Cannot connect to wifi. Please help. (newbie)

[gymilr]

I recently installed ubuntu 10.10 on my dell inspiron 1525. I've been using windows all my life so linux seems very confusing. It says that the firmware is missing for the driver. I dont know where to get it or how to install it (or anything else). any help would be greatly appreciated.

maybe this will help.

============ lspci ============
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 0c)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a02] (rev 0c)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a03] (rev 0c)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2834] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2835] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:283a] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:284b] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:283f] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2841] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 [8086:2847] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2830] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2831] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2832] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:2836] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2815] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller [8086:2850] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller [8086:2829] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: ahci
Kernel modules: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:283e] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel modules: i2c-i801
02:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832] (rev 05)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
Kernel modules: firewire-ohci, ohci1394
02:09.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 22)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci
02:09.2 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 12)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
02:09.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller [1180:0852] (rev 12)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: r852
Kernel modules: r852
09:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller [11ab:4354] (rev 12)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022f]
Kernel driver in use: sky2
Kernel modules: sky2
0b:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN Mini-Card [1028:000b]
Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
Kernel modules: ssb

============ lsusb ============
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 062a:6301 Creative Labs
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 154b:6545 PNY
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05a9:2640 OmniVision Technologies, Inc. OV2640 Webcam
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

============ lsmod ============
Module Size Used by
nls_iso8859_1 3261 1
nls_cp437 4931 1
vfat 9201 1
fat 48240 1 vfat
parport_pc 26058 0
ppdev 5556 0
binfmt_misc 6599 1
snd_hda_codec_idt 54887 1
snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi 9812 1
snd_hda_intel 22107 2
snd_hda_codec 87552 3 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi,snd_hda_ intel
snd_hwdep 5040 1 snd_hda_codec
i915 290938 3
arc4 1165 2
snd_pcm 71475 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
joydev 8735 0
snd_seq_midi 4588 0
drm_kms_helper 30200 1 i915
snd_rawmidi 17783 1 snd_seq_midi
b43 168681 0
snd_seq_midi_event 6047 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 47174 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
mac80211 231541 1 b43
drm 168054 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
snd_timer 19067 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 5744 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
uvcvideo 55847 0
r852 9536 0
dell_wmi 2852 0
sm_common 3285 1 r852
dell_laptop 5730 0
cfg80211 144470 2 b43,mac80211
nand 34905 2 r852,sm_common
nand_ids 2903 1 nand
nand_ecc 3938 1 nand
intel_agp 26360 2 i915
videodev 43098 1 uvcvideo
dcdbas 5402 1 dell_laptop
v4l1_compat 13359 2 uvcvideo,videodev
snd 49006 13 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_ hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_se q_device
mtd 18877 2 sm_common,nand
psmouse 59033 0
serio_raw 4022 0
soundcore 880 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 7120 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
agpgart 32011 2 drm,intel_agp
i2c_algo_bit 5168 1 i915
video 18712 1 i915
output 1883 1 video
lp 7342 0
parport 31492 3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
usbhid 36882 0
hid 67742 1 usbhid
usb_storage 40172 1
firewire_ohci 21106 0
ahci 19013 0
sdhci_pci 6339 0
firewire_core 46643 1 firewire_ohci
libahci 21667 2 ahci
sky2 45127 0
ssb 39288 1 b43
sdhci 15890 1 sdhci_pci
led_class 2633 2 b43,sdhci
crc_itu_t 1383 1 firewire_core

============ dmesg-firmware ============
[ 15.252342] b43-phy0 ERROR:

============ kernel version ============
2.6.35-22-generic

============ ifconfig ============
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:ae:04:ea:61
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:16

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:108 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:108 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:8432 (8.4 KB) TX bytes:8432 (8.4 KB)


============ iwconfig ============
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off

[MikeTbob]

============ iwconfig ============
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off

Your device seems to be present. Can you issue these commands and post the results please.

sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

[gymilr]

SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory

Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down

Im not sure im issuing the commands correctly. I may need to try a more beginner friendly distro. Any suggestions?

[MikeTbob]

I wonder if the problem may be

============ dmesg-firmware ============
[ 15.252342] b43-phy0 ERROR:

Was there no more error to this line?
Try this command please.

dmesg |grep -i firmware

[gymilr]

[ 13.209332] Broadcom 43xx driver loaded [ Features: PL, Firmware-ID: FW13 ]
[ 15.262890] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode15.fw" not found
[ 15.262893] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43-open/ucode15.fw" not found
[ 15.262896] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http_wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the correct firmware for this driver version. Please carefully read all instructions on this website.
[ 15.410786] [Firmware Bug]: Duplicate ACPI video bus devices for the same VGA controller, please try module parameter "video.allow_duplicates=1"if the current driver doesn't work.

I had to edit the url in order to post.

[MikeTbob]

Well there is your solution. Go to
b43 - Linux Wireless
and download the correct firmware for this driver version. Please carefully read all instructions on this website.

[gymilr]

Thank you for your help MikeTbob. I got it going by following the guide at the for mentioned url. Im using a dell wireless 1395 wlan mini-card. I hope this will help anyone having the same issue. The guide should be read fully.
Part of the confusion came from having to boot windows to get online then back to ubuntu to try anything so my suggestion is to connect via wired/ethernet connection. I had to go buy a cable.

[MikeTbob]

Glad you got it working.