Wireless Broadcom not working Ubuntu

SkinnerC · 01-13-2009, 12:13 PM

I have a compaq presario w/ Pentium 4 w/ 2GB RAM and a BCM4306 mini PCI card.

I am trying out Absolute Linux (Slackware Base)

Output from 'ifconfig' does not show wlan0

Output from 'iwconfig'

Code:

IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"Skinner's World"
Mode:Managed Frequencey:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry min limit:7  RTS thr:off  Fragment thr=2352 B
Encryption key:***************
Power Management:off
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

lspci shows the card

and I still cannot connect to my network.

This same laptop connects with Ubuntu so I know the card/router work.

Any ideas???

ps Did search LQ, Google.com/linux, and Slackbook

b0uncer · 01-13-2009, 12:32 PM

Did you try

Code:

ifconfig wlan0 up

and connecting after that?

One thing that looks curious: in "iwconfig" an ESSID is given. That's odd because if I run the same command, I get the ESSID of the network I'm already connected to..so to me it looks very much like you are connected already. Or then it's just misleading..did you run a dhcp client, or try pinging an ip address you know you should reach if you are connected?

SkinnerC · 01-13-2009, 12:53 PM

I am using a static IP setup and I added the ESSID myself for my network.

Typed in 'ifconfig wlan0 up'

Got the following message back

Code:

SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory

farslayer · 01-13-2009, 01:27 PM

Tx Power = 0dB
Signal level = 0

Did you install the proprietary firmware for the broadcom card ?

http://slackbuilds.org/repository/12.../b43-fwcutter/

b0uncer · 01-14-2009, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkinnerC

Got the following message back

Code:

SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory

Yes, better make sure you have the firmware "cut" off a Windows driver if you use b43 or bcm43xx (they require certain files from the Windows driver package that are not distributed with the kernel modules). Didn't think about that (sorry), just assumed it's done already..Ubuntu does this semi-automatically when you enable the driver trough RDM, so it appears it works "just like that".

SkinnerC · 01-14-2009, 06:15 AM

Thanks. I forgot about the firmware (duh) This is a new "to me" laptop and I haven't gotten totally familiar with the setup.

coureyv · 01-14-2009, 07:32 PM

with ubuntu 8.10 I had a lot of prob with wireless

After installation of wicd NO MORE PROB, everything works fine.

Rgds
Cxy

coureyv · 01-14-2009, 07:33 PM

try to install wicd

I had a lot of problems with ubuntu 8.10 (64 bits) and after installation of this wicd everything works fine.

SkinnerC · 01-15-2009, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coureyv

try to install wicd

I have wicd on Ubuntu and it works great. Also, it comes on Absolute. This problem is solved.

Thank you all for your help.