Slackware 13 and Wireless Problems

11sbeebe · 01-05-2010, 06:26 PM

Hey guys im a mega n00b at this stuff. I've never had linux before now. Im running slackware 13 on a:
Dell inspiron 1501 w/ AMD Sempron

All ive got is the stock card:
Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card (Manufacturer: Broadcom)

I'm using KDE to get round cause im used to windows.
When I go to view my wireless interfaces nothing shows up and I get and error message: Cannot parse the XML file.

Im not stupid enough to not know what an XML file and I realize that I need new drivers or perhaps ndiswraper(which I know nothing about) and that Broadcom is really bad about linux support. Do I need to buy a new card?

Please let me know what you guys know bout any of the parts to my problem.

slackass · 01-05-2010, 06:30 PM

Have you tried wicd
ftp://slackware.mirrors.tds.net/pub/....0/extra/wicd/

11sbeebe · 01-05-2010, 06:33 PM

no i'll try it thanks.

tronayne · 01-05-2010, 07:14 PM

...and, if it's a laptop, be smarter than I was fighting with why the thing wouldn't work after I installed WICD -- all I really had to do was press the function key on the laptop to tun on the transceiver (big, huge, massive duh!). Never had function keys that actually did anything before...

onebuck · 01-05-2010, 09:22 PM

Hi,

Welcome to LQ & Slackware!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 11sbeebe

Hey guys im a mega n00b at this stuff. I've never had linux before now. Im running slackware 13 on a:
Dell inspiron 1501 w/ AMD Sempron

All ive got is the stock card:
Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card (Manufacturer: Broadcom)

I'm using KDE to get round cause im used to windows.
When I go to view my wireless interfaces nothing shows up and I get and error message: Cannot parse the XML file.

Im not stupid enough to not know what an XML file and I realize that I need new drivers or perhaps ndiswraper(which I know nothing about) and that Broadcom is really bad about linux support. Do I need to buy a new card?

Please let me know what you guys know bout any of the parts to my problem.

Do a search here on LQ for the Broadcom setup as I know from experience that this very subject has been covered on this forum many times.

Do 'lspci -nn |grep -i Broadcom' from the cli;

Code:

example;

# lspci -nn |grep -i Broadcom
05:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g [14e4:4312] (rev 01)
08:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX [14e4:170c] (rev 02)

The device ID '14e4:4312' and the chipset BCM4312 in the example in the above is important, yours may differ. I think yours is a 4311. You should use the ID & chipset to see if the firmware will work for you. You may get away with using the b43-fwcutter from 'SlackBuilds'.

Just a few links to aid you;

Slackware® Essentials
Slackware® Basics
Linux Documentation Project
Rute Tutorial & Exposition
Linux Command Guide
Utimate Linux Newbie Guide
LinuxSelfHelp
Getting Started with Linux
Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide
Virtualiation- Top 10

The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!