Dell Inspiron 1720, Ubuntu and Mint 10 no wireless connection
Linux - Laptop and NetbookHaving a problem installing or configuring Linux on your laptop? Need help running Linux on your netbook? This forum is for you. This forum is for any topics relating to Linux and either traditional laptops or netbooks (such as the Asus EEE PC, Everex CloudBook or MSI Wind).
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Dell Inspiron 1720, Ubuntu and Mint 10 no wireless connection
I have a Dell Inspiron laptop pc with Win7 Home Premium. I just dual booted first Mint 10, then Ubuntu10.1, and neither recognizes the wifi installed.I have Broadcom 440x10/100 Integrated controller, Dell wireless 1395WLAN mini card and Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter on the pc.
John I donmot know what those things are or how to find them, I am a newbie
This is copied from the README file associated with the last link that frankbell posted, hopefully it clears things up. If you need help figuring out where the menus are or how to get to the shell and execute commands, let us know. Good luck!
Ubuntu:
------
Go to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers
Choose the Broadcom STA wireless driver
Activate
Sometimes the driver does not show up in the Hardware Drivers choices. In
this case, try reintalling the driver from the GUI or shell like this:
From the GUI:
Package Manager (System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager). Click the
Reload button in the upper left corner of Synaptic to refresh your index then
search for and reinstall the package named bcmwl-kernel-source.
From the shell:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get --reinstall install bcmwl-kernel-source
In either GUI or text case, after reinstalling, reboot your machine.
Now go back to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers
and you should see the driver enabled and working.
Ok, I went to syatem.Administration.Hardware Drivers....but there is no "hardware Drivers" there, just "Additional Hardware Drivers, which I need to be online for access.
GUI, to Synaptic Package manager, when I click reload I get a message that I am not online,
Shell...apt-get-update, again, not online.
This is a dual boot, with Win 7 and on my Win 7 drivers, I have a Broadcom440x10/100 Integrated Controller.
If you have home internet, you likely have a router. Even if it's called a "wireless" router, it should have ethernet ports in it. Mine has four ports.
Get an ethernet cable and move your computer to a spot close enough to the router the jack into it long enough to fix this problem.
Ok, I went to syatem.Administration.Hardware Drivers....but there is no "hardware Drivers" there, just "Additional Hardware Drivers, which I need to be online for access.
GUI, to Synaptic Package manager, when I click reload I get a message that I am not online,
Shell...apt-get-update, again, not online.
This is a dual boot, with Win 7 and on my Win 7 drivers, I have a Broadcom440x10/100 Integrated Controller.
????
A couple of ways you can do this. As frankbell posted, get an Ethernet cable and set up your hardwired connection from your Linux installation; then use Synaptic to get the package from the online repository. This would be the preferred way since you won't have to compile the driver yourself.
-or-
Download to Windows. Put it on a USB stick/drive and boot into Linux to copy it onto your Linux partition. Alternatively, you can mount your Windows partition and copy it to your Linux installation that way. Then unzip the contents and follow the instructions in the README file to compile and insert the module into your kernel.
I loaded Mint 9 instead and downloaded the broadband drivers immediately, and it works fine. I am on Mint 9 right now, and now have a triple boot pc, with about 113gb for each, Win7, Ubuntu10.1 and Mint9.
Mint 9 works just fine, all I need now is to download the codecs.
I will try to hook this up to a hardwire this week, then go to synaptics and see if I can't get Ubuntu10.10 up and running.
These are the types of problems that drive newbies away from Linux, and as a newbie, I find a lot of answers confusing...however, being totally disgusted with Microsoft and their attitude towards users, I will persevere.
thank you all. going to buy a ethernet cable, and we'll see what happens.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.