Cannot connect to wireless (Ubuntu, Dell Latitude | D610)

[zookrider]

OK, it down loaded two folders full of firmware "B43" and "B43legacy". I copied them to a thumb drive and tried to install them on the laptop under \lib\firmware

I was promptly told:

The folder "b43" cannot be copied because you do not have permissions to create it in the destination.

Obviously I right clicked on the folder, then clicked properties/permissions. Everything was greyed out and at the bottom of the box it said

You are not the owner, so you cannot change these permissions.

I'm going to my happy place now before I start a rousing game of laptop frisbee. Weeee!!!

[waterhead]

You need root privileges to do that. You can open the file manager with the gksudo command. I don't know which file manager you're using, but if it is Nautilus use this command.

gksudo nautilus

I have a feeling that the wireless may still be disabled, even after installing the firmware. Have you found a way to activate somewhere on the PC?

[zookrider]

You need root privileges to do that. You can open the file manager with the gksudo command. I don't know which file manager you're using, but if it is Nautilus use this command.

gksudo nautilus

I have a feeling that the wireless may still be disabled, even after installing the firmware. Have you found a way to activate somewhere on the PC?

No, but I'm working on it. How do I determine which file manager I'm using? Will the "chown" command work?

[zookrider]

I got the ownership changed and the files copied into the firmware folder. Should I leave them in their folders? Or should I take all the files out and place them directly in the firmware folder?

[waterhead]

Ubuntu usually has the firmware in a folder named after the kernel version. I would copy the contents of both folders to the kernel-version folder. You can leave the original b43 and b43-legacy folders, that way you have it covered if it looks for it there.

[waterhead]

I found this info from Dell about the 610:

Radios (Including Wireless Networking and Bluetooth® Wireless Technology)

<Fn><F2> Enables and disables radios, including wireless networking and Bluetooth wireless technology

This may not work under Linux.

Also, look in the BIOS, especially under the "Onboard Devices" heading.

[zookrider]

OK, I put the b43 and b43legacy folder in the kernel folder. I ran

dmesg | grep firmware

and it still told me that it couldn't find the firmware. I'm at a bit of a loss. I'm not sure where to go from here. Also, my lan (ethernet) still isn't working. I checked the BIOS and everything is turned on that should be turned on.

[waterhead]

OK, I put the b43 and b43legacy folder in the kernel folder

Don't put the firmware folders there. Put the contents of the folders into the kernel folder. It is not looking for the firmware in the b43 or b43legacy folder. if it was, dmesg would say so.

[zookrider]

is:

[ 27.420034] firmware: requesting b43legacy/ucode4.fw
[ 27.492226] firmware: requesting b43legacy/pcm4.fw
[ 27.499606] firmware: requesting b43legacy/b0g0initvals2.fw
[ 27.510475] b43legacy-phy0
ERROR: You must go to b43 - Linux Wireless and download the correct firmware (version 3).
[ 27.888022] firmware: requesting b43legacy/ucode4.fw
[ 27.890573] firmware: requesting b43legacy/pcm4.fw
[ 27.905041] firmware: requesting b43legacy/b0g0initvals2.fw
[ 27.913174] b43legacy-phy0 ERROR: You must go to b43 - Linux Wireless and download the correct firmware (version 3).

Current location of the contents of b43 and b43 legacy is:

lib\firmware\2.6.27-7-generic

[waterhead]

OK, it looks like I was wrong. It does appear to be looking for the b43legacy folder. Put both the b43 and b43legacy folders in the /lib/firmware folder. The firmware loader should then be able to find it.