I have Dell wireless WLAN card on my laptop which detects Internet connection when working in Windows environment but not on my Linux system (Mandriva, 2008). I am able to connect to the internet in Linux environment when i use a LAN cable, can you please guide on what to do? I have tried configuring it.

What make is the wireless card? If your lappy is dell then most probably the card is also dell but paste the output of
"lspci" if it an on board card.
If you are using pcmcia card then post the output of
"lspcmcia".

lspci output is posted below please
thank you

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller IDE (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0832
03:01.1 Class 0805: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
03:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0843 (rev 01)
03:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 0a)
03:01.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 05)
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation Unknown device 4311 (rev 01)

Ok. It detects it as network controller but not as wireless card. Can you look in windows what exactly is the chip in it so that related module can be loaded.

It looks like its a Broadcom 43xx. I've saw that device have some issues w/ Ubuntu before, but I'm not really familiar w/ Mandriva to offer much assistance.

Most of the broadcom wireless devices, I believe require a firmware upgrade to work w/ Linux...

Try looking here for some specific Mandriva 08 help, there's some links in this thread..

http://forum.mandriva.com/viewtopic....696e55178703a5

The chipset is BCM 4311/BCM2050


I followed the instructions on this thread link
http://forum.mandriva.com/viewtopic....696e55178703a5

I downloaded the firmware, installed and then reconfigured, still the wireless connection is not detected.
Looking forward to your help
Thank you

Look into this then. I do not use wireless network so have not got much experience but once put Hardy in IBM thinkpad and had no problems with wireless. And I do not own a lappy myself so cant do much of experimentation.

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

The the thread link i used earlier pointed to the same URL where i downloaded the firmware, so it is back to the same condition.

if you have the XP drivers for the card (eather on a disk or find them in windows) you may be abelle to use ndiswrapper to install them.

if so post back and I'll try to walk you through it

Yes, i have the driver in windows please.

ok first lets make shure you have ndiswrapper on you sys.

open a konsole and become root (however you do that in your disro IE: su then root password) then just type ndiswrapper and hit enter.

if it's instaled you should get a list of comands! DONT DO ENEYTHING YET.


just post back wether you have ndiswrapper or not.

and in your next post tell me ware your drivers are?

If there is a Linux driver for this chipset, you're really better off using that instead of ndiswrapper - that's a last resort.

Since you've done the firmware upgrade, please run lspci again and look for the wireless card. Then run lsmod to see if the driver is being loaded.

I tried both suggestion from Vinny and Pentode the results are pasted below.

first nsiswrapper result:

[root@localhost ~]# ndiswrapper
Usage: ndiswrapper OPTION

Manage ndis drivers for ndiswrapper.
-i inffile Install driver described by 'inffile'
-d devid driver Use installed 'driver' for 'devid'
-e driver Remove 'driver'
-l List installed drivers
-m Write configuration for modprobe
-da Write module alias configuration for all devices
-di Write module install configuration for all devices
-v Report version information
where 'devid' is either PCIID or USBID of the form XXXX:XXXX



I then lspci result again followed by lsmod result

[root@localhost ~]# lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller IDE (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0832
03:01.1 Class 0805: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
03:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0843 (rev 01)
03:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 0a)
03:01.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 05)
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation Unknown device 4311 (rev 01)


[root@localhost ~]# lsmod

Module Size Used by
appletalk 32812 2
ipx 25860 2
p8023 2368 1 ipx
i915 17856 2
drm 62676 3 i915
nfsd 216248 17
ipv6 237120 16
exportfs 5536 1 nfsd
lockd 56360 2 nfsd
nfs_acl 3776 1 nfsd
sunrpc 137532 12 nfsd,lockd,nfs_acl
ndiswrapper 169776 0
eth1394 17380 0
b44 22284 0
mii 5664 1 b44
snd_seq_dummy 3620 0
snd_seq_oss 31392 0
snd_seq_midi_event 7072 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 49488 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 7212 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss 40384 0
snd_mixer_oss 16096 1 snd_pcm_oss
af_packet 17960 0
snd_hda_intel 15828 1
snd_hda_codec 164544 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm 70116 3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_timer 19620 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 8712 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd 46500 11 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm,snd _timer
soundcore 8096 1 snd
rfcomm 33428 6
video 13924 0
thermal 11240 0
fan 4036 0
container 3968 0
button 5808 0
battery 8260 0
ac 4292 0
ide_cd 35776 0
binfmt_misc 9800 1
loop 15400 0
nls_utf8 2624 1
ntfs 266940 1
sbp2 20776 0
dm_mod 49944 0
hidp 14112 2
l2cap 21280 10 rfcomm,hidp
cpufreq_ondemand 6956 0
cpufreq_conservative 6952 0
cpufreq_powersave 2400 0
speedstep_centrino 8048 1
freq_table 4800 1 speedstep_centrino
processor 21448 2 thermal,speedstep_centrino
intel_agp 22812 1
agpgart 27240 3 drm,intel_agp
nvram 8104 0
hci_usb 14292 6
bluetooth 43268 16 rfcomm,hidp,l2cap,hci_usb
sr_mod 15524 0
ohci1394 32240 0
ieee1394 286264 3 eth1394,sbp2,ohci1394
ehci_hcd 29160 0
uhci_hcd 20748 0
usbcore 113472 5 ndiswrapper,hci_usb,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
evdev 8864 2
joydev 8928 0
tsdev 7040 0
ext3 124936 3
jbd 51028 1 ext3
sd_mod 18368 6
ahci 15140 0
ata_piix 10500 5
libata 60620 2 ahci,ata_piix
scsi_mod 118376 5 sbp2,sr_mod,sd_mod,ahci,libata

The module needed bcm43xx does not seem to be loaded. Look out if it is blacklisted.

I am actually new to Linux, how do I check if it is blacklisted