[SOLVED] Need help - Broadcom wireless card not seen in Ubuntu 9.10

[cafenoir]

Hi...new to Linux here. I installed Ubuntu 9.10 but can't get it to recognize my Broadcom 802.11g wireless network card. I did download and tried to install the b-43 driver using the "sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter" command, but I still can't get the card to be seen in Network Manager.

As suggested in the Start Here sticky, I ran the WirelessSetup script and here are my results:

============ lspci ============
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a40] (rev 09)
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
	Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09)
	Kernel driver in use: i915
	Kernel modules: i915
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a43] (rev 09)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2937] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:293c] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
	Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:2940] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2942] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:2944] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2934] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2935] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2936] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:2939] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:293a] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller [8086:2919] (rev 03)
	Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller [8086:2929] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:2930] (rev 03)
	Kernel modules: i2c-i801
04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: ssb
05:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Attansic Technology Corp. Atheros AR8132 / L1c Gigabit Ethernet Adapter [1969:1062] (rev c0)
	Kernel driver in use: atl1c
	Kernel modules: atl1c

============ lsusb ============
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

============ lsmod ============
Module                  Size  Used by
binfmt_misc            10220  1 
ppdev                   8232  0 
joydev                 13088  0 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   277860  1 
iptable_filter          3872  0 
ip_tables              21200  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               25832  1 ip_tables
b43                   136552  0 
snd_hda_intel          31880  2 
snd_hda_codec          87584  2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
mac80211              210104  1 b43
snd_hwdep               9352  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss            44704  0 
snd_mixer_oss          18976  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                93160  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
cfg80211              109144  2 b43,mac80211
snd_seq_dummy           3460  0 
snd_seq_oss            33440  0 
atl1c                  36516  0 
snd_seq_midi            8192  0 
psmouse                57124  0 
snd_rawmidi            27360  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event      8448  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                60608  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              26992  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
led_class               5256  1 b43
snd_seq_device          8308  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
serio_raw               6596  0 
snd                    77096  16 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore               9088  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         10928  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
lp                     11908  0 
parport                40528  2 ppdev,lp
fbcon                  41344  72 
tileblit                3136  1 fbcon
font                    8832  1 fbcon
bitblit                 6688  1 fbcon
softcursor              2336  1 bitblit
i915                  246984  3 
drm                   193856  3 i915
i2c_algo_bit            7076  1 i915
ssb                    40944  1 b43
intel_agp              32816  2 i915
video                  23612  1 i915
output                  3680  1 video

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

============ kernel version ============
2.6.31-14-generic

============ ifconfig ============
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 70:5a:b6:14:bf:37  
          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:29 

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:800 (800.0 B)  TX bytes:800 (800.0 B)


============ iwconfig ============

Any ideas on what I should try next?
Thanks in advance for your help!

[johngreth]

Common reasons why broadcom wireless cards don't work are it is physically disabled by the computer and it isn't installed from Administration->Hardware Drivers. I remember having to install b43-fwcutter in 9.04 or 8.10 (I forget), but in 9.10 I just added the drivers in Administration->Hardware Drivers and it worked. If that still doesn't work, you could check the supported hardware list on Ubuntu's website: help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported

[reed9]

There's nothing obviously wrong that I'm catching with the setup.

Couple of questions, is this 64 bit or 32 bit Fedora you're using? And does the Windows driver match that architecture?

Post the output of

dmesg

It'll be long, so do use code tags.

[cafenoir]

Hi guys...thanks for the replies and suggestions

@reed9 - I'm using Ubuntu 9.10 (64-bit version), not Fedora. The b43 driver I tried to install is also 64-bit. I'm at work now (don't have the laptop with me) so I'll run "demsg" when I get home and post the results.

@johngreth - I did notice that the blue wireless indicator light on my laptop is off. I have a dedicated button on the laptop to turn it on and off. I tried turning it on in Win7, then rebooting to Ubuntu...light is still off...pushing the button does nothing in Ubuntu (the light does not come on). I looked in the BIOS and could not see an obvious way to 'force' the wireless to turn on and stay on. Could this be the problem? Is there a way to 'force' the wireless card to turn on?

Laptop is an eMachines (Acer) E725. The wireless card is a Broadcom 4312. On the eMachines support web site they only have drivers posted for Windows...no Linux drivers.

[reed9]

Hmm. I think I responded to someone else's post here by accident. Hence the Fedora and seeing nothing wrong.

You actually need the broadcom wl driver, not the b43 driver. You can get it through Ubuntu's Hardware Driver's thing, or do

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

[cafenoir]

Thanks for the help. But I'm still not connected. Here is what I did:

1. Installed 'bcmwl-kernel-source' package from the Ubuntu 64-bit CD. The first time I tried that, it stated there was a dependency on 'dkms' so I installed that first, then installed 'bcmwl-kernel-source'.

2. Rebooted

3. Went into System | Administration | Hardware Drivers and selected "Broadcom STA Wireless driver" and clicked Activate

4. Still no connection, so I rebooted (again) hoping that would pick up the 'activated' driver. No luck...still no connection.

After all this, I reran the WirelessSetup script and I noticed nothing had changed. Should I try removing the 'b43-pci-bridge' and/or the 'ssb' packages using the "sudo apt-get remove <package-name>" command? Or are those packages needed for other purposes?

[reed9]

You need bcmwl-kernel-source, dkms, fakeroot, and patch, altogether. If fakeroot or patch are not on the CD you can search for them here: Ubuntu -- Ubuntu Packages Search

If that doesn't resolve it, check the output of lsmod again. See if wl shows up and made sure b43 does not. If wl isn't there, you can force it to load at boot by adding it to /etc/modules

echo wl | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

If b43 is there, you can blacklist it from loading at boot by adding a line to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

echo "blacklist b43" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

[cafenoir]

THANK YOU SO MUCH reed9! My wireless connection works now!

So for those reading this thread...in summary, here is what I did to get my Broadcom BCM4312 wireless connection to work in Ubuntu 9.10 (64-bit version)

1. Boot to Ubuntu and insert the Ubuntu 9.10 CD
2. Select Places | Computer and search the CD for the following packages, then click on the .deb file to Install them: dkms, bcmwl-kernel-source, fakeroot, and patch
3. Select System | Administration | Hardware Drivers, then select 'Broadcom STA wireless driver', then click Activate.
4. In Terminal, enter the command "echo wl | sudo tee -a /etc/modules"
5. Reboot

Upon reboot, my wireless light came on and I can now connect to the Internet.

Again, thank you. I would never have figured all that out by myself (being a newbie), and I learned a lot going through this exercise.

[Dapper Dan]

Just wanted to send my thanks to reed9 as well. This thread got me going in the right direction on a friend's Dell that would not connect. Thanks reed9!