Ubuntu & Internal Wireless card

[Gkapoor77]

Hi there,

I just picked up a 6-7 year old ASUS L3800 laptop from my in laws house. Wiped out the hard drive and I installed Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope). I have no idea what configuration the laptop (Intel Processor, RAM, Harddrive etc.).

Most importantly I don't even know if the laptop has wireless internet capability (internal wireless card). I tried doing some physical search in the back of laptop and also looking into configuration of L3800 laptops but no luck.

I also ran 'lspci -v | less' and couldn't tell if wireless card exist or not and what kind? Could you please help me find out if I have a wireless card. Any commands or programs would be great!

[reed9]

I also ran 'lspci -v | less' and couldn't tell if wireless card exist or not and what kind? Could you please help me find out if I have a wireless card. Any commands or programs would be great!

Howdy. Post the output of lspci and we can identify the card if it's there.

[Gkapoor77]

Here you go, appreciate your help!

gkapoor77@Ubuntu:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset Host Bridge (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 04)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 42)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801CAM IDE U100 Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
02:05.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
02:07.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev a8 )
02:07.1 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev a8 )
02:07.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller

[reed9]

You do not appear to have an internal wireless card.

There are a number of USB wireless adapters that work well with linux, if you're looking to get wireless.

USB - Linux Wireless

[Gkapoor77]

Thanks Reed9.

May I ask how did you evaluate, just wanted to de-cipher the above details presented by 'lspci" command

Also, how would I know what intel processor and RAM I have with out opening up the laptop? Could you please help.

[Gkapoor77]

Also, I do have 2 PCMCI slots in the laptop. Can I get PCMCI card instead of USB? I am okay with B/G connection...my wireless router is G.

[reed9]

If you poke around the site I posted above, there are sections for pcmcia and cardbus wireless cards as well. The lists on that site are by no means exhaustive, either. Just make sure you do a little research before buying to make sure it's compatible. It's sometimes hard to find the chipset of a card when you're shopping, but sites like newegg often have linux users posting in the comments section.

As for how to tell from the output of lspci, wireless cards are usually pretty clearly labeled. Two examples are

05:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)

06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] (rev 01)

We know from your output that this is your ethernet card

02:05.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)

This is your graphics card.

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]

[Gkapoor77]

Thanks a lot Reed, this is pretty detailed response. I am new to Linux as you can tell, really appreciate your response.

I guess I will go with USB looks to be economical option, Card Bus and PCI cards seems to be on higher end.

[Gkapoor77]

Reed,

One more help, I see 4 different lines that talk about PCI card as follows. Could you please tell me if I should get a PCI card or PCMCIA card? It will be great if you can give a example.

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 04)

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 42)

02:07.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev a8 )
02:07.1 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev a8 )

[waterhead]

Laptops don't have a PCI slot, only a PCMCIA slot. Some don't even have that.

If you are afraid of getting a wireless that won't work in Linux, buy from a local store. Make sure that you will be able to return it if it doesn't work.