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08-18-2015, 03:33 PM
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#1
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jan 2015
Posts: 10
Rep:
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Unable to access WiFi in Linux Mint Cinnamon 17.1 on Dell Inspiron 1501
I disabled my Broadcom wireless LAN utility in Windows XP because I didn't want to be subject to malicious stuff from the internet after Microsoft stopped supporting XP. I forgot to re-enable it before I formatted the hard drive and installed Linux Mint Cinnamon 17.1. I can access the internet via Ethernet cable only. I went into the terminal window and the ethernet0 connection is enabled, but I can't get on WiFi. How can I enable the LAN utility?
Thanks in advance!
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08-18-2015, 04:19 PM
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#2
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LQ 5k Club
Registered: May 2003
Location: London, UK
Distribution: Fedora40
Posts: 6,152
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Broadcom needs firmware to be installed to your wireless chipset for it to work.
Linux distros cannot usually distribute this because....
Try this post for a HOWTO:
http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/796
Read the post and the comments, as first (as of today) is relevant to Mint17
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1 members found this post helpful.
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08-18-2015, 04:42 PM
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#3
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jan 2015
Posts: 10
Original Poster
Rep:
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Thank you for the info, Tredegar!
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08-18-2015, 04:55 PM
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#4
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LQ 5k Club
Registered: May 2003
Location: London, UK
Distribution: Fedora40
Posts: 6,152
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Please let us know how you get on.
Solved yet?
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08-18-2015, 05:43 PM
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#5
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jan 2015
Posts: 10
Original Poster
Rep:
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Tredegar, I followed the steps in the link you provided, but since I'm not on the internet, the driver download failed. I connected via Ethernet, but cannot get online. I tried to add an Ethernet connection in Network Connections, but I need the MAC address. I tried "ifconfig", "ifconfig -a" to get the MAC address, but the only address it is showing is the loopback address. I've tried other commands, but for some reason, the OS cannot see the Ethernet connection. Any ideas?
Thanks!
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08-18-2015, 11:40 PM
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#6
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Feb 2015
Location: USA
Distribution: Lubuntu 14.04, 22.04, Windows 8.1 and 10
Posts: 6,282
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyGrannie
Any ideas?
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Hi...
Welcome to the forum
If you would, please post the ouput of this command...
Code:
lspci -nnk | grep -i net -A2
This should tell us more about your adapters.
Thanks!
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08-19-2015, 12:25 PM
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#7
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jan 2015
Posts: 10
Original Poster
Rep:
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Hi, Ardvark71. I've attached a pdf of the output.
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08-19-2015, 12:37 PM
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#8
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jan 2015
Posts: 10
Original Poster
Rep:
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In addition, a couple of weeks ago I was able to connect via Ethernet cable, but not now. I've been looking at other forums, and see that other Mint users have had issues with the ethernet card not being automatically enabled on start since the last update to 17.2
Last edited by CrazyGrannie; 08-19-2015 at 01:09 PM.
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08-19-2015, 09:14 PM
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#9
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Feb 2015
Location: USA
Distribution: Lubuntu 14.04, 22.04, Windows 8.1 and 10
Posts: 6,282
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyGrannie
In addition, a couple of weeks ago I was able to connect via Ethernet cable, but not now. I've been looking at other forums, and see that other Mint users have had issues with the ethernet card not being automatically enabled on start since the last update to 17.2
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So, you just upgraded Mint to 17.2 and this is when this happened? I'm not seeing a module loaded for your ethernet adapter from your screenshot. Just to make sure, would you also include the output for lsmod....
EDIT: Take a look at the post with the green check mark here. What does your /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf file say, if you have it?
Regards...
Last edited by ardvark71; 08-19-2015 at 09:19 PM.
Reason: Added information.
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08-20-2015, 01:16 PM
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#10
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jan 2015
Posts: 10
Original Poster
Rep:
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Hi, Ardvark71. Lo and behold, my eth0 connection is showing with the ifconfig command today. However, when I entered the command you provided (/etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf), I get this output: No such file or directory. Then I tried it with sudo in front of the command, and I got 'command not found'.
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08-20-2015, 01:50 PM
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#11
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LQ 5k Club
Registered: May 2003
Location: London, UK
Distribution: Fedora40
Posts: 6,152
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You seem to be making progress. Good.
Quote:
However, when I entered the command you provided (/etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf), I get this output: No such file or directory.
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There's probably a misunderstanding. I think Ardvark71 is asking you to post the contents of that file.
The command you need is
Code:
cat /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf
Then copy / paste the output & post it here.
If you enclose the paste within CODE tags (Click "Go advanced" then the "#" icon) it'll be easier to read, as I did above for the box labelled as "Code:"
Persevere. Your diligence, patience and enthusiasm will be rewarded.
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08-20-2015, 02:12 PM
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#12
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jan 2015
Posts: 10
Original Poster
Rep:
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[CODE cat /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf
cat: /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf: No such file or directory]
Last edited by CrazyGrannie; 08-20-2015 at 02:15 PM.
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08-20-2015, 04:04 PM
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#13
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jan 2015
Posts: 10
Original Poster
Rep:
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I went to Driver Manager and it said my Broadcom device was not working, so I clicked on apply changes, and now it shows that I am using an alternate driver. So, it looks like the driver successfully downloaded. Now, how do I get on wifi? I have two wifi connections in network connections, but I don't know how to connect to them.
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08-20-2015, 06:02 PM
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#14
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LQ Guru
Registered: Sep 2011
Location: Upper Hale, Surrey/Hants Border, UK
Distribution: One main distro, & some smaller ones casually.
Posts: 5,706
Rep:
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Network Manager, wicd, or ceni will help you to connect.
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08-20-2015, 07:01 PM
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#15
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Feb 2015
Location: USA
Distribution: Lubuntu 14.04, 22.04, Windows 8.1 and 10
Posts: 6,282
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyGrannie
I went to Driver Manager and it said my Broadcom device was not working, so I clicked on apply changes, and now it shows that I am using an alternate driver. So, it looks like the driver successfully downloaded.
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Hi...
So did doing this activate both devices?
Regards...
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