Xubuntu, Refuses to detect Wireless NIC on Inspiron 3520

justmy2cents · 05-30-2017, 04:15 PM

Now I'm personally new to this, but I had went from a windows 10 OS to an Xubuntu OS from a friend who had the disk for it, (I'm trying to work with coding right now, and I figure Linux is the one to use for this. Well, every version I seem to install refuses to detect any wireless capability, but can detect Ethernet just fine. Now I have a sneaking suspicion that it isn't any of my own hardware on my system, but I can be wrong. I am reassured however that it is the case as I have a backup disk for windows ten, and it is perfectly fine in trying to detect and search for any active ap's Nearby, So I'm completely lost... So any help would be great thanks.

erik2282 · 05-30-2017, 04:53 PM

Code:

lspci -v | grep -A 10 -i "Network Controller"

Code:

cat /etc/*release*

run these commands in the terminal and paste the output in a reply post

ardvark71 · 05-30-2017, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justmy2cents

So any help would be great thanks.

Hi...

Which version of Xubuntu are you trying to use? Also, with your adapter plugged in, please open a terminal and run the following commands...

Code:

wget -N -t 5 -T 10 https://github.com/UbuntuForums/wireless-info/raw/master/wireless-info && \
chmod +x wireless-info && \
./wireless-info

Then navigate to the location of the text file the script created and post the contents (or a link to them) in your next reply. This will give us information we need concerning your adapter.

Thanks!

TB0ne · 05-31-2017, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justmy2cents

Now I'm personally new to this, but I had went from a windows 10 OS to an Xubuntu OS from a friend who had the disk for it, (I'm trying to work with coding right now, and I figure Linux is the one to use for this. Well, every version I seem to install refuses to detect any wireless capability, but can detect Ethernet just fine. Now I have a sneaking suspicion that it isn't any of my own hardware on my system, but I can be wrong. I am reassured however that it is the case as I have a backup disk for windows ten, and it is perfectly fine in trying to detect and search for any active ap's Nearby, So I'm completely lost... So any help would be great thanks.

You don't say what distros you've tried, but I bolded a line in your original post that's a bit telling. If you've tried multiple distros, and NONE of them pick up your Wifi....is it off? Sometimes the 'switch' to turn wifi off/on is a software/FN-key combination, like FN-F5 or the like. Could very well be that since Windows 10 was living on that laptop, that the state of the wifi was 'remembered', and turns back on when you boot W10.

Also, you don't say what version of Xubuntu you're using, or what model laptop, but if you're just starting out I'd suggest Linux Mint before anything else. The list of devices it supports is fairly large, and it's designed to get devices to 'just work', as it has a large list of consumer devices supported. And you may want the latest version of Xubuntu, if you don't already have it.

justmy2cents · 05-31-2017, 09:40 AM

I let my friend use this account to post the OP, (I am the guy who gave him Xubuntu). He will reply back later on.. But I recommended Mint after Xubuntu (although I didn't want to cus I don't understand their update methodology), and is why I personally don't use it.. Apparently with Mint using the terminal to update is discouraged.. And yeah his NIC is not shut off in the BIOS, cus with Windows 10 loaded it works.. Anyways thanks.

TB0ne · 05-31-2017, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justmy2cents

I let my friend use this account to post the OP, (I am the guy who gave him Xubuntu). He will reply back later on.. But I recommended Mint after Xubuntu (although I didn't want to cus I don't understand their update methodology), and is why I personally don't use it.. Apparently with Mint using the terminal to update is discouraged..

Mint is made for new users, and using the terminal can be intimidating. I use openSUSE Tumbleweed, and still do my updates/auto-updates through the GUI, just because I have better things to do, and one or two mouse clicks is easier and faster. That said, Mint updates the same way as Debian does...

Quote:

And yeah his NIC is not shut off in the BIOS, cus with Windows 10 loaded it works.. Anyways thanks.

Not in BIOS...after the system boots. Having it enabled in BIOS doesn't mean it's actually switched on. There are often hardware switches or FN key combinations that switch it off; think 'airplane mode' on your phone. The device is still powered up, but nothing is transmitting.

And again...what kind of laptop is this, what kind of wifi hardware, and what version of Xubuntu?

justmy2cents · 05-31-2017, 10:03 AM

Code:

lsb_release -a
Distrubutor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS
Release:        16.04
Codename:       xenial

It's not soft switched either as I tried rfkill list all... Cant remember the output of that, or if there was any but I remember that wasn't the reason; I think it's definitely a driver or a faulty NIC but trying Mint would confirm this.. The laptop model is a Dell Inspiron 3520... I'll run the commands to get the wireless card driver info when I catch up with him. Thank you for your help!

TB0ne · 05-31-2017, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justmy2cents

Code:

lsb_release -a
Distrubutor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS
Release:        16.04
Codename:       xenial

It not soft switched either as I tried rfkill list all. Cant remember the output of that, or if there was any but I remember that wasn't the reason

Ok...is there a 'hard' switch on the device for it? Just asking; the rfkill command should return something.

Quote:

I think it's definitely a driver or a faulty NIC but trying Mint would confirm this.. The laptop model is a Dell Inspiron 3520...

Try the solution listed here:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1751...60-3560#215923

...probably a firmware issue, with the broadcom card. While that's for 12.04, it should still work. Providing you're not using another type of USB dongle, and have stuck to the Broadcom device, this should get you going.

::EDIT:: This may be of use too.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...Driver/bcm43xx

justmy2cents · 05-31-2017, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TB0ne

Ok...is there a 'hard' switch on the device for it? Just asking; the rfkill command should return something.

I cant say with certainty, but I think so.. Thanks for the links ill refer those to him.

Harnando · 05-31-2017, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erik2282

Code:

lspci -v | grep -A 10 -i "Network Controller"

Code:

cat /etc/*release*

run these commands in the terminal and paste the output in a reply post

Code:

To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.

harnando@Soto-Inspiron-3520:~$ lspci -v | grep -A 10 -i "Network Controller"
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1704 802.11n + BT 4.0
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
	Memory at f7c00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma

09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 05)
	Subsystem: Dell RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 24
harnando@Soto-Inspiron-3520:~$ cat /etc/*release*
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=16.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=xenial
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="16.04.2 LTS (Xenial Xerus)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS"
VERSION_ID="16.04"
HOME_URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
VERSION_CODENAME=xenial
UBUNTU_CODENAME=xenial
harnando@Soto-Inspiron-3520:~$

Hello Harny here, the guy who originally used OP's account to ask this. This is what I got from those two codes. And I can be reassured it's not the Wlan Card.

TB0ne · 06-01-2017, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harnando

Code:

To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.

harnando@Soto-Inspiron-3520:~$ lspci -v | grep -A 10 -i "Network Controller"
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1704 802.11n + BT 4.0
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
	Memory at f7c00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma

09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 05)
	Subsystem: Dell RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 24
harnando@Soto-Inspiron-3520:~$ cat /etc/*release*
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=16.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=xenial
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="16.04.2 LTS (Xenial Xerus)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS"
VERSION_ID="16.04"
HOME_URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
VERSION_CODENAME=xenial
UBUNTU_CODENAME=xenial

Hello Harny here, the guy who originally used OP's account to ask this. This is what I got from those two codes. And I can be reassured it's not the Wlan Card.

Great. So did you read my posts above, about how to get the Broadcom card to work?

erik2282 · 06-01-2017, 09:39 AM

What TBone said... plus search on Google for BCM43142 Ubuntu

ardvark71 · 06-01-2017, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harnando

This is what I got from those two codes. And I can be reassured it's not the Wlan Card.

Hi...

No, the card does show...

Code:

harnando@Soto-Inspiron-3520:~$ lspci -v | grep -A 10 -i "Network Controller"
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1704 802.11n + BT 4.0
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
	Memory at f7c00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma

Another possible easy way of fixing this is to install the driver using the "Additional Drivers" program. Instructions on how to access it can be found here. If your adapter can use the "wl" driver (which I think it can,) you should see a listing for it there.

EDIT: Just confirmed that it can use the "wl" driver.

Regards...

TB0ne · 06-01-2017, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardvark71

Hi...No, the card does show...

Code:

harnando@Soto-Inspiron-3520:~$ lspci -v | grep -A 10 -i "Network Controller"
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1704 802.11n + BT 4.0
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
	Memory at f7c00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma

Another possible easy way of fixing this is to install the driver using the "Additional Drivers" program. Instructions on how to access it can be found here. If your adapter can use the "wl" driver (which I think it can,) you should see a listing for it there.

EDIT: Just confirmed that it can use the "wl" driver.

..providing the firmware is in place, and other things aren't needed. And providing that the OP is happy with slower wifi performance, then yes, your advice will work. Otherwise, the OP was provided with documentation and instructions on how to install the correct drivers from Broadcom via the *buntu repos, which include the proper firmware.

cynwulf · 06-21-2017, 06:11 AM

This chip is only supported by the broadcom-sta ("wl") driver, so for that driver no extra firmware is needed. It's a proprietary blob driver.