Wifi on Compaq Mini 110; Linux Mint 10

jason_lee_91 · 03-26-2011, 02:24 PM

hi everyone!
I am brand new to linux and i am finding it really frustrating cause i always thought i had quite a knack for computers haha.
ive looked online and searched a bunch of stuff but because im so new to linux i am having a hard time even understand some of the stuff.
i really want to get comfortable/fluent with linux and unix and what not.

my netbook model is HP Compaq Mini 110
the distribution i am using is Linux Mint 10

my broadcom wifi device isnt working or something.

when i first installed mint, it said that i needed non-free drivers?

the ethernet cable instantly gave me connection and i was able to run updates
but the wifi still doesnt work
i think the updates only updated the free ones and not the non-free ones cause i dont remember ever specifying to download the non free ones
how do i manually specify to download all available updates?

i also typed:
$ sudo gedit /var/lib/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.state

the output says:
[main]
NetworkingEnabled=true
WirelessEnabled=true
WWANEnabled=true

oh also when i right click on the little network sign on the bottom right corner, then it says "Wireless Networks device not read (firmware missing)" I dont know what is going on haha

any help is much appreciated!

corp769 · 03-26-2011, 03:03 PM

Can you post the output of ifconfig, iwconfig, and lsmod? And please use code tags.

TobiSGD · 03-26-2011, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jason_lee_91

when i first installed mint, it said that i needed non-free drivers?

And, did you install them? If not, connect with a cable and the use the hardware drivers tool to install them. I don't know where to find the tool in Mint, but it should be in your menu.

jason_lee_91 · 03-26-2011, 05:02 PM

ahh sorry i didnt realize i should use code tags i will make sure to do that
so here are the outputs
and yes i did install the updates already via update manager with a ethernet cable

Code:

jason@jason-netbook ~ $ ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 18:a9:05:a1:a5:1c  
          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:44 

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:64 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:64 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:4320 (4.3 KB)  TX bytes:4320 (4.3 KB)


jason@jason-netbook ~ $ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=0 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          

jason@jason-netbook ~ $ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
binfmt_misc             6599  1 
parport_pc             26058  0 
ppdev                   5556  0 
dm_crypt               11385  0 
snd_hda_codec_idt      54887  1 
snd_hda_intel          22107  2 
snd_hda_codec          87552  2 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep               5040  1 snd_hda_codec
arc4                    1165  2 
snd_pcm                71475  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi            4588  0 
b43                   168681  0 
snd_rawmidi            17783  1 snd_seq_midi
joydev                  8735  0 
mac80211              231541  1 b43
snd_seq_midi_event      6047  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                47174  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
hp_wmi                  5191  0 
uvcvideo               55847  0 
snd_timer              19067  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device          5744  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
cfg80211              144470  2 b43,mac80211
snd                    49006  13 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
videodev               43098  1 uvcvideo
psmouse                59033  0 
v4l1_compat            13359  2 uvcvideo,videodev
led_class               2633  1 b43
lp                      7342  0 
soundcore                880  1 snd
serio_raw               4022  0 
snd_page_alloc          7120  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
parport                31492  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
dm_raid45              81721  0 
xor                    15136  1 dm_raid45
btrfs                 489451  0 
zlib_deflate           19266  1 btrfs
crc32c                  2531  1 
libcrc32c                887  1 btrfs
i915                  290938  3 
drm_kms_helper         30200  1 i915
drm                   168054  4 i915,drm_kms_helper
ahci                   19013  0 
intel_agp              26360  2 i915
i2c_algo_bit            5168  1 i915
libahci                21667  3 ahci
video                  18712  1 i915
ssb                    39288  1 b43
atl1c                  29949  0 
output                  1883  1 video
agpgart                32011  2 drm,intel_agp

corp769 · 03-26-2011, 05:06 PM

Run the following:

Code:

ifconfig wlan0 up

Then check your ifconfig and see if any changes are made.

Besides that, can you post your lspci?

TobiSGD · 03-26-2011, 05:12 PM

I didn't ask for the updates, I asked if you installed the drivers with the hardware-tool (not the update-manager).

jason_lee_91 · 03-26-2011, 06:10 PM

the installing drivers worked
i almost feel silly for not having known that
thanks for your help

corp769 · 03-26-2011, 06:18 PM

Awesome!