Help please: wireless trouble using Mint 7

[uiceJ]

Hi, I have recently installed Linux Mint 7 Gloria on a new hard disk in my laptop as the old one failed and this is my first experience of Linux, so please go easy on me

Upon installation, Linux offered me the opportunity to install a driver for the wireless card. It gave me two options. The first didn't appear to be working, so I deactivated it (which has now disappeared from the list) and tried the second called 'Broadcom STA wireless driver' and this does not seem to be working either.

I presume that the device needs further configuration, as any attempt to set up the wireless internet comes up blank. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

============ lspci ============
00:00.0 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 Memory Controller [10de:0547] (rev a2)
00:01.0 ISA bridge [0601]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 ISA Bridge [10de:0548] (rev a2)
00:01.1 SMBus [0c05]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 SMBus [10de:0542] (rev a2)
00:01.2 RAM memory [0500]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 Memory Controller [10de:0541] (rev a2)
00:01.3 Co-processor [0b40]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 Co-processor [10de:0543] (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB Controller [0c03]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller [10de:055e] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:02.1 USB Controller [0c03]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller [10de:055f] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:04.0 USB Controller [0c03]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller [10de:055e] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:04.1 USB Controller [0c03]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller [10de:055f] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:06.0 IDE interface [0101]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 IDE Controller [10de:0560] (rev a1)
	Kernel driver in use: pata_amd
00:07.0 Audio device [0403]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 High Definition Audio [10de:055c] (rev a1)
	Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
	Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:08.0 PCI bridge [0604]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 PCI Bridge [10de:0561] (rev a2)
00:09.0 IDE interface [0101]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 AHCI Controller [10de:0550] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 Ethernet [10de:054c] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: forcedeth
	Kernel modules: forcedeth
00:0c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 PCI Express Bridge [10de:0563] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:0d.0 PCI bridge [0604]: nVidia Corporation MCP67 PCI Express Bridge [10de:0563] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:12.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation GeForce 7150M [10de:0531] (rev a2)
	Kernel driver in use: nvidia
	Kernel modules: nvidia, nvidiafb
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
02:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832] (rev 05)
	Kernel driver in use: ohci1394
	Kernel modules: firewire-ohci, ohci1394
02:05.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 22)
	Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
	Kernel modules: sdhci-pci
02:05.2 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller [1180:0843] (rev 12)
	Kernel driver in use: ricoh-mmc
	Kernel modules: ricoh_mmc
02:05.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 12)
02:05.4 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller [1180:0852] (rev ff)
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g [14e4:4312] (rev 02)
	Kernel driver in use: wl
	Kernel modules: wl, ssb

============ lsusb ============
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

============ lsmod ============
Module                  Size  Used by
binfmt_misc            16776  1 
ppdev                  15620  0 
bridge                 56340  0 
stp                    10500  1 bridge
bnep                   20224  2 
input_polldev          11912  0 
xt_u32                 10240  0 
xt_time                10752  0 
xt_tcpmss              10112  0 
xt_string              10112  0 
xt_statistic            9860  0 
xt_sctp                11008  0 
xt_recent              17308  0 
xt_realm                9600  0 
xt_rateest             10496  0 
xt_quota                9860  0 
xt_policy              11008  0 
xt_pkttype              9728  0 
xt_physdev             10384  0 
xt_owner               10624  0 
xt_multiport           11264  0 
xt_mark                 9856  0 
xt_mac                  9600  0 
xt_length               9856  0 
xt_iprange             10496  0 
xt_esp                  9856  0 
xt_dscp                10496  0 
xt_dccp                11016  0 
xt_connlimit           11912  0 
xt_comment              9600  0 
xt_TRACE                9600  0 
xt_TCPMSS              12032  0 
xt_SECMARK             10756  0 
xt_RATEEST             11776  1 xt_rateest
xt_NFQUEUE              9856  0 
xt_NFLOG                9728  0 
xt_MARK                10112  0 
xt_DSCP                11264  0 
xt_CLASSIFY             9600  0 
nfnetlink_queue        16644  0 
nfnetlink_log          16740  0 
nfnetlink              12568  2 nfnetlink_queue,nfnetlink_log
cls_fw                 12544  0 
sch_cbq                25216  0 
sch_gred               14848  0 
sch_red                13440  0 
sch_sfq                14720  0 
ipt_REJECT             11136  1 
ipt_LOG                13700  1 
xt_limit               10116  2 
xt_tcpudp              11008  7 
xt_state               10112  5 
ipt_addrtype           10496  4 
ip6table_filter        10624  1 
ip6_tables             20880  1 ip6table_filter
nf_nat_irc             10240  0 
nf_conntrack_irc       13220  1 nf_nat_irc
nf_nat_ftp             10752  0 
nf_nat                 25876  2 nf_nat_irc,nf_nat_ftp
nf_conntrack_ipv4      21388  7 nf_nat
nf_defrag_ipv4          9984  1 nf_conntrack_ipv4
nf_conntrack_ftp       15652  1 nf_nat_ftp
nf_conntrack           72008  8 xt_connlimit,xt_state,nf_nat_irc,nf_conntrack_irc,nf_nat_ftp,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack_ftp
iptable_filter         10752  1 
ip_tables              19472  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               23044  41 xt_u32,xt_time,xt_tcpmss,xt_string,xt_statistic,xt_sctp,xt_recent,xt_realm,xt_rateest,xt_quota,xt_policy,xt_pkttype,xt_physdev,xt_owner,xt_multiport,xt_mark,xt_mac,xt_length,xt_iprange,xt_esp,xt_dscp,xt_dccp,xt_connlimit,xt_comment,xt_TRACE,xt_TCPMSS,xt_SECMARK,xt_RATEEST,xt_NFQUEUE,xt_NFLOG,xt_MARK,xt_DSCP,xt_CLASSIFY,ipt_REJECT,ipt_LOG,xt_limit,xt_tcpudp,xt_state,ipt_addrtype,ip6_tables,ip_tables
joydev                 18368  0 
lp                     17156  0 
parport                42220  2 ppdev,lp
snd_hda_intel         435636  3 
snd_pcm_oss            46336  0 
snd_mixer_oss          22656  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                82948  3 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
psmouse                61972  0 
snd_seq_device         14988  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
ieee80211_crypt_tkip    16896  0 
nvidia               7233756  42 
pcspkr                 10496  0 
serio_raw              13316  0 
k8temp                 12416  0 
sdhci_pci              15232  0 
agpgart                42696  1 nvidia
wl                   1489748  0 
ieee80211_crypt        13444  2 ieee80211_crypt_tkip,wl
ricoh_mmc              11904  0 
sdhci                  23940  1 sdhci_pci
snd                    62628  14 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore              15200  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         16904  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
video                  25360  5 
output                 11008  1 video
ohci1394               38576  0 
ieee1394               94660  1 ohci1394
forcedeth              61712  0 
fbcon                  46112  0 
tileblit               10752  1 fbcon
font                   16384  1 fbcon
bitblit                13824  1 fbcon
softcursor              9984  1 bitblit

============ dmesg-firmware ============

============ kernel version ============
2.6.28-11-generic

============ ifconfig ============
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1b:24:94:d9:99  
          inet addr:192.168.1.78  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::21b:24ff:fe94:d999/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:77791 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:49731 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:111628407 (111.6 MB)  TX bytes:4346997 (4.3 MB)
          Interrupt:252 Base address:0xa000 

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1a:73:9c:89:66  
          inet6 addr: fe80::21a:73ff:fe9c:8966/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:199
          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:19 

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:12 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:12 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:720 (720.0 B)  TX bytes:720 (720.0 B)


============ iwconfig ============
eth1      IEEE 802.11  Nickname:""
          Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Link Quality:5  Signal level:199  Noise level:160
          Rx invalid nwid:0  invalid crypt:0  invalid misc:0

[reed9]

The broadcom STA driver is correct.

Can you describe what isn't working more specifically? Are you not seeing wireless networks?

What is the output of

dmesg | grep eth1

Does

sudo ifconfig eth1 up
sudo iwlist eth1 scan

Show any networks?

[waterhead]

It looks like the ssb module could be causing some interference. It can be safely removed.

sudo modprobe -r ssb

You can then permanently prevent it from loading, by adding it to the blacklist file. In the latest version of Ubuntu, I first had to gain root privileges this way:

sudo -i

Then enter your password. After that, enter this command:

echo blacklist ssb >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

[uiceJ]

I have to admit I am not entirely sure what isn't working. Of course it is possible that I am getting something wrong whilst setting up the wireless connection. Under network connections I am only able to get as far as entering the SSID, setting the security to WPA & WPA2 Personal along with entering the security key (copy and pasted from the internal pages of the router through a wired connection) and ensuring that under IPv4 settings the method is set to automatic (dhcp) as well as enabling pairing on the router. After this I am lost as this is all I have needed when using windows.

Here are the requested outputs:

dmesg | grep eth1

[  130.105255] eth1: Broadcom BCM4312 802.11 Wireless Controller 5.10.79.10
[  139.230898] eth1: no IPv6 routers present

sudo ifconfig eth1 up
sudo iwlist eth1 scan 

eth1      Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:19:7E:00:78:20
                    ESSID:"Livebox-B900"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Quality:5/5  Signal level:-40 dBm  Noise level:-92 dBm
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
          Cell 02 - Address: 00:24:B2:9A:75:48
                    ESSID:"Bonez"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality:4/5  Signal level:-64 dBm  Noise level:-92 dBm
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
          Cell 03 - Address: 00:21:04:AA:95:4A
                    ESSID:"BTHomeHub2-9HRC"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality:5/5  Signal level:-56 dBm  Noise level:-92 dBm
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                              9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
          Cell 04 - Address: 0A:21:04:AA:95:4A
                    ESSID:"BTFON"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality:4/5  Signal level:-58 dBm  Noise level:-92 dBm
                    Encryption key:off
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                              9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
          Cell 05 - Address: 06:21:04:AA:95:4A
                    ESSID:"BTOpenzone"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality:4/5  Signal level:-58 dBm  Noise level:-92 dBm
                    Encryption key:off
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                              9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
          Cell 06 - Address: 00:22:6B:94:F2:BA
                    ESSID:"Ann Home"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
                    Quality:4/5  Signal level:-66 dBm  Noise level:-92 dBm
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: DD7E0050F204104A0001101044000102103B00010310470010138140001DD211B29FFFC67E816B4BFB102100074C696E6B73797310230006526F7574657210240007575254353447321042000C4353563031484241303333331054000800060050F204000110110011576972656C6573732D4720526F75746572100800020088
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s

The device is picking up my router in cell 01, so I imagine it's me not setting something up correctly? These outputs have been taken before the ssb module had been removed. I have since followed the instructions, but in the terminal there was no confirmation of removal or blacklisting so how can I check this? Either way, I still cannot get connected.

Thanks again

[reed9]

Everything appears to be working fine, so I would guess the problem is either in your configuration or with NetworkManager.

Here is a guide to setting up network connections with NetworkManager.

If that is what you're doing and it isn't working, check the file /etc/network/interfaces and make sure there it looks like this

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

Any other interfaces should be removed or commented out.

Assuming the interfaces file is correct and you're setting up the connection correctly...well, I'm not sure, I don't use NetworkManager. I know it sometimes has troubles. Some people find wicd works better.

If you have a wired connection, do

sudo apt-get install wicd

to install and try it.

EDIT: The ssb module can interfere, but in this case, I didn't see it listed with lsmod, so it already wasn't loading.

[uiceJ]

Thanks Reed9. I have intalled wicd and got it working quite easily. Your help is much appreciated