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I recently installed Ubuntu 9.04 on a Dell Inspiron with a Broadcom 4311wireless card. I couldn't get internet access with Firefox.
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System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers showed
Broadcom B43 wireless driver
Broadcom STA wireless driver

with the B43 light green and "activated" and "currently in use".

Since the wireless wasn't working, I thought I would try the STA wireless driver. I deactivated the B43 driver and activated the STA driver. I thought both drivers would still be available, but the B43 driver didn't appear in the list after rebooting. I guess deactivate means delete. There was some information about fwcutter at the bottom of the Hardware Drivers Window, but that information disappeared with the deactivation of the B43 driver.

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From tail of 'dmesg' before deactivating the B43 driver.

[ 16.917710] [drm] writeback test succeeded in 1 usecs
[ 19.800195] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 19.852276] input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input8
[ 19.901101] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/ucode5.fw
[ 19.975321] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/pcm5.fw
[ 19.992618] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/b0g0initvals5.fw
[ 20.008509] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
[ 20.140113] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
[ 20.221158] Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
[ 20.222064] Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
[ 20.222115] Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio
[ 20.240076] b43-phy0: Radio turned on by software
[ 20.240869] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

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From tail of 'dmesg' after deactivating the B43 driver.

[ 16.889858] [drm] writeback test succeeded in 1 usecs
[ 19.808793] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 24.644091] eth1: no IPv6 routers present
[ 106.996120] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[ 106.996129] ata2.00: ST_FIRST: !(DRQ|ERR|DF)
[ 106.996146] ata2.00: cmd a0/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
[ 106.996149] cdb 1e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
[ 106.996152] res 50/00:01:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 Emask 0x2 (HSM violation)
[ 106.996160] ata2.00: status: { DRDY }
[ 106.996207] ata2: soft resetting link
[ 107.220621] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33
[ 107.235470] ata2: EH complete
[ 365.005292] wl 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A disabled
[ 365.005510] wl 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 365.005535] wl 0000:0b:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 365.010323] eth1: Broadcom BCM4311 802.11 Wireless Controller 5.10.79.10
[ 380.796052] eth1: no IPv6 routers present

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Things seemed better before I deactivated the B43 driver. How can I restore this driver? Why can't I get internet access with either driver?

Things look better with the second, it has found an interface. That being said, modprobe is the command you want, look at the man page.

Can you give us please; I bought an inspiron recently with the 'Dell' card, not the Intel and it is unsupported.

I am using an Inspiron 1200 with the Dell wireless card. It works flawlessly.

You need ndiswrapper installed so that you can use the Dell windows drivers.

Gary

> lspci |grep Net
0b:00.00 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev01)

Does the second really look better than the first?

I read the man pages for modprobe but found them a little incomprehensible. I guess I might want to add the B43 driver and remove the blacklisting of this driver. Your assertion that the STA driver looking better than the B43 suggests that I shouldn't do this.
THanks for your interest.

James,

I removed the blacklist for the B43 driver. I'm back where I started, but I don't know if I want the Broadcom B43 driver or the Broadcom STA driver. The B43 seems better because the 'iwconfig' command gives me some info for wlan0, while the Broadcom STA driver says nothing about wlan0. You said that the Broadcom STA driver was better because of the dmesg outputs. What do you suggest as a next step?

[QUOTE=sconnelly;3574655]James,

I removed the blacklist for the B43 driver. I'm back where I started, but I don't know if I want the Broadcom B43 driver or the Broadcom STA driver. The B43 seems better because the 'iwconfig' command gives me some info for wlan0, while the Broadcom STA driver says nothing about wlan0. You said that the Broadcom STA driver was better because of the dmesg outputs. What do you suggest as a next step -- for either driver?[/QUOTE x y z]

The STA driver is the correct driver for the 4311, and probably the one you should use. it was released by Broadcom directly.for that family of wireless chips. This is a driver designed by Broadcom for those chips and not a driver that was reverse engineered to get the card working. Nothing wrong with the guys that reverse engineer all those wireless drivers, God bless them, they do tremendous work.. but given the choice between a native driver and a reverse engineered driver, that requires you to hack firmware out of the Windows driver, it seems an obvious choice..
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php


See Dells release about Wireless Driver support for their cards.. note the link in his post is the same one I put above.
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/d...ess-cards.aspx



If you do use the b43 driver (which also works for the 4311 v1&2) you have to manually install the firmware for the Wireless card, using the fwcutter tool.

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farslayer,

I'll try deactivating te B43 driver. This should blacklist it in modprobe. Then I'll activate the Broadcom STA driver. I know this won't give me internet access, but I'll try:

> lshw -C network
> lspci
> ifconfig
> iwconfig

and post the results. Will this information help you to advise me on what to do next?

Thanks,
sconnelly

Yes it would be a good start.

farslayer,

After removing the B43 driver, it seems that the wlan0 interface was replaced by the eth1 interface.


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System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers shows:
Broadcom STA wireless driver
with a green button for the STA driver which
"is activated and currently in use"
It says the STA driver is tested by Ubuntu developers and the license is
proprietary.

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> lshw -C network
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:0b:00.0
logical name: eth1
version: 01
serial: 00:19:7e:95:3c:8a
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet
physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=wl0 driverversion=5.10.79.10
latency=0 module=wl multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 02
serial: 00:19:b9:82:e3:62
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical mii 10bt
10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=b44
driverversion=2.0 duplex=half latency=64 link=no module=ssb
multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=10MB/s
*-network DISABLED
description: Ethernet interface
physical id: 2
logical name: pan0
serial: 56:fb:8a:5f:82:ac
capabilities: ethernet physical
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3
firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes

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> lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML
and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML
and 945GT Express PCI Express Root Port (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
Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #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)
SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller
(rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility
X1400
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX
(rev 02)
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller
03:01.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro
Host Adapter (rev 19)
03:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host
Adapter (rev 0a)
03:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller
(rev 05)
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g
WLAN (rev 01)

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> ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:b9:82:e3:62
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:17

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:7e:95:3c:8a
inet6 addr: fe80::219:7eff:fe95:3c8a/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:16 Base address:0xc000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:480 (480.0 B) TX bytes:480 (480.0 B)

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> iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth1 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power:32 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Power Managementmode:All packets received
Link Quality=5/5 Signal level=0 dBm Noise level=0 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

eth0 no wireless extensions.

pan0 no wireless extensions.

and how bout status LED does it work correct on STA drivers ?

I have a HP Mini 311 that I'm trying to get working with Ubuntu. I've tried many versions (including 9.10) and have had an assortment of problems. I'm getting the best success with 9.04 (like you), but I've had trouble with the wireless network. My problems closely match yours. I tried many of the things listed in this thread. I'm now using only the Broadcom STA wireless driver. I also have "eth1" listed as the network. I'm using WICD rather than netmanager. Another posting (listed below) gave me the next step. When I ran "sudo iwlist scanning", all the wireless networks showed up. When I added eth1 to my WICD preferences, everything started working.

Maybe you've already upgraded to 9.10 (which might work on your Dell). But if you still are thinking about this, read the link below. I can now run something other than MS Windows XP on my netbook!


https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu...question/70531