Is a Dell Inspiron 15 3543, compatible with Debian GNOME Live Image?

M. Yusuf Suleman · 01-31-2021, 02:26 AM

I am dual booting Debian from a Live Image. When I use the Live Image it works perfectly fine except Internet. I liked that it was fast. There is nothing wrong with my router. It says

Quote:

Connect you Wi-Fi Adapter

. What do I do? The Graphical Installer's Mouse doesn't work, Which is fine because I can use the arrow keys. In Gnome the Debian Installer app does work. What other things are incompatible? What is the solution?

ferrari · 01-31-2021, 07:41 PM

Quote:

What other things are incompatible?

Who would know?

Quote:

What is the solution?

I assume that you are referring to getting connected via wifi. The first step is to know the chipset and driver details...

Open a terminal, and note what the following reports...

Code:

lspci -nnk|grep -iA3 net

You can save the output to a text fie and transfer via a memory stick if you need to share that output via an internet-connected computer. If the wifi device is supported, there will be a driver loaded and you should have a device node present (eg wlan0)...

Code:

ip link

If no driver is loaded (and therefore no wireless network device node), you'd need to consider installing the OS first, and then adding the required driver package. (This is a imitation of the Live distro.)

Regarding getting connected, read here...
https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse

frankbell · 01-31-2021, 07:44 PM

You need to find out what wireless chipset is installed in the machine. I had several Inspirons and they all had Broadcom wireless. Broadcom will work with Linux, but generally requires a couple of extra steps to get working.

A quick web search for the specs of that model did not reveal the precise chipset, but you can run the command lspci (list pci devices) in a terminal; that should return the relevant information. Post the relevant output here, being careful to surround any terminal output with "code" tags, which become available when you click the "Advanced" button beneath the compose/edit post window. It makes terminal output much easier to read.

M. Yusuf Suleman · 02-01-2021, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

You need to find out what wireless chipset is installed in the machine. I had several Inspirons and they all had Broadcom wireless. Broadcom will work with Linux, but generally requires a couple of extra steps to get working.

A quick web search for the specs of that model did not reveal the precise chipset, but you can run the command lspci (list pci devices) in a terminal; that should return the relevant information. Post the relevant output here, being careful to surround any terminal output with "code" tags, which become available when you click the "Advanced" button beneath the compose/edit post window. It makes terminal output much easier to read.

Here it is.

Code:

06:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Limited BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)

The Ethernet is.

Code:

07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 07)

ferrari · 02-01-2021, 10:43 AM

If you had run the command as I had given it (post#2), you would have got 3 lines of output (for each device), and whether or not a driver was loaded for that device.

M. Yusuf Suleman · 02-03-2021, 06:09 AM

Sorry for being late. I was late because of School, Cold Shutdowns and Fastboot making me unable to save the output.
Here it is.

Code:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp7s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 20:47:47:23:4c:1e brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

ferrari · 02-03-2021, 10:41 AM

No, that is not all that I asked for. I wanted you to run the lspci command as I gave it. It is likely that the proprietary (wl) driver is required for the BDM43143 chipset. The Live environment does not include support for it.

kilgoretrout · 02-03-2021, 11:54 AM

As ferrari indicated, Debian's standard iso does not include non-free firmware needed for many wifi chips to function. The non-inclusion of non-free firmware is a longstanding policy of Debian. After installation, you can add the non-free repos and install the necessary firmware, assuming you can establish internet access via a wired connection. If you don't have access to a wired internet connection, this obviously won't work.

Fortunately, Debian iso's that include the non-free firmware are available and unofficially maintained. You can get a live-cd version here to test out:

https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/u...64/iso-hybrid/

A standard installation Debian iso with non-free firmware can be downloaded here:

https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/u...amd64/iso-dvd/

M. Yusuf Suleman · 02-04-2021, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

No, that is not all that I asked for. I wanted you to run the lspci command as I gave it. It is likely that the proprietary (wl) driver is required for the BDM43143 chipset. The Live environment does not include support for it.

Here is the log you are asking for. I am now trying kilgoretrout's solution before your answer.

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Host Bridge -OPI (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 5500 (rev 09)
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Audio Controller (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP USB xHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP MEI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev e3)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #3 (rev e3)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #4 (rev e3)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #5 (rev e3)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP USB EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP LPC Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SATA Controller [AHCI Mode] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SMBus Controller (rev 03)
06:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Limited BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 07)
08:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF117M [GeForce 610M/710M/810M/820M / GT 620M/625M/630M/720M] (rev a1)

ferrari · 02-04-2021, 11:22 AM

No, refer back to post #2. The command I gave you to run was

Code:

spci -nnk|grep -iA3 net

but it does not matter now. We're sure (based on the wifi device you mentioned) that there is no existing driver support in the live distro that you're trying.

Yes, follow kilgoretrout's advice.

M. Yusuf Suleman · 02-04-2021, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

No, refer back to post #2. The command I gave you to run was

Code:

spci -nnk|grep -iA3 net

but it does not matter now. We're sure (based on the wifi device you mentioned) that there is no existing driver support in the live distro that you're trying.

Yes, follow kilgoretrout's advice.

Here is the final log. kilgoretrout's way didn't work.

Code:

06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Limited BCM43142 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4365] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1704 802.11n + BT 4.0 [1028:0016]
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma
07:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 07)
	Subsystem: Dell RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller [1028:0655]
	Kernel driver in use: r8169
	Kernel modules: r8169
08:00.0 3D controller [0302]: NVIDIA Corporation GF117M [GeForce 610M/710M/810M/820M / GT 620M/625M/630M/720M] [10de:1140] (rev a1)

ferrari · 02-04-2021, 11:32 PM

As you can see that returns a bit more useful information

Code:

06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Limited BCM43142 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4365] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1704 802.11n + BT 4.0 [1028:0016]
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma

Even though 'bcma-pci-bridge' module is loaded against this wifi device, it (and the associated modules) do not support this device. Hence the previous comments about requiring the non-free 'wl' driver. Obtain the appropriate distro iso as indicated by kilgoretrout (post #8).

M. Yusuf Suleman · 02-05-2021, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

As you can see that returns a bit more useful information

Code:

06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Limited BCM43142 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4365] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1704 802.11n + BT 4.0 [1028:0016]
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma

Even though 'bcma-pci-bridge' module is loaded against this wifi device, it (and the associated modules) do not support this device. Hence the previous comments about requiring the non-free 'wl' driver. Obtain the appropriate distro iso as indicated by kilgoretrout (post #8).

kilgoretrout's way didn't work. Nothing Changed.