WiFi FAILURE To CONNECT: Linksys BCM4303

[only1egg]

Hello Fellow Linux Groupies,

Being this is my first post to the group, please pardon my ignorance of any protocols or procedures here. Having built and worked on PCs for many years, in the past I’ve always been able to solve my own problems by trolling through forums like this one, at least until now.

Over the past couple years, I’ve successfully converted four household PCs one by one over to Linux OS, usually dual booting between Windows, and the latest version of Ubuntu. The last one to be switched over is my son’s AMD Athlon 1000mhz PC, with 524mb RAM, running under MS Windows 2000, an OS frankly older than he is.

When beginning this process, the machine still held its antiquated ASUS 802b PCI card, which worked fine under MS Windows drivers, but which I was unable to get functioning under Ubuntu. Then went on to try Linux MINT, OpenSUSE, PCLinuxOS, and Puppy in turn, and all failed. Each one installed and dual booted under GRUB, and using NDISwrapper was able to load Windows drivers, and usually get them working… once. Then after the first reboot, in one way or another each system would either crash, lockup, or simply fail to respond. This was followed by then dropping in the GParted CD to wipe the OS, and start over again. Ultimately, I had to admit defeat, realizing this ASUS card was the source of the problem.

So I swapped the ASUS to a friend for a Linksys WiFi card, with a Broadcom BCM 4303 chipset, mainly because posts in various forums suggested it might be more compatible under Linux. Reinstalled Ubuntu once more, and attempted to use NDISwrapper again, seemingly with mixed results. Digging deeper, found suggestions pointing towards using b43-fwcutter, with b43legacy drivers, having some success… at least the system didn’t crash on reboot. Kept at this for many hours, searching through forum posts, tweaking settings, and seem to finally have a stable Ubuntu install. The Linksys/Broadcom WiFi card has been configured, and is currently able to recognize the two old Wireless Access Points I have in the house. HOWEVER, for some reason, it still is unable to connect to the internet.

Oh, this WiFi card does repeatedly try to connect, switching back and forth between access points, until finally giving up and quitting, without making a connection. Have compared settings on this card when running under Windows 2000, as well as other WiFi enabled PCs around the house, and still find no faults within the Network Configuration. The card just scans for a very long time, then finally gives up… Which is kind of where I am now myself. After several days of trying to get this old PC networked with Ubuntu, I am about at wits end here, and thus am turning to the “Wise Ones” among you for guidance.

Would welcome any assistance you UberGeeks might be willing to provide, as I am comfortable staring into the terminal, and would run any line command test suggested, then post the results back to the forum. Presently I can also download any needed updates into this box via an Ethernet connection here in my office, but it is impractical to run a cable all the way to the boy’s room. Frankly… I believe that I’m now very close to finally being able to return possession of this old PC to my son, allowing me to take back the HP Pavilion laptop for my own use. Ultimately, I am really looking forward to introducing him to the joys of Ubuntu Linux, just as soon as I am able to provide him with a functional and stable wireless internet connection on his own computer.

So… Anybody want to take on this Wireless Networking challenge? Anyone…? Thanks in advance for any good ideas!

Sincerely
Only 1 Egg

[MikeTbob]

Hello and Welcome.
Try starting here and post your results please.
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/wir...tart-here.html

[previso]

BCM cards have an infinite number of iterations. Please specify model of Linksys card, we'll deal with the BCM chip from there.

[only1egg]

BCM cards have an infinite number of iterations. Please specify model of Linksys card, we'll deal with the BCM chip from there.

Once Again... Greetings,

So, down to particulars then. Fortunately, I am able to hook this machine up to the internet via standard ethernet connection, which does make this whole process much easier than it otherwise might. If its the raw data that's needed, then here we go!

Specifically, as for the Wireless LAN PCI Controller card itself:

On the 'outside' label is shown: Linksys WMP 11, v 2.2
But the 'inside' chipset contains: Broadcom BCM 4303 802.11b, 14e4:4301 Rev 2

Early attempts to make this card work came up with the message of "Firmware Needed" which led me to the b43legacy driver. After this was installed with the b43-fwcutter, then back again to NDISwrapper, the system request for the "Firmware" no longer came up. The card was recognised by the system, but still fails to connect to either of my wireless internet Access Points.



Now, as for all the endless lines of test results, would be:

Results for: lspci -knn

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 735 Host [1039:0735] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-sis
	Kernel modules: sis-agp
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge (AGP) [1039:0001]
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:02.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS85C503/5513 (LPC Bridge) [1039:0018]
	Kernel modules: i2c-sis630
00:02.1 SMBus [0c05]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961/2 SMBus Controller [1039:0016]
	Kernel modules: i2c-sis96x
00:02.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller [1039:7001] (rev 07)
	Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller [1039:7001]
	Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:02.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller [1039:7001] (rev 07)
	Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller [1039:7001]
	Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:02.5 IDE interface [0101]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE] [1039:5513] (rev d0)
	Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS5513 EIDE Controller (A,B step) [1039:5513]
	Kernel driver in use: pata_sis
00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Sound Controller [1039:7012] (rev a0)
	Subsystem: C-Media Electronics Inc CMI9739(A) on ECS K7SOM+ motherboard [13f6:0300]
	Kernel driver in use: Intel ICH
	Kernel modules: snd-intel8x0
00:03.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet [1039:0900] (rev 90)
	Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 10/100 Ethernet Adapter onboard [Asus P4SC-EA] [1039:0900]
	Kernel driver in use: sis900
	Kernel modules: sis900
00:0d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller [1106:3038] (rev 61)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller [1106:3038]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:0d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller [1106:3038] (rev 61)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller [1106:3038]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:0d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 [1106:3104] (rev 63)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 [1106:3104]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:11.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4303 802.11b Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4301] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Linksys WMP11 v2.7 802.11b Wireless-B PCI Adapter [1737:4301]
	Kernel driver in use: ndiswrapper
	Kernel modules: ssb
00:13.0 USB Controller [0c03]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller [1106:3038] (rev 50)
	Subsystem: First International Computer, Inc. VA-502 Mainboard [0925:1234]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:13.1 USB Controller [0c03]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller [1106:3038] (rev 50)
	Subsystem: First International Computer, Inc. VA-502 Mainboard [0925:1234]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:13.2 USB Controller [0c03]: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 [1106:3104] (rev 51)
	Subsystem: First International Computer, Inc. Device [0925:1234]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon RV200 QW [Radeon 7500] [1002:5157]
	Subsystem: ATI Technologies Inc Device [1002:0f2a]
	Kernel driver in use: radeon
	Kernel modules: radeon, radeonfb

Results for: lsmod

Module                  Size  Used by
binfmt_misc             6599  1 
radeon                829255  3 
snd_intel8x0           25664  2 
snd_ac97_codec         99227  1 snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus                1014  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm                71475  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
snd_seq_midi            4588  0 
ttm                    56633  1 radeon
snd_rawmidi            17783  1 snd_seq_midi
drm_kms_helper         30200  1 radeon
snd_seq_midi_event      6047  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                47174  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
ppdev                   5556  0 
ndiswrapper           184207  0 
snd_timer              19067  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
drm                   168060  5 radeon,ttm,drm_kms_helper
snd_seq_device          5744  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
parport_pc             26058  1 
snd                    49038  11 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
sis_agp                 4123  1 
i2c_algo_bit            5168  1 radeon
soundcore                880  1 snd
snd_page_alloc          7120  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
shpchp                 29886  0 
i2c_sis96x              3196  0 
i2c_sis630              4865  0 
agpgart                32011  3 ttm,drm,sis_agp
lp                      7342  0 
parport                31492  3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
usbhid                 36882  0 
hid                    67742  1 usbhid
sis900                 17316  0 
floppy                 54311  0 
mii                     4425  1 sis900
usb_storage            40204  0

Then there's: dmesg | grep firmware:

[  884.001879] ndiswrapper (set_iw_encr_mode:708): setting encryption mode to 0 failed (00010003)
[  929.069548] ndiswrapper (set_iw_encr_mode:708): setting encryption mode to 0 failed (00010003)
[  934.105662] ndiswrapper (set_iw_encr_mode:708): setting encryption mode to 0 failed (00010003)
[  980.069743] ndiswrapper (set_iw_encr_mode:708): setting encryption mode to 0 failed (00010003)
[  985.104218] ndiswrapper (set_iw_encr_mode:708): setting encryption mode to 0 failed (00010003)
[ 1031.094667] ndiswrapper (set_iw_encr_mode:708): setting encryption mode to 0 failed (00010003)
[ 1036.116926] ndiswrapper (set_iw_encr_mode:708): setting encryption mode to 0 failed (00010003)
[ 1082.054145] ndiswrapper (set_iw_encr_mode:708): setting encryption mode to 0 failed (00010003)

And finally: uname -r:

2.6.35-28-generic

Please feel free to chew on all this data for awhile, and then get back to me with what is doubtless obvious to the properly Linux initiated, but what has blown right over my pointy little head. Looking forward to the day when I too can spot the proverbial needle in the coding haystack, and can offer my assistance to some other less fortunate Linux newbie.

Thanks in advance for the assistance of one and all, told my boy over dinner that he just might have his own computer back sometime soon. He was very excited at the prospect...

Regards,
Only 1 Egg

[previso]

Kernel driver in use: ndiswrapper
Kernel modules: ssb
Here's the problem: even though ndiswrapper is loaded, that darned ssb is taking over. Sometimes blacklisting ssb in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist does the trick.
Some solutions (Dell wifi is such a pain) : [ubuntu] fixing problems with ndiswrapper and ssb - Ubuntu Forums and [SOLVED] Broadcom wireless in Karmic (9.10) - Ubuntu Forums
I had my built in working, but after upgrading to n router, got an usb stick, and started all over again. :-#