No WiFi after 'Install Upgrades' on start menu

[richardgillian]

As WiFi works up to the point where I install updates, I am wondering how to identify the modules which are being used in the working system and which modules are brought in during the update to replace them. Perhaps I could use the package manager to update everything except the wireless modules?

[richardgillian]

Hello. Thanks for your advice again.

I used the Package Manager, and found that both b43 firmware installers were present. I deleted the firmware-b43-installer and retained the firmware-b43legacy-installer and the b43-fwcutter. I rebooted (restarted) the laptop, but unfortunately there is no wireless access.

[gold_finger]

Not sure if your last post is saying that it's solved or not.  Read through your attached text file and it appears the regular b43 driver wasn't correct.  (Hard to tell from chart which was correct one to use -- I probably would have guessed regular at first also.)  The legacy one seems to say it installed ok.  I'm guessing at the end, when it says "...reboot", then "wicd manager reports no networks found" that it tried to restart the wireless service and didn't find anything.

Try doing a real reboot of the computer to see if it then works properly.

If not, open Synaptic Package Manager, search for "b43" and make sure that only one of the two drivers are installed. If you see both "firmware-b43-installer" and "firmware-b43legacy-installer" showing as installed, remove "firmware-b43-installer.  (Leave "b43-fwcutter" there -- it is required by both drivers.)  Reboot computer again after removal and hopefully everything will work on reboot.

[richardgillian]

Thanks very much for the detailed, clear instructions.

lspci -vnn -d  14e4:
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5705M Gigabit Ethernet [14e4:165d] (rev 01)
    Subsystem: Dell Latitude D400 [1028:865d]
    Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11
    Memory at faff0000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
    Expansion ROM at <ignored> [disabled]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: tg3
    Kernel modules: tg3

02:03.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11a/b/g [14e4:4324] (rev 03)
    Subsystem: Dell Truemobile 1450 MiniPCI [1028:0003]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 32, IRQ 5
    Memory at fafee000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
    Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
    Kernel modules: ssb

So I have PCI:ID 4324 and chip 4306 ... rev 03

In the table


14e4:4324     yes (b43legacy)     BCM4306  a/b/g  G (r1)
                         yes                           BCM4306/3 a/b/g G (r5)

so probably b43

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
(accepted defaults to retain locally modified /etc/issue etc)

then sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer b43-fwcutter

This aborted (see full text attached), so I tried

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43legacy-installer b43-fwcutter

which apparently succeeded (again, see full text attached)

After a reboot, the wicd app reported 'no networks', so I plugged in the ethernet cable and started typing.

Many thanks again



[attachment deleted by admin, more than 25 days old]

[gold_finger]

Simplest thing would be to find out which is correct driver before running updates (while wifi is working); otherwise you'll need to connect via ethernet cable to install driver after updates.

Go to this web page, scroll down to "Supported devices" section, run the command shown (same one I posted before), then match your output to what's shown on the chart.  You need to find out if the regular "b43" driver or the "b43legacy" driver is what you need.  If you see "yes" in the "Supported?" column next to your device, then you need "b43" and can install with commands supplied by banko.  If you see "yes (b43legacy)", then you need the legacy driver.

You can install either of those drivers using Synaptic Package Manager also.  Just go to Menu -> System -> Install/Remove Software; hit the reload button (upper left) and wait a minute or so until it updates itself; then click Search and type in "b43" (without the quotes).  Mark either "firmware-b43-installer" or "firmware-b43legacy-installer" package for installation depending on which one you need.  Reboot computer after the driver has been installed and you should be fine when running updates after that.

[richardgillian]

Thank you for the helpful replies. I do not have access to the laptop at present, but will try your suggestions later. Could you clarify whether I should run the various terminal commands before I attempt an 'Install Upgrades' - that is on a system that has working WiFi but is un-upgraded, or after I have done so, which will probably knock out WiFi access. I guess the simplest thing is run the commands before and after the upgrade.

Thanks

[Scott]

@Banko

Thanks for taking the time to reply, great information!

Scott

[banko]

I was assuming you know how to use the terminal.
IF NOT all you have to do, is,

click on "select" above the code, this will highlight the code, right click and copy.

open the terminal, right click and paste.

You will be asked for your password, enter carefully as you will not see what is being typed, not even *****, and click enter,

when the first one is finished (the $ sign will signify this) do the second one, you will not be prompted for your password again in this session. You will be prompted half way through if you want to continue Y/N just type Y press enter and wait until finished $,

then reboot

then enter third code (enter your password again) and hopefully your wifi will work.

Hope that makes sense

[banko]

I had this problem and it was solved by connecting via Ethernet,
then do a full system update

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get update
then

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get upgrade then reboot,
then run following

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer b43-fwcutter
see if it springs to life.

[gold_finger]

richardgillian,

Can you open a terminal and post back results of the following command on your laptop:

Code: [Select]

lspci -vnn -d 14e4:
Thanks.

[Scott]

Hi Richard,

I don't have a specific answer but maybe this can get you started. Lots of stuff has been written about Broadcom wireless on linux. When you're at the Linux Lite forum page try the search function in the top right corner. For example, I'm searching on the term Broadcom and get back many hits.

~Scott

[richardgillian]

I created a USB drive copy of linux-lite-1.0.0-beta2-nonpae.iso and successfully booted from it on a Dell Latitude D600 laptop. It was able to detect and connect to my WiFi. I installed it to the hard disk and booted from the disk and was able to detect and connect to WiFi. I upgraded using the option in the standard menu, and selected the default options when given a choice - that is, keep locally modified config rather than overwrite with maintainer's new version. When I rebooted, wicd could not detect any networks. I repeated the whole process, with the same result.

I have attached a txt version of the hardcopy report for the machine; the Loaded Modules section includes

b43   Broadcom B43 wireless driver

and the PCI Cards section included

Network controller   Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11a/b/g (rev 03)

I can if necessary connect the laptop to the router with ethernet cable.

Many thanks to anyone who can help

Richard

[attachment deleted by admin, more than 25 days old]