ubuntu wireless not working, bcm4311

I set up my computer to dual boot vista and ubuntu but I can't enable the wireless. Everything else is working great and I am very pleased with it. It seems much faster than vista. I like the free games too. Thank you for the guide, I would never have tried it without the instructions.

Also, this was the first time I tried installing a system or partitioning a drive. I'm very much a noobie, so please use small words and and basic steps. I have never used linux until this week.



My board BCM 0465 Rev 3.9
chipset bcm 4311/bcm2050

I have the b43 listed under hardware drivers but when I click on it to enable it and then restart ,it says it is in use but not enabled. I have tried it repeatedly.

Do I have one of the chipsets that b43 won't work with?

Thanks in advance for any help.

edit: title is wrong. It should be bcm4311

 

Run this from a terminal.

Code:

sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

 

Thanks but it's not happy.


sudo: apt0get: command not found

 

lol
oops, typo I'll fix it..lol
should be "apt-get"

 

Thanks, I have no clue what this means. I think it didn't change anything.

~$ sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter
[sudo] password for xxxx:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
b43-fwcutter is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 8 not upgraded.

 

alright, try remvoing it and doing it again(to remove, just replace 'install' with 'remove')

 

I removed and reinstalled it fine but it still won't allow me to enable it. Any more Ideas please.

 

Reboot.
Also remove the ethernet cord.

 

If all else fails, you can attempt to use the new Auto-Ndiswrapper script: http://easylinuxwifi.org/

 

Hi again,
I took out the ethernet cord and turned off the computer. Rebooted into vista and wireless works. Booted into ubuntu and wireless still won't work.

If I have to use the Ndiswrapper will I have to find an .inf file in vista to use? I can find the .sys file and .exe file but no .inf files.

 

If you try to setup ndiswrapper yourself, then yes, but Auto-ndiswrapper is designed to find the correct inf file for you, but it is still early in development, so it may or may not work for your card yet.

edit: here is a better description of what the auto-ndiswrapper claims to do: https://launchpad.net/auto-ndiswrapper

 

hmm, mine works...
I didnt have to enable anything, except installing that package.
Tried clicking on the network manager in the tray and looking fir wireless networks?

 

I don't have a network manager listed under system> administration . I have network and network tools.

 

No, its in the system tray, by the clock.

 

The synaptic packet manager has a green box by network manager so it must be on my system somewhere. Where would I find it?

 

It only shows a wired connection.

 

Right click it.
See if wireless is enabled.

 

Do what Thomas says, and keep that cat off the keyboard!

 

Q: Which broadcom chipsets are supported

A: The bcm4303 (802.11b-only chips), bcm4306, bcm4311 rev 1 / bcm4312, bcm4311 rev 2, bcm4312 (needs patches for 2.6.24) and bcm4318

 

you should spend the 10 dollars for the intel card.

 

Thanks for the help guys but I have to quit for the night and go to work.

I tried the auto-ndiswrapper, didn't work, but on reboot it told me to update the firmware. I thought I had, but maybe that's what's causing the problem. The other attempts at enabling the driver did not give that error. I'll worry about it another day. At least the ethernet is working and I can play with my fun ubuntu toy.

 

oh God yes.....

 

Wow, my Linux Switcher's Guide has helped a lot of people. Just wanted to note that you're just about the 100th person to say/PM me about it.

 

Damn, Calvin.....I myself have seen quite a few creds to it...wouldn't have thought....so, keep refining it

 

I think you were much closer to having this working than you thought. All you had to do was run the script that comes with Ubuntu that basically installs the Broadcom firmware for your system. You only have to open a terminal window and issue the following command;

Code:

sudo /usr/share/b43-fwcutter/install_bcm43xx_firmware.sh

That should legally download the firmware and then install it using the bw43-cutter program. Then when your system loads the b43, (or bcm43xx), driver module it will now have the correct firmware for your WiFi card.

Good Luck..

 

http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-PRO-Wirel...ryZ44996QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

however, for $10, you can connect at 56mbps, whereas, with the broadcom p.o.s. you may only connect at 24mbps.

 

I would note that in 8.04 the restricted drivers manager reports that the firmware is installed when in fact it is not.

Just click the box anyway and it will install the firmware for you.

 

I would also vote for replacing the existing wireless card for an Intel 4965 a/g/n.
Here's a link to my report on the Ubuntu Forums

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=818204

For many people, opening up their laptops and messing around with the little tiny parts inside is just not something that's likely to happen.

On the other hand, screwing around with inscrutable lines of code and hoping for the best can lead to insanity.

At least the hardware option is something that we humans are able to grok. You can see the screwdriver and the card and your mind comprehends what it is that you're doing. Typing in commands is something that's not built into our DNA. Maybe in another million years.

Just to recap the above thread from Ubuntu Forums:
We were visiting my dad, who lives 700 miles away. He asked me to dual boot Ubuntu to his new HP/Vista laptop. I did so. His HP had an Atheros card. I screwed around with various instructions found on various forums for hours. Finally got it to work. The first thing I did after that was download the latest Ubuntu updates, which included a kernel update. The kernel update wiped out the wireless patch.
I thought "screw this". We were going home in a few days and I couldn't leave my dad with a flaky patch that would break a few months later. I needed a bomb-proof fix that was fully supported by the kernel and would remain supported. Our Acer Centrino (Centrino just means Intel chipset, graphics, and wireless parts inside) dual-boot laptop worked flawlessly in Ubuntu on his wireless network so I opened up both lappies, took the Intel 4965 a/g/n card out of our Acer, and plugged it into his HP. As soon as we booted his HP into Ubuntu it saw the wireless network. Shut it down and rebooted into Vista. Vista saw the Intel card but needed drivers so we plugged an Ethernet cable into his router and let it proceed. Minutes later Vista was happy.
We had to go home in a few days. Ordered an Intel 4965 a/g/n from Amazon from his house and it showed up at home a day after we got back. Only took a few minutes to install and our laptop was once again functional.
The Intel card is faster and has better reach than the Atheros card. That's probly the case with the bcom card too, which provides another good reason to swap.
If you're not comfortable with the idea of changing the hardware, find someone who is. Unless the Intel card is white-listed in the BIOS, as chili555 mentions, you'll be very happy with the results.

 

Yipeeee!!!!!!!!! WIRELESS IS WORKING

It appears my ubuntu 8.04 needed the firmware reinstalled. According to V1K1ng1001 there is a bug that sometimes shows it as installed when it is not.

I do think the auto-NDISwrapper would have worked for this card if I had first reinstalled the firmware. It reported my card as supported.

I ended up using the command from jas (sudo /usr/share/b43-fwcutter/install_bcm43xx_firmware.sh) to fix this. The first time I ran it, it reported I no longer had the b43 driver(probably auto-NDISwrapper had removed it). I reinstalled b43 and reran the command. Worked like a charm.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to help me out. I had never used a command terminal until a couple days ago and having something to copy and paste was really usefull. I liked the explanations on how to change them too.

Thanks,
cat mom

 

Congratulations. You were able to correctly figure out that you needed to reinstall the Broadcom driver (b43), after installing the NDISWrapper driver had de-installed it. (Not something that many beginners would have figured out on their own!). For whatever it's worth, your initial installation was set up correctly in the beginning and all you actually needed to do was run the firmware install script to legally install the Broadcom firmware. The lack of Broadcom firmware installation isn't due to any bug, but rather because the Broadcom firmware is copyrighted and not allowed to be distributed with Linux distributions.

Good Luck..

P.S. Nice cat. We have 6 (soon to be 7)...

 

My daughter has a solid black cat....pulled a key off my Acer laptop once taking her off of it.....lol

Back on topic.....congrat's Cat Mom....hope you like linux as much as most of us do!