Ubuntu not detecting wireless network

[johndb]

Linux Ubuntu is not detecting a wireless network. I have added a wireless connection in "Network Connections" with the correct security configuration and SSID that I know works on Windows.
I am using a Dell inspiron 1525 laptop with built in wireless network card: Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN Mini-Card.

I am using Ubuntu through VmWare player though it is the same network situation when I reboot into Ubuntu.

Output from WirelessSetup script:

============ lspci ============
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge [8086:7190] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
	Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge [8086:7191] (rev 01)
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:07.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA [8086:7110] (rev 08)
00:07.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE [8086:7111] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:07.3 Bridge [0680]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI [8086:7113] (rev 08)
	Kernel modules: i2c-piix4
00:07.7 System peripheral [0880]: VMware Virtual Machine Communication Interface [15ad:0740] (rev 10)
	Kernel driver in use: vmci
	Kernel modules: vmci
00:0f.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: VMware SVGA II Adapter [15ad:0405]
00:10.0 SCSI storage controller [0100]: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320 SCSI [1000:0030] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: mptspi
	Kernel modules: mptspi
00:11.0 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI bridge [15ad:0790] (rev 02)
00:15.0 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:15.1 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:15.2 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:15.3 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:15.4 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:15.5 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:15.6 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:15.7 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:16.0 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:16.1 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:16.2 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:16.3 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:16.4 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:16.5 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:16.6 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:16.7 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:17.0 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:17.1 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:17.2 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:17.3 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:17.4 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:17.5 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:17.6 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:17.7 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:18.0 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:18.1 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:18.2 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:18.3 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:18.4 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:18.5 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:18.6 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:18.7 PCI bridge [0604]: VMware PCI Express Root Port [15ad:07a0] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
	Kernel modules: shpchp
02:00.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB [8086:7112]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
02:01.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] 79c970 [PCnet32 LANCE] [1022:2000] (rev 10)
	Kernel driver in use: vmxnet
	Kernel modules: vmxnet, pcnet32
02:02.0 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Ensoniq ES1371 [AudioPCI-97] [1274:1371] (rev 02)
	Kernel driver in use: ENS1371
	Kernel modules: snd-ens1371
02:03.0 USB Controller [0c03]: VMware USB2 EHCI Controller [15ad:0770]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd

============ lsusb ============
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e0f:0002 VMware, Inc. Virtual USB Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

============ lsmod ============
Module                  Size  Used by
binfmt_misc             8356  1 
vmblock                12284  1 
vsock                  37344  0 
vmmemctl                9628  0 
vmhgfs                 50784  1 
pvscsi                 14436  0 
acpiphp                22480  0 
iptable_filter          3100  0 
ip_tables              11692  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               16544  1 ip_tables
snd_ens1371            22016  2 
gameport               11368  1 snd_ens1371
snd_ac97_codec        101216  1 snd_ens1371
ac97_bus                1532  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss            37920  0 
snd_mixer_oss          16028  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                75296  3 snd_ens1371,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy           2656  0 
snd_seq_oss            28576  0 
snd_seq_midi            6432  0 
ppdev                   6688  0 
lp                      8964  0 
psmouse                56180  0 
snd_rawmidi            22208  2 snd_ens1371,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event      6940  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
parport_pc             31940  1 
serio_raw               5280  0 
snd_seq                50224  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
i2c_piix4               9932  0 
vmci                   28352  1 vsock
shpchp                 32272  0 
parport                35340  3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc
snd_timer              22276  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device          6920  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd                    59204  14 snd_ens1371,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore               7264  1 snd
snd_page_alloc          9156  1 snd_pcm
floppy                 54916  0 
pcnet32                32644  0 
vmxnet                 17376  0 
mii                     5212  1 pcnet32
intel_agp              27484  1 
agpgart                34988  1 intel_agp
mptspi                 17668  2 
mptscsih               34428  1 mptspi
mptbase                88132  2 mptspi,mptscsih
scsi_transport_spi     23036  1 mptspi

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

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

============ ifconfig ============
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0c:29:ed:75:7e  
          inet6 addr: fe80::20c:29ff:feed:757e/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:13 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:12 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:1486 (1.4 KB)  TX bytes:2520 (2.5 KB)
          Interrupt:19 Base address:0x2024 

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:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:240 (240.0 B)  TX bytes:240 (240.0 B)


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

Any ideas what I might try

[reed9]

I don't believe you can access physical hardware like a wireless card through vmware. Instead, it creates a virtual networking device. What is the host OS?

The Dell 1395 card is a broadcom chipset as I recall. There are two possible drivers, the b43 and Broadcom wl. You need the wl driver for any of these cards

14e4:432b "Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller"
14e4:4329 "Broadcom Corporation BCM43XG"
14e4:4328 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n"
14e4:4315 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g"
14e4:4313 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4310 Ethernet Controller"
14e4:4312 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g"
14e4:4311 "Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN"
14e4:432d
14e4:432c
14e4:432a

Ubuntu's hardware manager program should be able to install it for you or for wl do

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

or b43 do

sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

You will need a wired connection to download the packages.

[coopstah13]

I don't believe you can access physical hardware like a wireless card through vmware. Instead, it creates a virtual networking device.

this is the reason why you aren't getting wireless access, you need to use NAT most likely, as I'm not sure if you can bridge a wireless card to the virtual NIC

[KaiChong]

like reed9 say, you are probably not accessing to a physical wireless card through vmware. From what you have posted here, apparently, your Ubuntu system didn't detect the wireless card.

[h3atmachn3]

hi there????

I'm having the same problem. I'm using a sony vaio to open my ubuntu with backtrack in vmware workstation 7. When i reboot the same thing appears as johndb. It seems i need to download the drivers for this card, but as u can see i'm a newbie to this; linux and ubuntu on backtrack.

The difference is the i'm using a wifi link 5100 a/g/n wireless internal card, so if someone could tell me how exactly to install them (which commands), plus which are the drivers i have to download.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.