Dell Inspiron 9400 Wireless Problems

[trptplyr]

It was suggested that I repost my wireless problems into another thread. Here it is. I have a Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop that has a Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller and a Dell Wireless 1390 WLan Mini-Card. I run Windows 7 Ultimate and have no problems connecting to the wireless router. However, when connecting using Ubuntu, I get nothing.

One of the replies in the other forum said to run three commands and post the output. Here are the results, in their entirety, as executed:

dmesg:
[13.786857][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.

lspci:
0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311
802.11b/g WLAN (rev07)

lsusb:
Nothing returned from this command.

The commands that were given to use that gave me these results were as follows:

dmesg | grep -i firmware
lspci | grep -i network
lsusb | grep -i network

Please note: The lsusb command came back with no results at all. Also, I also had this problem with Ubuntu 11.04. I had hoped that upgrading to 11.10 would help. But it didn't, as I have the same issue. It was also suggested that I had not entered the entire results of these commands when posting. I assure you that everything is posted. If there are any other software switches that need to be activated in these commands to get a more complete result, please inform me, as I am only entering the commands as suggested.

Thank you in advance for all of your assistance. Unfortunately, my technical experience is limited mostly to mainframes and midrange systems. I am attempting to learn Ubuntu on my own, so I'd really appreciate some help with regards to this.

Bruce

[jayd512]

Could you also include the output of

lspci -knn
ifconfig -a
lsmod

If you prefer, there is a small script that can be used to get all of the required information, found here.

[trptplyr]

lspci results

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub [8086:27a0] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express PCI Express Root Port [8086:27a1] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 01)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 2 [8086:27d2] (rev 01)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 4 [8086:27d6] (rev 01)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:27c8] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:27c9] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:27ca] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:27cb] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:27cc] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:27b9] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel modules: leds-ss4200, iTCO_wdt, intel-rng
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller [8086:27c4] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller [8086:27da] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel modules: i2c-i801
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation G71 [GeForce Go 7900 GS] [10de:0298] (rev a1)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:019b]
Kernel driver in use: nouveau
Kernel modules: nouveau, nvidiafb
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX [14e4:170c] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Inspiron 9400 Laptop [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: b44
Kernel modules: b44
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
Kernel modules: firewire-ohci
03:01.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 19)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci
03:01.2 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 0a)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
03:01.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller [1180:0852] (rev 05)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:01cd]
Kernel driver in use: r852
Kernel modules: r852
0c:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN [14e4:4311] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card [1028:0007]
Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
Kernel modules: wl, ssb

ifconfig results

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:18:8b:b6:10:cd
inet addr:192.168.1.42 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::218:8bff:feb6:10cd/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:8925 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:6678 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:7717519 (7.7 MB) TX bytes:1192329 (1.1 MB)
Interrupt:17

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:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lsmod results

Module Size Used by
bnep 18436 2
rfcomm 47946 8
parport_pc 36962 0
ppdev 17113 0
binfmt_misc 17540 1
joydev 17693 0
snd_hda_codec_idt 70553 1
snd_hda_intel 33390 2
snd_hda_codec 104802 2 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13668 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 96755 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
dell_wmi 12681 0
snd_seq_midi 13324 0
b44 36315 0
usbhid 47198 0
sparse_keymap 13890 1 dell_wmi
hid 95463 1 usbhid
snd_rawmidi 30547 1 snd_seq_midi
btusb 18600 2
dell_laptop 13831 0
nouveau 728662 3
dcdbas 14490 1 dell_laptop
snd_seq_midi_event 14899 1 snd_seq_midi
ssb 52752 1 b44
bluetooth 166112 23 bnep,rfcomm,btusb
ttm 76805 1 nouveau
snd_seq 61896 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
drm_kms_helper 42558 1 nouveau
wl 2568210 0
psmouse 73882 0
r852 18277 0
sm_common 16865 1 r852
nand 54966 2 r852,sm_common
nand_ids 12723 1 nand
nand_bch 13147 1 nand
bch 22061 1 nand_bch
nand_ecc 13230 1 nand
drm 236330 5 nouveau,ttm,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 13423 1 nouveau
snd_timer 29991 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
mxm_wmi 12979 1 nouveau
serio_raw 13166 0
mtd 33181 2 sm_common,nand
snd_seq_device 14540 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 68266 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
lib80211 14991 1 wl
soundcore 12680 1 snd
video 19412 1 nouveau
wmi 19256 2 dell_wmi,mxm_wmi
snd_page_alloc 18529 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
lp 17799 0
parport 46562 3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
firewire_ohci 40722 0
sdhci_pci 14032 0
firewire_core 63626 1 firewire_ohci
crc_itu_t 12707 1 firewire_core
sdhci 32166 1 sdhci_pci

[jayd512]

Looking through this page, you should be able to get it going with:

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

[trptplyr]

Jay,

I executed the command as you said above and the wireless connection still does not work. It looks as if it installed correctly. I rebooted the system as well with no success.
Do you have any other suggestions that I can try? Are there any parameters that I need to edit in either the DSL or the Wireless Connection? I have the parameters entered
for my router in the Wireless Connection, and the userid and password in the DSL. I appreciate all the help that you are giving me. Thank you.

Bruce

[jayd512]

Run this again: sudo ifconfig -a.
Also, sudo iwlist wlan0 scan.

[trptplyr]

ifconfig results

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:18:8b:b6:10:cd
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:17

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:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)


iwlist results

wlan Interface doesn't support scanning.

[jayd512]

The preferred method for installation of firmware seems to change from one release to another.

Another method included in the Ubuntu documentation is as follows:

$ sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer

[trptplyr]

Jay,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you. Here are the results from the last command that you sent me. It still does not work.

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
b43-fwcutter is already the newest version.
firmware-b43-installer is already the newest version.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
lib32bz2-1.0 ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 libqt4-declarative:i386 liblcms1:i386
libqt4-qt3support:i386 libcupsimage2:i386 lib32ncurses5 nspluginwrapper
lib32tinfo5 ia32-libs libqt4-test:i386 libqt4-script:i386
libqt4-designer:i386 libqt4-network:i386 libqt4-dbus:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386
libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386
libqt4-opengl:i386 libc6-i386 lib32ffi6 lib32gcc1 libqt4-xmlpatterns:i386
lib32asound2 libgdbm3:i386 libqtcore4:i386 nspluginviewer:i386
libqt4-sql:i386 flashplugin-installer libqt4-svg:i386 libqt4-xml:i386
libxss1:i386 lib32ncursesw5 libqtgui4:i386 lib32z1 lib32stdc++6
libqt4-scripttools:i386 libaudio2:i386 libmng1:i386 libllvm2.9:i386
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

[rokytnji]

Being no Broadcom expert jay. I am just letting you know I think the wl driver is what is required for BCM 4311 chipset.

wl - Debian Wiki

So, http://techie-buzz.com/foss/wifi-ubu...m-drivers.html

If I am off base here. Sorry. I know in Debian which I run. The open source b43 has been giving headaches with Broadcom chips on the AntiX forum Which I mod at. We have had success using the wl driver install method instead.


trptplyr maybe should uninstall or blacklist b43 before installing wl first though as there may be a conflict. I don't know though since none of my gear uses broadcom.