Hmm. that's a tough one. It seems that you may have to install some firmware package or blacklist some modules or both. Let's wait for a true networking expert to sort this out.
ciao,
jdk

No problem... I do thank you for helping.. I do like Ubuntu, a little hiccups here and there. The timing of the hiccups is just not desired... You know what I mean.. But I am grateful.

One last thing, have a look at this link: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...Driver/bcm43xx. I believe this describes the ubuntu installation procedure for your wifi adapter. Give it a try. Who knows it may solve your problem.
ciao and good luck.
jdk

Have you checked the BIOS setup?
Sometimes wireless is disabled in there ;)
I have been experienced that on dell laptops before, might be such a thing in HP too.
bluetooth and wireless are sometimes called "Radio" in the bios setups ;)
(saying this because you mentioned "hardware disabled)

my card is similar:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...o-wifi-755775/

i ended up downloading source code from broadcom and compiling it myself (it took some time for me to learn how):
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

can you show us the output ofin the meantime, this mite work: sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

as for your printer, i would google x7170 cups ppd and see if any good hits.
seems like lexmark has poor linux support whereas hp has good linux support.

I have the same chipset in two Dell laptops. The wireless works fine in both after the correct firmware is installed.

In the Synaptic Package Manager, go to Settings-->Repositories and enable the "Proprietary Drivers for Devices" items, then search for Broadcom or BCM. That should turn up the package to install.

RPMs are designed for Red Hat derived systems. Ubuntu is a derived from Debian; RMP packages are not compatible (at least not without jumping through lots of hoops).

Try this.

http://lists.infradead.org/pipermail...ch/000804.html