
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx/dma.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx/dma/and
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx/dma/and/pio
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx/dma/and/pio/mode.h
/root/linux-2.6.22/include/config/bcm43xx/pio.h

[Dapper Dan]

Thing is, it's not showing up at all, so you might be right about it being dead. Maybe that's why your friend gave it to you... Anyway, try this. From the command line do:

modprobe bcm43xx

and press enter. If no errors, do:

lsmod

and see if bcm43xx show up. If so, do:

iwconfig

See if your wireless device is listed.

[davidcollins001]

Thankyou for walking me through this process. I have just tried ndiswrapper and no luck so I think that the card is dead!

root@debian:~# lsmod | grep bcm43xx
bcm43xx               416704  0 
firmware_class          9504  1 bcm43xx
ieee80211softmac       27232  1 bcm43xx
ieee80211              31592  2 bcm43xx,ieee80211softmac

root@debian:~# iwconfig 
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

[davidcollins001]

Hi,

I realise that it has been a while since my last post, but I have been working away at this problem!

I decided to buy a cheap wireless card from amazon to start again with. I plugged it in and tried to get it to work to no avail, so I sent it back and got a replacement, which appeared not to work also. My housemate let me borrow his wirless card and let me plug my cards into his computer.

On my computer, lspci didn't show up, but "lshw -C network" showed that the wireless card was plugged in. It took me a bit of time to get it working (there seems to be a problem with the ralink driver in Debian). I now have that working

On my housemates computer, running ubuntu live, ifconfig -a and iwconfig show both cards working and present, and also lspci shows that they are both there. One is registered as using bcm43xx and the other ar2413, drivers.

This is really confusing?? Any help that anyone can offer I would much appreciate since I have 2 wireless cards that work - but not in my computer - and my housemates wireless card that does work on my computer!