Cannot access internet via ethernet or wireless (HP dv6500)

zazou · 02-13-2010, 05:22 PM

I installed Ubuntu 9.10 on my Samsung netbook with success (I'm using it to post now). However, I just finished installing it on my HP dv6500, and now I cannot access the internet (either through wireless or via the ethernet cable).

Wireless access would be nice, but it's not crucial, as I use this computer mostly at my desk anyway. However, ethernet access is very important, and I'm confused by why it's not working (the same cable works on my netbook as soon as I plug it in). Any advice?

jschiwal · 02-13-2010, 06:21 PM

Are you using DHCP? Post your /etc/resolv.conf file.
Post the result of /sbin/ifconfig and /sbin/route.
Can you ping a LAN address such as the netbook? Can you ping the router? Can you ping an Internet address such as 8.8.8.8?

Try to resolve an address:
getent hosts www.google.com

reed9 · 02-13-2010, 06:50 PM

Post the output of

Code:

lspci | grep -i net
lsmod

zazou · 02-14-2010, 10:47 PM

Whoops, my mistake. It turns out that the ethernet connection is, after all, working. Wireless is still a no, though.

Code:

lspci | grep -i net

gives me

Code:

00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation MCP67 Ethernet (rev a2)
03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 02)

and

Code:

lsmod

gives me

Code:

Module                  Size  Used by
binfmt_misc             8356  1 
ppdev                   6688  0 
snd_hda_codec_conexant    20060  1 
snd_hda_intel          26920  3 
snd_hda_codec          75708  2 snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep               7200  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss            37920  0 
snd_mixer_oss          16028  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                75296  4 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy           2656  0 
snd_seq_oss            28576  0 
snd_seq_midi            6432  0 
arc4                    1660  2 
snd_rawmidi            22208  1 snd_seq_midi
ecb                     2524  2 
snd_seq_midi_event      6940  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
iptable_filter          3100  0 
snd_seq                50224  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
i2c_nforce2             6784  0 
ip_tables              11692  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               16544  1 ip_tables
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
k8temp                  4188  0 
joydev                 10240  0 
snd                    59204  17 snd_hda_codec_conexant,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               7264  1 snd
snd_page_alloc          9156  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
sdhci_pci               7100  0 
sdhci                  17504  1 sdhci_pci
ricoh_mmc               3676  0 
b43                   122168  0 
mac80211              181140  1 b43
psmouse                56500  0 
serio_raw               5280  0 
cfg80211               93052  2 b43,mac80211
led_class               4096  2 sdhci,b43
uvcvideo               59080  0 
videodev               36736  1 uvcvideo
v4l1_compat            14496  2 uvcvideo,videodev
lp                      8964  0 
parport                35340  2 ppdev,lp
usbhid                 38208  0 
ohci1394               29900  0 
ieee1394               86596  1 ohci1394
ssb                    35364  1 b43
forcedeth              54152  0 
video                  19380  0 
output                  2780  1 video

As for getent hosts www.google.com, I get

66.249.90.104 www.l.google.com www.google.com

I imagine that this might be a driver issue - when I check under Hardware Drivers, I see two for my graphics card, and then both Broadcom STA wireless driver and Broadcom B43 wireless driver. For my graphics card, one of the two is recommended, but neither one is marked for the wireless card. Could this be the issue?

reed9 · 02-15-2010, 06:21 AM

Quote:

I imagine that this might be a driver issue - when I check under Hardware Drivers, I see two for my graphics card, and then both Broadcom STA wireless driver and Broadcom B43 wireless driver. For my graphics card, one of the two is recommended, but neither one is marked for the wireless card. Could this be the issue?

Yes. You want the b43 driver. Well, to be accurate, you are loading the b43 driver currently, but it needs extra non-free firmware. You can enable it from the Hardware Drivers GUI, or from a terminal do

Code:

sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

zazou · 02-15-2010, 11:00 AM

Alright, thanks for that. However, I'm having problems accessing the Hardware Drivers GUI. First, it takes a ridiculously long time to search for available drivers. Then, if I am able to view the list, when I tried to install the graphics card driver, it stops at about 30%. Doesn't freeze, but doesn't progress.

I tried the above command in the terminal, and I get

Code:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  linux-headers-2.6.31-14 linux-headers-2.6.31-14-generic
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  b43-fwcutter
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
E: Could not get lock /var/cache/apt/archives/lock - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to lock the download directory

reed9 · 02-15-2010, 11:18 AM

Quote:

E: Could not get lock /var/cache/apt/archives/lock - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to lock the download directory

This would indicate there is another instance of the package manager running. Make sure you do not have Synpatic open, or the update manager, or anything like that.

zazou · 02-15-2010, 11:24 AM

No, I closed everything (even Firefox) and tried it, and I still get the same problem/output...

reed9 · 02-15-2010, 11:42 AM

Can you post the output of

Code:

lsof | grep /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

zazou · 02-15-2010, 01:56 PM

When I do

lsof | grep /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

the cursor blinks and it looks like it's processing something for a while, but then I just get back to the prompt (with no output).

reed9 · 02-15-2010, 02:00 PM

Ok. Hrm, been awhile since I used a Debian based system, but I believe you can just remove the file.

Code:

rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

And try again

Code:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

zazou · 02-15-2010, 02:17 PM

Success! Thanks for the help - now I was able to install both the wireless driver and the graphics driver. For the record, what exactly was I trying to remove with the rm command?