b43-phy0 ERROR: FOUND UNSUPPORTED PHY (Analog 8, Type 4, Revision 4) -> BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:432b] (rev 01) not working on Dell Vostro 1520 laptop in Ubuntu 9.10

Hi,

Please first connect your network card to the wireless router using an ethernet cable (also known as a LAN cable).

In order to gather essential troubleshooting information about your wireless card, please follow this procedure:

Step 1: Open Terminal from "Applications->Accessories->Terminal"

Step 2: Please copy-paste the following command from the https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu website in Firefox into the Linux Terminal. Do NOT copy-paste from the Email message into the Terminal, as that will only copy PART of the command. The command STARTS with the word sudo and ENDS with the word restart. So please copy-paste the ENTIRE command below from Firefox into a Terminal, press <enter>, then enter password when sudo asks for password, then press enter again.

Tip: If you have a wheel mouse or 3 button mouse you do not need to type commands into the Terminal. Highlight the command written on the page. Move your cursor anywhere in the Terminal and press the wheel or middle button. Automatic Copy and paste! No spelling mistakes! No Typos! No other errors!

sudo lshw -C network; sudo iwlist scanning; cat /etc/network/interfaces; cat /etc/lsb-release; lspci -nn; lsusb; sudo lshw -short; uname -a; dmesg | grep ound; dmesg | grep b43; dmesg | grep wl; dmesg | grep witch; iwconfig; grep b43 /etc/modprobe.d/*; grep wl /etc/modprobe.d/*; sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Step 3: Please post results (copy/paste terminal output) on this thread. The troubleshooters here need to see the full Terminal output from running the above command.

Regards,

Mark

I found that my wifi wasn't detected on a Dell 1525, and had to build my own wireless drivers against my kernel, using the Broadcom source files. If you have an inbuilt broadcom wifi card then this will probably work for you.

Also note you may have a wireless switch which is disabled.

The procedure I followed to get my wifi going is here...
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/414281

If I have saved you time, then you can re-invest it complaining to Dell that they select a wireless provider who won't open source their drivers, causing this problem in the first place. I have, for example, a zip file which I could mail you, and you could unzip and double click on a file in order to automate the procedure of building and installing the drivers. However, I am legally obliged not to distribute it to you. Thanks, Dell.

A direct link to the procedure is

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/414281/comments/2

Greetings my good man.
Thanks for your replies.
Unfortunately much of your comment is way over my head when it comes to
Ubuntu.
I did however find, under hardware drivers, that there were 2 broadcom
drivers apparently not automatically installed.
When running the B43 option it installed and the button is now green.
Running the STA option hangs the computer and when rebooting it says
uninstalled on the STA. Running it a second time says the installation
had already failed.
You also mention, in your initial report, that both wifi buttons were
active - where do I go to check this since the wifi blue led on the
keyboard is off under Ubuntu and on when running Windows XP Pro.

Notwithstanding, I ran your Comment 2 instructions from the terminal.
It did not seem to make any difference, so my problem remains for the
time being.

PS: I also received a reply from Mark who has requested some terminal
output to be mailed him. That too may be over my head, but let me see
what I can do!

Thanks for your trouble and any further suggestions would be welcome.

Justin

On Sun, 2010-04-25 at 12:47 +0000, Cefn wrote:
> Your question #108316 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316
>
> Cefn proposed the following answer:
> A direct link to the procedure is
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/414281/comments/2
>

It is simply a matter of copy-pasting from the Linux Terminal into Mozilla Firefox.

Please post your response using a web browser and go to this location to post the output:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316

That is cleaner than replying per Email.

Hi Mark.

As I wrote to Cefn earlier my linux/ubuntu skills are rather limited.

Below is the output from the terminal window you requested.

____________________________________________________________________
justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo lshw -C network; sudo iwlist scanning;
cat /etc/network/interfaces; cat /etc/lsb-release; lspci -nn; lsusb;
sudo lshw -short; uname -a; dmesg | grep ound; dmesg | grep b43; dmesg |
grep wl; dmesg | grep witch; iwconfig; grep b43 /etc/modprobe.d/*; grep
wl /etc/modprobe.d/*; sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
[sudo] password for justin:
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:08:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 03
       serial: 00:24:e8:c8:aa:5a
       size: 100MB/s
       capacity: 1GB/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list rom
ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd
autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169
driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=full ip=10.0.0.100 latency=0 link=yes
multicast=yes port=MII speed=100MB/s
       resources: irq:32 ioport:3000(size=256)
memory:f6004000-f6004fff(prefetchable)
memory:f6000000-f6003fff(prefetchable)
memory:f6020000-f603ffff(prefetchable)
  *-network UNCLAIMED
       description: Network controller
       product: BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:0e:00.0
       version: 01
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:fa000000-fa003fff
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

pan0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=9.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=karmic
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 9.10"
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset
Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a40] (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4
Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 07)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series
Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a43] (rev 07)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2937] (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2938] (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:2939] (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:293c] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD
Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 1 [8086:2940] (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 2 [8086:2942] (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 3 [8086:2944] (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 4 [8086:2946] (rev 03)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 5 [8086:2948] (rev 03)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 6 [8086:294a] (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2934] (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2935] (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2936] (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:293a] (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
[8086:2448] (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface
Controller [8086:2919] (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI
Controller [8086:2929] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus
Controller [8086:2930] (rev 03)
08:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev
03)
0e:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4322
802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:432b] (rev 01)
1a:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: O2 Micro, Inc. Device [1217:10f7]
(rev 01)
1a:00.1 SD Host controller [0805]: O2 Micro, Inc. Device [1217:8120]
(rev 01)
1a:00.2 Mass storage controller [0180]: O2 Micro, Inc. Device
[1217:8130] (rev 01)
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 03f0:0004 Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 895c
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 046d:c51b Logitech, Inc. V220 Cordless Optical
Mouse for Notebooks
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0c45:63e0 Microdia Sonix Integrated Webcam
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 043d:01b0 Lexmark International, Inc.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 005: ID 0a5c:4503 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 008 Device 004: ID 0a5c:4502 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 008 Device 003: ID 413c:8126 Dell Computer Corp. Wireless 355
Bluetooth
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
H/W path Device Class Description
======================================================
                               system Vostro 1520
/0 bus 0T816J
/0/1 memory 118KiB BIOS
/0/5 processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU
T6670 @ 2.20GHz
/0/5/6 memory 64KiB L1 cache
/0/5/7 memory 2MiB L2 cache
/0/5/1.1 processor Logical CPU
/0/5/1.2 processor Logical CPU
/0/11 memory 3GiB System Memory
/0/11/0 memory 2GiB SODIMM DDR2 Synchronous
800 MHz (1.2 ns)
/0/11/1 memory 1GiB SODIMM DDR2 Synchronous
800 MHz (1.2 ns)
/0/0 processor
/0/0/1.1 processor Logical CPU
/0/0/1.2 processor Logical CPU
/0/100 bridge Mobile 4 Series Chipset
Memory Controller Hub
/0/100/2 display Mobile 4 Series Chipset
Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/2.1 display Mobile 4 Series Chipset
Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/1a bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #4
/0/100/1a.1 bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #5
/0/100/1a.2 bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #6
/0/100/1a.7 bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2
EHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1b multimedia 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio
Controller
/0/100/1c bridge 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 1
/0/100/1c.1 bridge 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 2
/0/100/1c.1/0 eth0 network RTL8111/8168B PCI Express
Gigabit Ethernet controller
/0/100/1c.2 bridge 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 3
/0/100/1c.2/0 network BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n
Wireless LAN Controller
/0/100/1c.3 bridge 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 4
/0/100/1c.4 bridge 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 5
/0/100/1c.4/0 bus O2 Micro, Inc.
/0/100/1c.4/0.1 generic O2 Micro, Inc.
/0/100/1c.4/0.2 storage O2 Micro, Inc.
/0/100/1c.5 bridge 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 6
/0/100/1d bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #1
/0/100/1d.1 bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #2
/0/100/1d.2 bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI
Controller #3
/0/100/1d.7 bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2
EHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1e bridge 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
/0/100/1f bridge ICH9M LPC Interface
Controller
/0/100/1f.2 scsi0 storage ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI
Controller
/0/100/1f.2/0 /dev/sda disk 320GB Hitachi HTS72323
/0/100/1f.2/0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 39MiB Windows FAT volume
/0/100/1f.2/0/2 /dev/sda2 volume 152GiB Windows NTFS volume
/0/100/1f.2/0/3 /dev/sda3 volume 145GiB Extended partition
/0/100/1f.2/0/3/5 /dev/sda5 volume 139GiB Linux filesystem
partition
/0/100/1f.2/0/3/6 /dev/sda6 volume 6087MiB Linux swap / Solaris
partition
/0/100/1f.2/1 /dev/cdrom disk DVD+-RW GT10N
/0/100/1f.3 bus 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus
Controller
/0/2 scsi4 storage
/0/2/0.0.0 /dev/sdb disk USB Mass Storage
/0/2/0.0.0/0 /dev/sdb disk
/1 power Dell
Linux Dell1520 2.6.31-20-generic #58-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 12 05:23:09 UTC
2010 i686 GNU/Linux
[ 0.000000] found SMP MP-table at [c00f6b20] f6b20
[ 0.384792] ACPI: No dock devices found.
[ 0.509138] pnp: PnP ACPI: found 10 devices
[ 1.235695] isapnp: No Plug & Play device found
[ 1.348100] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.364099] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.364351] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.364561] hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.364844] hub 5-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.365049] hub 6-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.365243] hub 7-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.365538] hub 8-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.406776] device-mapper: multipath round-robin: version 1.0.0
loaded
[ 1.413397] BIOS EDD facility v0.16 2004-Jun-25, 0 devices found
[ 2.203792] usb-storage: device found at 2
[ 3.753557] hub 8-1:1.0: USB hub found
[ 12.370457] lp: driver loaded but no devices found
[ 12.614964] sdhci-pci 0000:1a:00.1: SDHCI controller found
[1217:8120] (rev 1)
[ 12.701150] uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device Integrated Webcam
(0c45:63e0)
[ 12.719460] dell-wmi: No known WMI GUID found
[ 12.770436] ssb: Sonics Silicon Backplane found on PCI device
0000:0e:00.0
[ 13.176411] input: HDA Intel Mic at Ext Front Jack
as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input12
[ 13.176481] input: HDA Intel HP Out at Ext Front Jack
as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input13
[ 13.273416] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4322 WLAN found (core revision 16)
[ 12.695365] b43-pci-bridge 0000:0e:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 18 (level,
low) -> IRQ 18
[ 12.695380] b43-pci-bridge 0000:0e:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 13.273416] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4322 WLAN found (core revision 16)
[ 13.316202] b43-phy0 ERROR: FOUND UNSUPPORTED PHY (Analog 8, Type 4,
Revision 4)
[ 13.316239] b43: probe of ssb0:0 failed with error -95
[ 96.309079] b43-pci-bridge 0000:0e:00.0: PCI INT A disabled
[ 13.160517] wl: module license 'unspecified' taints kernel.
[ 0.176445] ACPI: EC: non-query interrupt received, switching to
interrupt mode
[ 0.501525] Switched to high resolution mode on CPU 1
[ 0.504011] Switched to high resolution mode on CPU 0
[ 0.792182] input: Lid Switch
as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0C0D:00/input/input1
[ 0.792224] ACPI: Lid Switch [LID0]
[ 3.344872] Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 160x50
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

pan0 no wireless extensions.

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:# replaced by b43 and ssb.
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist twl4030_wdt
 * Reconfiguring network interfaces...
Ignoring unknown interface eth0=eth0.

[ OK ]
justin@Dell1520:~$

________________________________________________________________________

I sincerely hope this helps.

BTW: While fiddling around with Cefn's suggestions the blue wifi led did
burn for a while but I seem to have lost it with some subsequent action?

Please also refer to my thread reply to Cefn about unloaded wireless
drivers and the inability to install the second [STA] option.

Any further help from you fundi's would be greatly appreciated.

[Having to use a CAT5 cable restricts me to the study where I am not
allowed to smoke!] JEB

Regards

Justin Buirski

On Sat, 2010-04-24 at 22:36 +0000, Mark Rijckenberg wrote:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316

I've had similar issues with the STA drivers through the System => Administration => Hardware Drivers program. I've never successfully got them to work through this route.

The trick is to get the zip file from the broadcom site and manually build and install them. Click on the following link and choose 'Open with Archive Manager' when asked...
http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5.60.48.36.tar.gz
...and choose Extract, creating a new folder called 'broadcom' in your Downloads folder.

Then Go to the folder you've unzipped the files into using the terminal as follows.

Launch Applications => Accessories => Terminal and when the box comes up you can cd (change directory) by typing

cd /home/username/Downloads/broadcom

Where username is your username, and Desktop/broadcom is the folder you extracted the files to.

If you don't know what the actual name of folders are, you can type a few characters when writing a command in the terminal, and hit the tab key twice to see possible completions (the tab key typically above the caps lock key on the left of your keyboard).

cd ~/Downloads/broadcom

is another way to go to the same folder but a lot of people can't find their ~ (tilde) key.

Check you are in the right folder by typing pwd (print working directory). For example on my machine...

cefn@cefn-ubuntu-dell:~/Downloads/broadcom$ pwd
/home/cefn/Downloads/broadcom

Then type ls (list), that's lowercase LS, and the result should look a bit like this...

cefn@cefn-ubuntu-dell:~/Downloads/broadcom$ ls
lib Makefile README.txt src

If you are in the right folder which shows it has the Makefile in it, then you can copy/paste the following lines, one by one until each completes without errors. Personally I'd just copy all of them in one go and paste them into my terminal to save effort, but then if one fails, you'll get a lot of extra junk errors from the remaining ones so be aware.

sudo apt-get build-essential
make clean
make
sudo make install
sudo depmod
sudo modprobe -r b43 b44 ssb wl
sudo modprobe lib80211
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_ccmp
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_tkip
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_wep
sudo modprobe wl
sudo modprobe b44

At this point you should have working wireless, although you may have to wait 30 seconds or so for networks to show up. If you click on the networks icon top right, you will see the available networks.

I find that I have to execute the last few lines after every reboot, in order to reload the drivers. This may explain why you had them working once, and then they went away. These are the lines which I need to rerun from the terminal each reboot to reload my wireless drivers....

sudo modprobe -r b43 b44 ssb wl
sudo modprobe lib80211
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_ccmp
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_tkip
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_wep
sudo modprobe wl
sudo modprobe b44

And the way I do this is to create a text file which contains the following, and is configured to be executable (right click on the text file to change its permissions to executable after you've saved these lines with a text editor like gedit, e.g. to ~/Desktop/launch.sh

#!/bin/bash
sudo modprobe -r b43 b44 ssb wl
sudo modprobe lib80211
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_ccmp
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_tkip
sudo modprobe lib80211_crypt_wep
sudo modprobe wl
sudo modprobe b44

Once this file is created, you can just double click on it on your desktop and it should execute.

Hi,

You need to install the following Broadcom driver package using aptitude or Synaptic package manager: bcmwl-kernel-source

This will of course require a working wirED Internet connection in Ubuntu. (wired, not wireless)

For example: using the Terminal, you need to run the following commands to install bcmwl-kernel-source:

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install bcmwl-kernel-source

Then REBOOT and retest wireless using Network Manager.

A similar explanation can be found at the end of this thread:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-docs/+question/89142

If that does not solve the wireless issue, then do a clean install of Ubuntu 10.04 beta 2 and then reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source

Regards,

Mark

Hi Mark

Emailing rather than posting as this will turn out more personal.

I followed, or so I think, some instructions from Cefn who has found a
rather complex solution to the same problem. Unfortunately this left me
up the creek since neither Wireless nor CAT5 worked thereafter.
Removed the 2 Broadcom proprietary drivers as well as the WiFi enabled
and the wired internet floated back.
Back online now, I will just have to learn to forsake the wireless
internet option unless your troubleshooters are able to provide a
'laymans version' of detailed instructions.
Was the terminal output I mailed earlier of any possible help?

Regards

Justin

On Mon, 2010-04-26 at 14:23 +0000, Mark Rijckenberg wrote:
> Your question #108316 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
>
> Mark Rijckenberg requested for more information:
> It is simply a matter of copy-pasting from the Linux Terminal into
> Mozilla Firefox.
>
> Please post your response using a web browser and go to this location to
> post the output:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316
>
> That is cleaner than replying per Email.
>

I have already sent the instructions to follow:

"If that does not solve the wireless issue, then do a clean install of Ubuntu 10.04 beta 2 and then reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source"

The following link shows how issues with this wireless chipset were solved in the past:

https://answers.launchpad.net/~markrijckenberg/+questions?field.search_text=BCM4322&field.sort=NEWEST_FIRST&field.sort-empty-marker=1&field.actions.search=Search&field.language=en&field.language-empty-marker=1&field.status=SOLVED&field.status-empty-marker=1

Can't apologise enough if following these instructions caused you to lose other functionality. Just so you know what they did to your system...

The instructions provided built a local copy of special modules for your kernel, and then loaded them into your kernel.

Kernel modules are tiny programs which run in a part of your system which executes very responsively, and with deep access to your system, since it needs to handle real-time things like receiving wireless signals without being interrupted by other things going on, e.g. when you are saving a word document, you don't want the network to stop working for a second, so kernel modules have priority.

However, their modular nature means that anything you do to them should only affect very specific functionality, so I'm surprised by your report of other things breaking. I'm also surprised because most of the instructions simply turn something off, then back on again without changing it. It's only the Broadcom wireless driver modules which are actually changed.

The code for these modules was provided by Broadcom for the type of hardware that you have, which appeared in your original report of the terminal output as follows...

BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller

After downloading the tools from the internet, and building the modules (basically compiling a program and saving it on your hard disk), the additional instructions told the machine to update its list of its available modules, unload a few from your kernel, and then reload them again at which point wireless networks should start to be auto-detected by nm-applet, which is the little network control at the top right corner of your screen.

If you weren't connected to the internet at the time, then the first instruction would have failed, causing the rest to fail in interesting ways.

When Mark says 'install bcmwl-kernel-source' he means a package which is available in the repositories through apt-get or the graphical tool Synaptic. If you want to use the graphical tool, launch System => Administration => Synaptic Package Manager then search for 'bcmwl' using the white search box at the top of Synaptic and you'll see the package. Right click on it and choose 'Mark for Installation' or if it's already 'installed', choose 'Mark for Reinstallation' then click on the Apply button, and it should do its job. This approach will also need you to be connected to the internet at the time.

I've never used Mark's approach, but I might try it this evening when I'm back with my Dell. It's certainly easier than the command line approach.

Hi Cefn.

And once again thanks for the much appreciated effort that both you and
Mark make to ensure an easy transition to Linux/Ubuntu.

Firstly, I tried Mark's suggestion through aptitude and reinstalled both
mentioned Broadcom drivers - that you recall I had deleted earlier.
The STA driver is now Green in the proprietary drivers but the b43
driver is greyed out. Completely removing the b43 and then reinstalling
did not make a difference. The WiFi light does not even go on.

Secondly please be assured I do not blame you for my temporary loss of
the internet. With hindsight from your remarks there was an error
message when running one of the 'lines' from your earlier instructions
which in all likelyhood led to my eventual problem. I also admit that
after running your terminal input lines the blue WiFi light DID burn on
one occasion.

However, I would now like to put this matter to bed. I can live with
only wired internet for the time being and as Mark penultimately
suggested I can upgrade to 10.4 in the near future.

My son is involved with IT, is an engineer, and has far better
Ubuntu/Linux skills than I will ever have. When next he is down in Cape
Town I will ask him to see what he can additionally ferret out.

Will drop you all an email should I eventually manage to get wireless
router access from the Dell 1520 operating under an Ubuntu OS.

Regards and thanks yet again.

Justin

On Wed, 2010-04-28 at 15:44 +0000, Cefn wrote:
> Your question #108316 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316
>
> Cefn posted a new comment:
> Can't apologise enough if following these instructions caused you to
> lose other functionality. Just so you know what they did to your
> system...
>
> The instructions provided built a local copy of special modules for your
> kernel, and then loaded them into your kernel.
>
> Kernel modules are tiny programs which run in a part of your system
> which executes very responsively, and with deep access to your system,
> since it needs to handle real-time things like receiving wireless
> signals without being interrupted by other things going on, e.g. when
> you are saving a word document, you don't want the network to stop
> working for a second, so kernel modules have priority.
>
> However, their modular nature means that anything you do to them should
> only affect very specific functionality, so I'm surprised by your report
> of other things breaking. I'm also surprised because most of the
> instructions simply turn something off, then back on again without
> changing it. It's only the Broadcom wireless driver modules which are
> actually changed.
>
> The code for these modules was provided by Broadcom for the type of
> hardware that you have, which appeared in your original report of the
> terminal output as follows...
>
> BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller
>
> After downloading the tools from the internet, and building the modules
> (basically compiling a program and saving it on your hard disk), the
> additional instructions told the machine to update its list of its
> available modules, unload a few from your kernel, and then reload them
> again at which point wireless networks should start to be auto-detected
> by nm-applet, which is the little network control at the top right
> corner of your screen.
>
> If you weren't connected to the internet at the time, then the first
> instruction would have failed, causing the rest to fail in interesting
> ways.
>
> When Mark says 'install bcmwl-kernel-source' he means a package which is
> available in the repositories through apt-get or the graphical tool
> Synaptic. If you want to use the graphical tool, launch System =>
> Administration => Synaptic Package Manager then search for 'bcmwl' using
> the white search box at the top of Synaptic and you'll see the package.
> Right click on it and choose 'Mark for Installation' or if it's already
> 'installed', choose 'Mark for Reinstallation' then click on the Apply
> button, and it should do its job. This approach will also need you to be
> connected to the internet at the time.
>
> I've never used Mark's approach, but I might try it this evening when
> I'm back with my Dell. It's certainly easier than the command line
> approach.
>

The problem here is that you are trying to install both the b43 driver and wl driver. Both drivers are mutually exclusive and only one will work correctly.

The error message you sent us "b43-phy0 ERROR: FOUND UNSUPPORTED PHY (Analog 8, Type 4, Revision 4)" proves that the b43 driver is incompatible with your Broadcom BCM4322 wireless chipset. "FOUND UNSUPPORTED PHY" means the b43 driver cannot correctly work with your wireless card. So there is no point in trying to uninstall and then reinstall the b43 driver. The b43 wireless driver is meant for OTHER Broadcom chipsets, NOT yours.

The only correct driver for your BCM4322 chipset is the bcmwl-kernel-source driver package, which contains the wl driver. When you install the wl driver, it will automatically disable the b43 driver, because only one of them can be working at a point in time.

Another thing is that you assume that wireless only works if the wireless light turns on. That is an incorrect assumption. It might be the case in Windows, but it is not the case in Ubuntu. On my computer, my wireless card works/connects fine and the wifi light does not turn on in Ubuntu. The only correct test is to run a command that scans for wireless networks, for example: running this command:

sudo iwlist scanning

If the output of that command shows one or more wireless access points, then you know that the wireless card is working correctly. You should not rely on looking at the wifi lights....

Your Ubuntu install might be broken now due to the failed and mixed driver installation attempts. That is why I recommend doing a clean install of Ubuntu 10.04 FINAL and then ONLY installing bcmwl-kernel-source, NOT b43.

See the following link for details about the bcmwl-kernel-source driver installation package for Ubuntu 10.04:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/da/lucid/bcmwl-kernel-source

This email I understood.
Still have a problem though.
Below is the terminal output from sudo aptitude:

justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo aptitude update
[sudo] password for justin:
Writing extended state information... Done
Get:1 http://dl.google.com stable Release.gpg
[189B]
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security
Release.gpg
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://dl.google.com stable/main Translation-en_ZA
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic Release.gpg
Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted
Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe
Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse
Translation-en_ZA
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security Release
Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Translation-en_ZA
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates Release.gpg
Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted
Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe
Translation-en_ZA
Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse
Translation-en_ZA
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic Release
Get:2 http://dl.google.com stable Release
[2,540B]
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main
Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates Release
Get:3 http://dl.google.com stable/main Packages
[916B]
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Sources
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Sources
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Sources
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Sources
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Sources
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Sources
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Sources
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Sources
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Packages
Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Sources
Fetched 3,645B in 2s (1,257B/s)
Reading package lists... Done

justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo aptitude install bcmwl-kernel-source
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
The following partially installed packages will be configured:
  bcmwl-kernel-source
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 7 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done
Setting up bcmwl-kernel-source (5.10.91.9+bdcom-0ubuntu4) ...
dpkg (subprocess): unable to execute installed post-installation script:
Exec format error
dpkg: error processing bcmwl-kernel-source (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit
status 2
Errors were encountered while processing:
 bcmwl-kernel-source
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done

justin@Dell1520:~$

Should we just not give up as earlier proposed? I really do not mind!

Regards

Justin

On Thu, 2010-04-29 at 06:47 +0000, Mark Rijckenberg wrote:
> Your question #108316 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Mark Rijckenberg proposed the following answer:
> The problem here is that you are trying to install both the b43 driver
> and wl driver. Both drivers are mutually exclusive and only one will
> work correctly.
>
> The error message you sent us "b43-phy0 ERROR: FOUND UNSUPPORTED PHY
> (Analog 8, Type 4, Revision 4)" proves that the b43 driver is
> incompatible with your Broadcom BCM4322 wireless chipset. "FOUND
> UNSUPPORTED PHY" means the b43 driver cannot correctly work with your
> wireless card. So there is no point in trying to uninstall and then
> reinstall the b43 driver. The b43 wireless driver is meant for OTHER
> Broadcom chipsets, NOT yours.
>
> The only correct driver for your BCM4322 chipset is the bcmwl-kernel-
> source driver package, which contains the wl driver. When you install
> the wl driver, it will automatically disable the b43 driver, because
> only one of them can be working at a point in time.
>
> Another thing is that you assume that wireless only works if the
> wireless light turns on. That is an incorrect assumption. It might be
> the case in Windows, but it is not the case in Ubuntu. On my computer,
> my wireless card works/connects fine and the wifi light does not turn on
> in Ubuntu. The only correct test is to run a command that scans for
> wireless networks, for example: running this command:
>
> sudo iwlist scanning
>
> If the output of that command shows one or more wireless access points,
> then you know that the wireless card is working correctly. You should
> not rely on looking at the wifi lights....
>
> Your Ubuntu install might be broken now due to the failed and mixed
> driver installation attempts. That is why I recommend doing a clean
> install of Ubuntu 10.04 FINAL and then ONLY installing bcmwl-kernel-
> source, NOT b43.
>
>
> See the following link for details about the bcmwl-kernel-source driver installation package for Ubuntu 10.04:
>
> http://packages.ubuntu.com/da/lucid/bcmwl-kernel-source
>

Try these commands:

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/*bcmwl*
sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo apt-get clean
sudo aptitude autoclean
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install bcmwl-kernel-source

Then reboot and retest wireless

Phew.

Appears to be closer but still not quite there!

Herewith another batch of terminal output for the 'troubleshooters':

justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/*bcmwl*

[sudo] password for justin:

justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree

Reading state information... Done

The following packages will be REMOVED:

 bcmwl-kernel-source*

0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 7 not upgraded.

1 not fully installed or removed.

After this operation, 1,835kB disk space will be freed.

Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y

(Reading database ...

dpkg: warning: files list file for package `bcmwl-modaliases' missing,
assuming package has no files currently installed.

(Reading database ... 5%

dpkg: warning: files list file for package `bcmwl-kernel-source'
missing, assuming package has no files currently installed.

(Reading database ... 142805 files and directories currently installed.)

Removing bcmwl-kernel-source ...

justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo apt-get clean

justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo aptitude autoclean

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree

Reading state information... Done

Reading extended state information

Initializing package states... Done

Writing extended state information... Done

Freed 0B of disk space

justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo aptitude update

Get:1 http://dl.google.com stable Release.gpg [189B]

Ign http://dl.google.com stable/main Translation-en_ZA

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic Release.gpg

Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Translation-en_ZA

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security Release.gpg

Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Translation-en_ZA

Get:2 http://dl.google.com stable Release [2,540B]

Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Translation-en_ZA

Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Translation-en_ZA

Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Translation-en_ZA

Get:3 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates Release.gpg [189B]

Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Translation-en_ZA

Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted
Translation-en_ZA

Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe
Translation-en_ZA

Ign http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse
Translation-en_ZA

Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted
Translation-en_ZA

Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe
Translation-en_ZA

Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse
Translation-en_ZA

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security Release

Get:4 http://dl.google.com stable/main Packages [916B]

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic Release

Get:5 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates Release [44.1kB]

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Packages

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Sources

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Sources

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Packages

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Sources

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Sources

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Sources

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Sources

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Sources

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Packages

Hit http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Sources

Get:6 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages [208kB]

Get:7 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Packages
[14B]

Get:8 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Sources [61.8kB]

Get:9 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Sources
[14B]

Get:10 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Packages
[127kB]

Get:11 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Sources
[29.8kB]

Get:12 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Packages
[10.1kB]

Get:13 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Sources
[4,598B]

Fetched 488kB in 14s (33.0kB/s)

Reading package lists... Done

Current status: 25 updates [+18].

justin@Dell1520:~$ sudo aptitude install bcmwl-kernel-source

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree

Reading state information... Done

Reading extended state information

Initializing package states... Done

The following NEW packages will be installed:

 bcmwl-kernel-source

0 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 25 not upgraded.

Need to get 618kB of archives. After unpacking 1,835kB will be used.

Writing extended state information... Done

Get:1 http://za.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted bcmwl-kernel-source
5.10.91.9+bdcom-0ubuntu4 [618kB]

Fetched 618kB in 16s (36.9kB/s)

Selecting previously deselected package bcmwl-kernel-source.

(Reading database ...

dpkg: warning: files list file for package `bcmwl-modaliases' missing,
assuming package has no files currently installed.

(Reading database ... 142806 files and directories currently installed.)

Unpacking bcmwl-kernel-source (from .../bcmwl-kernel-source_5.10.91.9
+bdcom-0ubuntu4_i386.deb) ...

Setting up bcmwl-kernel-source (5.10.91.9+bdcom-0ubuntu4) ...

First Installation: checking all kernels...

Directory for kernel 2.6.31-20-generic found in /lib/modules

Adding Module to DKMS build system

Doing initial module build

Installing initial module

Done.

update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)

Processing triggers for initramfs-tools ...

update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree

Reading state information... Done

Reading extended state information

Initializing package states... Done

Writing extended state information... Done

justin@Dell1520:~$

sudo iwlist scanning

lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

pan0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

justin@Dell1520:~$

The bcmwl driver light in proprietary drivers is now GREEN

The b43 driver is GREY

The bcmwl driver says 'activated but not in use'.

Unplugging the wired connection says I am now offline.

Rebooting with the connection unplugged says no connections available at
the network connection icon.

Any further suggestions?

On Thu, 2010-04-29 at 06:47 +0000, Mark Rijckenberg wrote:
> Your question #108316 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Mark Rijckenberg proposed the following answer:
> The problem here is that you are trying to install both the b43 driver
> and wl driver. Both drivers are mutually exclusive and only one will
> work correctly.
>
> The error message you sent us "b43-phy0 ERROR: FOUND UNSUPPORTED PHY
> (Analog 8, Type 4, Revision 4)" proves that the b43 driver is
> incompatible with your Broadcom BCM4322 wireless chipset. "FOUND
> UNSUPPORTED PHY" means the b43 driver cannot correctly work with your
> wireless card. So there is no point in trying to uninstall and then
> reinstall the b43 driver. The b43 wireless driver is meant for OTHER
> Broadcom chipsets, NOT yours.
>
> The only correct driver for your BCM4322 chipset is the bcmwl-kernel-
> source driver package, which contains the wl driver. When you install
> the wl driver, it will automatically disable the b43 driver, because
> only one of them can be working at a point in time.
>
> Another thing is that you assume that wireless only works if the
> wireless light turns on. That is an incorrect assumption. It might be
> the case in Windows, but it is not the case in Ubuntu. On my computer,
> my wireless card works/connects fine and the wifi light does not turn on
> in Ubuntu. The only correct test is to run a command that scans for
> wireless networks, for example: running this command:
>
> sudo iwlist scanning
>
> If the output of that command shows one or more wireless access points,
> then you know that the wireless card is working correctly. You should
> not rely on looking at the wifi lights....
>
> Your Ubuntu install might be broken now due to the failed and mixed
> driver installation attempts. That is why I recommend doing a clean
> install of Ubuntu 10.04 FINAL and then ONLY installing bcmwl-kernel-
> source, NOT b43.
>
>
> See the following link for details about the bcmwl-kernel-source driver installation package for Ubuntu 10.04:
>
> http://packages.ubuntu.com/da/lucid/bcmwl-kernel-source
>

Yes, I do.

If the network manager still does not let you enable wireless, you need to get the latest BIOS from Dell. There's a bug in the old BIOS version in your laptop. Versions A03 and up have this issue resolved.

See the links below for more info:

http://ajtaylor.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/dell-vostro-1520-ubuntu-9-10fedora-11/
http://www.linlap.com/wiki/dell+vostro+1520

I quote:

"And it looks to be a Dell specific bug – the wireless kill switch (rfkill) is reporting an incorrect status to NetworkManager, which assumes that therefore the wireless is disabled.

Well, that lead me to a Dell Firmware update for the Vostro 1520, to A03 – bugs fixed? “Fixed incorrect WiFi kill switch status”.

So I think you need to flash the BIOS of your Dell Vostro 1520 to the newest version (version A08).

Steps to follow:

1. Install Windows on your Dell Vostro 1520 (BIOS update tool does NOT work in Ubuntu / Linux)
2. Get the Dell Vostro 1520 A08 BIOS update here:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R262278&SystemID=VOS_N_1520&servicetag=&os=WLH&osl=en&deviceid=19174&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=7&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=1&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=385402

3. Flash the BIOS using the Dell flash utility
4. After upgrading the BIOS using Windows, reinstall Ubuntu 10.04
5. After installing Ubuntu 10.04, install bcmwl-kernel-source package
6. Reboot and retest wireless

Now I am definitely going to pass up on this one!

Flashing Bios is way over my head and I am reluctant to 'stuff' with my
Windows partition which after all works fine [as fine as Windows can
work these days].
By the way the WiFi in Windows works fine in all respects? How would
this be if there was a known BIOS bug?

Mark, really, this is costing both you and I serious time and trouble.
I am going to abandon the WiFi connectivity under Ubuntu until I do that
10.4 upgrade - which is unlikely to be done before June. I can really
live with only wired Ubuntu internet access.

Be well and thanks for all your trouble.

Justin

On Thu, 2010-04-29 at 13:18 +0000, Mark Rijckenberg wrote:
> Your question #108316 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/108316
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Mark Rijckenberg proposed the following answer:
> Yes, I do.
>
> If the network manager still does not let you enable wireless, you need
> to get the latest BIOS from Dell. There's a bug in the old BIOS version
> in your laptop. Versions A03 and up have this issue resolved.
>
> See the links below for more info:
>
> http://ajtaylor.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/dell-vostro-1520-ubuntu-9-10fedora-11/
> http://www.linlap.com/wiki/dell+vostro+1520
>
> I quote:
>
> "And it looks to be a Dell specific bug – the wireless kill switch
> (rfkill) is reporting an incorrect status to NetworkManager, which
> assumes that therefore the wireless is disabled.
>
> Well, that lead me to a Dell Firmware update for the Vostro 1520, to A03
> – bugs fixed? “Fixed incorrect WiFi kill switch status”.
>
> So I think you need to flash the BIOS of your Dell Vostro 1520 to the
> newest version (version A08).
>
> Steps to follow:
>
> 1. Install Windows on your Dell Vostro 1520 (BIOS update tool does NOT work in Ubuntu / Linux)
> 2. Get the Dell Vostro 1520 A08 BIOS update here:
>
> http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R262278&SystemID=VOS_N_1520&servicetag=&os=WLH&osl=en&deviceid=19174&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=7&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=1&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=385402
>
> 3. Flash the BIOS using the Dell flash utility
> 4. After upgrading the BIOS using Windows, reinstall Ubuntu 10.04
> 5. After installing Ubuntu 10.04, install bcmwl-kernel-source package
> 6. Reboot and retest wireless
>

OK, no problem.