Wirelss Card Not Detected (Yes, another one!)

[freeknowledge]

Greetings,
I am having difficulty with my wireless since switching to fedora. I don't know if the wireless card is even being detected. Below is the output from the WirelessSetup script:

============ lspci ============
00:00.0 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation C51 Host Bridge [10de:02f0] (rev a2)
00:00.1 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 0 [10de:02fa] (rev a2)
00:00.2 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 1 [10de:02fe] (rev a2)
00:00.3 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 5 [10de:02f8] (rev a2)
00:00.4 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 4 [10de:02f9] (rev a2)
00:00.5 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation C51 Host Bridge [10de:02ff] (rev a2)
00:00.6 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 3 [10de:027f] (rev a2)
00:00.7 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 2 [10de:027e] (rev a2)
00:02.0 PCI bridge [0604]: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge [10de:02fc] (rev a1)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:03.0 PCI bridge [0604]: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge [10de:02fd] (rev a1)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:05.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation C51 [Geforce 6150 Go] [10de:0244] (rev a2)
Kernel modules: nvidiafb
00:09.0 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Host Bridge [10de:0270] (rev a2)
00:0a.0 ISA bridge [0601]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 LPC Bridge [10de:0260] (rev a3)
00:0a.1 SMBus [0c05]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 SMBus [10de:0264] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: nForce2_smbus
Kernel modules: i2c-nforce2
00:0a.3 Co-processor [0b40]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 PMU [10de:0271] (rev a3)
00:0b.0 USB Controller [0c03]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller [10de:026d] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
Kernel modules: ohci-hcd
00:0b.1 USB Controller [0c03]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller [10de:026e] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
Kernel modules: ehci-hcd
00:0d.0 IDE interface [0101]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 IDE [10de:0265] (rev f1)
Kernel driver in use: pata_amd
Kernel modules: pata_acpi, ata_generic, pata_amd
00:0e.0 IDE interface [0101]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller [10de:0266] (rev f1)
Kernel driver in use: sata_nv
Kernel modules: pata_acpi, sata_nv, ata_generic
00:10.0 PCI bridge [0604]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 PCI Bridge [10de:026f] (rev a2)
00:10.1 Audio device [0403]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 High Definition Audio [10de:026c] (rev a2)
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:14.0 Bridge [0680]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Ethernet Controller [10de:0269] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: forcedeth
Kernel modules: forcedeth
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration [1022:1100]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map [1022:1101]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller [1022:1102]
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control [1022:1103]
Kernel driver in use: k8temp
Kernel modules: k8temp
07:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832]
Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
Kernel modules: firewire-ohci
07:05.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 19)
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci
07:05.2 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller [1180:0843] (rev 0a)
Kernel driver in use: ricoh-mmc
Kernel modules: ricoh_mmc
07:05.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 05)
07:05.4 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller [1180:0852] (rev ff)

============ lsusb ============
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0c45:62c0 Microdia Sonix USB 2.0 Camera
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

============ lsmod ============
Module Size Used by
fuse 60992 2
bridge 56352 0
stp 10756 1 bridge
bnep 21888 2
rfcomm 43680 4
l2cap 28544 16 bnep,rfcomm
bluetooth 60068 5 bnep,rfcomm,l2cap
sunrpc 191080 3
ipt_REJECT 11392 2
nf_conntrack_ipv4 17424 2
iptable_filter 11392 1
ip_tables 24848 1 iptable_filter
ip6t_REJECT 12160 2
xt_tcpudp 11520 2
nf_conntrack_ipv6 22984 2
xt_state 10624 4
nf_conntrack 65952 3 nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack_ipv6,xt_state
ip6table_filter 11136 1
ip6_tables 26128 1 ip6table_filter
x_tables 25864 6 ipt_REJECT,ip_tables,ip6t_REJECT,xt_tcpudp,xt_stat e,ip6_tables
cpufreq_ondemand 15504 1
powernow_k8 24836 1
freq_table 12928 2 cpufreq_ondemand,powernow_k8
loop 23692 0
dm_multipath 23832 0
scsi_dh 14980 1 dm_multipath
ipv6 288040 30 ip6t_REJECT,nf_conntrack_ipv6
sr_mod 23732 0
cdrom 40360 1 sr_mod
snd_hda_intel 480160 2
snd_seq_dummy 11396 0
snd_seq_oss 39360 0
snd_seq_midi_event 14848 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 62096 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 15252 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss 52224 0
snd_mixer_oss 23168 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 85768 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
video 28564 0
output 11264 1 video
snd_timer 30480 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
firewire_ohci 30468 0
uvcvideo 62600 0
firewire_core 45632 1 firewire_ohci
snd_page_alloc 16656 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
sdhci_pci 16128 0
snd_hwdep 16392 1 snd_hda_intel
sdhci 24836 1 sdhci_pci
k8temp 13056 0
snd 69240 14 snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,sn d_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd _timer,snd_hwdep
mmc_core 56384 1 sdhci
crc_itu_t 10240 1 firewire_core
compat_ioctl32 16512 1 uvcvideo
i2c_nforce2 15624 0
hwmon 11064 1 k8temp
wmi 14912 0
ac 13320 0
battery 21000 0
ricoh_mmc 12416 0
joydev 19328 0
i2c_core 29216 1 i2c_nforce2
videodev 40704 2 uvcvideo,compat_ioctl32
forcedeth 61840 0
pata_amd 21252 0
pcspkr 11008 0
soundcore 14992 1 snd
v4l1_compat 21380 2 uvcvideo,videodev
sg 40656 0
dm_snapshot 24648 0
dm_zero 10240 0
dm_mirror 25472 0
dm_log 17796 1 dm_mirror
dm_mod 61408 10 dm_multipath,dm_snapshot,dm_zero,dm_mirror,dm_log
pata_acpi 13056 0
sata_nv 33036 2
ata_generic 13956 0
libata 158912 4 pata_amd,pata_acpi,sata_nv,ata_generic
sd_mod 40760 3
scsi_mod 153304 5 scsi_dh,sr_mod,sg,libata,sd_mod
crc_t10dif 10112 1 sd_mod
ext3 130960 2
jbd 56872 1 ext3
mbcache 16004 1 ext3
uhci_hcd 30752 0
ohci_hcd 31644 0
ehci_hcd 41612 0

============ dmesg-firmware ============

============ kernel version ============
2.6.27.24-78.2.53.fc9.x86_64


Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[waterhead]

You seem to be correct, as I don't see any wireless device in the system info that you provided.

Is there a switch to turn it on/off? If it is off it may not have any power to it. If there is no power, it won't be detected.

More info on the PC and the type of wireless may help too.

[freeknowledge]

The wireless switch was on when the script was run.

However, the indicator light does not change when the switch is turned on (as it did before with Windows).

The machine is an HP Pavilion dv9205ca laptop equipped with a Broadcom 802.11 b/g WLAN card.

Hope this helps.

[waterhead]

Was the switch left on when you shut down Windows? If not, try doing that. Also try the opposite, turn it off before you shut down Windows. You can look in the BIOS for any wireless settings, like enabling wake-on-LAN for the wireless card.

If the card is not detected, it can't be used. I know of no way to "force" it to be detected.

[daark.child]

The wireless switch was on when the script was run.

However, the indicator light does not change when the switch is turned on (as it did before with Windows).

The machine is an HP Pavilion dv9205ca laptop equipped with a Broadcom 802.11 b/g WLAN card.

Hope this helps.

On my HP G7000 the wireless indicator light does not work with Linux although the wireless itself works. What version of Fedora did you install?

[freeknowledge]

I installed Fedora 9 after contracting a virus on Windows XP.

I may have left the wireless switch off during installation. Could this have affected the detection of the device? If so, would I have to reinstall Fedora? Would this have to be a fresh install or could I get away with upgrading to Fedora 10?

Alternatively, I noticed on one of these threads that there is a firmware upgrade for the Broadcom modem. Would installing this help?

[waterhead]

Linux goes through a hardware detection cycle everytime it boots. As long as the switch is turned on before you boot, it should be good enough. Saying that, sometimes laptop manufacturers have windows drivers that can cripple a wireless for another operating system. This could be the case with yours.

Either way, a Broadcom wireless will need firmware to work correctly. This is not an upgrade, but standard installation procedure. The firmware is not included by default because it is considered to be proprietary software.

To make firmware installation a bit easier in Fedora, I have made a .rpm file that will install the firmware. You can download it with this link:

Linux Forums

Install it with this command, but first gain root privileges using the su command:

rpm -ivh b43-firmware-4.150.10.5-0.noarch.rpm

You can save a copy of this for any future Fedora installs.

[freeknowledge]

Installed firmware and driver and still no luck.

Is this the end of the road?

[waterhead]

Installed firmware and driver and still no luck.

Is this the end of the road?

Driver? If this is Broadcom wireless, as you previously reported, the driver is in the kernel. No driver installation needed.

Did you re-install Linux? Originally the wireless was not showing up when the hardware was probed with the lspci andlsusb commands. Has that changed at all? You can try different LiveCD versions of the major Linux distros, just to see if your wireless card is even recognized. It still won't work without the firmware, but getting it recognized seems to be the major problem here.

[freeknowledge]

The hardware is still not recognised by lspci or lsusb.

Will try reinstalling Linux.

The help is much appreciated. Thank you.