linux mint - HP TX 2000 wireless problem

[avicennax]

Hi,
i'm a newbie to Linux. i'v had Ubuntu 8.04 installed on my HP TX 2000 tablet PC (dual-boot with vista) since ~ 1 year. seeing as how complicated installing drivers on linux was, i had given up hope & left it at that. recently i removed Ubuntu & installed Linux Mint 7 on the same partition. this time i felt more determined to connect to the internet. i feel that if i could connect to the internet, i could completely chuck out vista. but the task seems daunting. as a last resort i'm posting a thread with details of my computer (as per instructions from 'waterhead'). please somebody help me decipher this & help me find out why i cannot connect to my ADSL router. i understand that this issue with HP TX 2000 is well known.
Thanx
Avicenna



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
00:0b.1 USB Controller [0c03]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller [10de:026e] (rev a3)
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:0d.0 IDE interface [0101]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 IDE [10de:0265] (rev f1)
	Kernel driver in use: pata_amd
00:0e.0 IDE interface [0101]: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller [10de:0266] (rev f1)
	Kernel driver in use: sata_nv
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
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g [14e4:4312] (rev 02)
	Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: wl, ssb

lsmod

Module                  Size  Used by
nls_iso8859_1          12032  1 
nls_cp437              13696  1 
vfat                   18816  1 
fat                    58272  1 vfat
isofs                  39844  1 
udf                    87716  0 
crc_itu_t              10112  1 udf
rfkill_input           12800  0 
binfmt_misc            16776  1 
ppdev                  15620  0 
bridge                 56340  0 
stp                    10500  1 bridge
bnep                   20224  2 
lp                     17156  0 
parport                42220  2 ppdev,lp
snd_hda_intel         435636  3 
arc4                    9856  2 
ecb                    10752  2 
snd_pcm_oss            46336  0 
snd_mixer_oss          22656  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                82948  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy          10756  0 
snd_seq_oss            37760  0 
snd_seq_midi           14336  0 
snd_rawmidi            29696  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event     15104  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                56880  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              29704  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device         14988  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
b43                   131484  0 
uvcvideo               63240  0 
snd                    62628  15 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
joydev                 18368  0 
soundcore              15200  1 snd
compat_ioctl32          9344  1 uvcvideo
mac80211              217208  1 b43
usbhid                 42336  0 
psmouse                61972  0 
snd_page_alloc         16904  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
videodev               41600  1 uvcvideo
k8temp                 12416  0 
pcspkr                 10496  0 
wacom                  28808  0 
serio_raw              13316  0 
v4l1_compat            21764  2 uvcvideo,videodev
cfg80211               38032  1 mac80211
i2c_nforce2            14980  0 
btusb                  19608  2 
led_class              12036  1 b43
input_polldev          11912  1 b43
video                  25360  0 
output                 11008  1 video
forcedeth              61712  0 
ssb                    41220  1 b43
fbcon                  46112  0 
tileblit               10752  1 fbcon
font                   16384  1 fbcon
bitblit                13824  1 fbcon
softcursor              9984  1 bitblit

dmesg

[   27.880053] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/ucode13.fw
[   27.927325] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to  linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the latest firmware (version 4).
[   27.972049] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/ucode13.fw
[   27.974596] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the latest firmware (version 4).

linux version

2.6.28-11-generic

[reed9]

Are you able to get a wired connection for a few minutes?

If so, do

sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

When it asks if you want to download and install the firmware, say yes.

You should now have wireless.

[avicennax]

Hi reed9,
forgive me but i'm really overjoyed. when i saw ur reply last night i was a little bit sceptical. i was thinking how can the solution to my problem be so simple (i mean just 1 line). actually i was a little busy so i couldn't get down to trying it out till just now. and thanx to u i'm online with Linux wireless. i can stop using vista unless really necessary & 'go linux'. thank u very much my friend. by the by i have seen u have responded to requests by many miserable people like me.
i just want to ask u one last favour (since u are my Linux guru now). i'm working (i'm a doctor) and studying at the same time & am a bit busy usually. in between i'd like to squeeze in some reading on Linux. I'd be very much obliged if u could suggest to me where (or from which book) i could systematically learn up on the practical stuff of Linux. i'd like to learn up on using the bash terminal, hardware issues, networking and stuff.
anyway i really want to thank u for helping me. if u don't believe in God at least i hope 'what goes around, will come around' & something good will come ur way
Thanx
Avicenna

[reed9]

Glad it was so simple a fix!

As a matter of fact, I don't believe in God. But as for what goes around comes around, it already has a hundred fold. The fact that there is this phenomenal operating system available free of charge, that embodies many of the values I do hold as more of a Secular Humanist - community, sharing, free exchange of knowledge, growth, and learning - is my reward. Helping people out here as best I can is the least I can do to give something back to the community.

As for books, I don't really know. Most of what I know, I haven't learned from books, but from running into a problem, and researching the solution. I'm fortunate enough to have a couple of different computers, with different hardware, so I've been able to try distros out on a spectrum of machines and configurations and figure stuff out.

There are many good guides online, as well as free e-books.
Linux Books - Free E-Books
Debian GNU/Linux System Administrator's Manual - download here
Debian GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide - download here

To begin with, I would look to get a handle on the filesystem hierarchy, and basic file-management tools on the command line.
Show all commands - Linux Commands in English | howto, examples

And then look to understand the basics of file permissions, users, and groups.

If you have the free space on your computer to add a partition, or have an extra computer you can experiment on, the best way to learn is just to play with other distros, see what's different and what's similar, and learn how to solve problems that come up. Arch Linux is a great learning tool for that, though I would probably wait until you have a little more familiarity before trying it out.

Basically, the web is your friend. Everything I know about linux, I learned from Google. And I'm only being slightly facetious in saying that.

[avicennax]

Hi Reed9,

Thanx again for the links. i have already started going thru the linux commands. like u said i need to put it to practical use by using it for troubleshooting etc. God willing, i'l go over it slow & steady.
Reed9 if it's OK with u, i'd like to stay in touch with u -- may be send u a mail once in a while, etc. i guess this is a common feeling for new-comers (fear of loosing a friend or mentor). thing is, outside of this thread i have no way of contacting u (or is there ??). is it possible to post a question directly to u? please let me know.

Thanx again,
Avicenna

[reed9]

You can always PM me through here. I get email notifications for private messages, and I'm otherwise on here all the time. I encourage you to post any difficulties you have publicy, however. This allows other people to chime in and help, and there are plenty of people who know a lot more than I do, and allows other people with similar problems to benefit from the thread as well.