Ubuntu

I cannot see wireless networks now that I have converted my Windows machine to Ubuntu.

Asked by Aaron

I recently did a complete install of Ubuntu over my (formerly) Windows machine. At first, the driver that controlled my wireless card (internal) was not part of the package, but Ubuntu quickly found a list of updates that on the internet (via ethernet line - no problems) that fixed at least part of that problem. Now, my wireless card will turn on, but I still don't seem to be able to see any wireless networks, even though a second (Windows) machine sees several wireless networks. I have tried:

1. Connecting using Network Manager - there is no list of wireless networks to choose from
2. Manually connecting - my network name does not show up in the Network name (ESSID) drop down box (even though my Router does broadcast its name), so I enter the name manually. My router does not require a password, so I leave the Network password box blank. My router assigns IP addresses, so I set Configuration to DHCP and press OK - still no wireless network available to select in Network Manager.
2b. Manually connecting using a password - same as above, but I enter the administrative passord of my router (not necessary for my Windows machines to connect) NOTE:in both cases the Password type is set to WPA Personal. I don't know what this means, but it seem to be the default setting. - Still no wireles network available to select in Network manager
2c. Manually connecting using static IP and no password - SAME RESULT
2d. Manually connecting using static IP and password - SAME RESULT
3. Verified that hardware is recognized - I cannot find Device Manager on my system - NO LISTING FOR HARDWARE INFORMATION under System > Preferences. By going through System > Administration > Hardware Testing, my machine reported finding my Wireless card (Broadcom BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless).
4. Verified that driver is present in System > Administration > Hardware Drivers (Broadcom B43 wireless driver - Enabled and In Use)
4b. Verified that diver is present using >sudo lshw -C network. Reports as follows (after my ethernet connection and network controller):

  *-network
      description: Wireless interface
      physical id: 2
      logical name: wlan0
      serial: 00:0b:7d:17:79:60
      capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
      configuration: broadcast=yes ip=192.168.1.102 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g

NOTE: This ip address here is the one I attempted to use in steps 2c-d

5. Checked for a connection to the router using >iwconfig. Reports as follows:
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:""
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
          Tx-Power=27 dBm
          Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2346 B
          Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

So.. looks like NO CONNECTION TO ROUTER.

6. Attempted to Connect to Other Wireless Network in the Network manager. Now, wireless network with the Network Name I entered will show up in Network manager with 0 signal strength. After doing this, the Network manager icon disappears from the Taskbar, and a reboot is required to restore it and my wired ethernet connection.

7. tried >sudo apt-get install wpasupplicant. Result: wpasupplicant is already the newest version.

SO... now what? Is my wireless card not supported? I assume it fis airly common - it is in an off-the-shelf Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop.

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Revision history for this message
Tony Mugan (tmugan) said : 		#1

Is this with Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron?

Revision history for this message
Tony Mugan (tmugan) said : 		#2

By the way to get the Hardware Device Manager

sudo apt-get install hal-device-manager

Revision history for this message
Best BWilcox (benwilcox) said : 		#3

See if this helps:

Re: Proprietary Driver Won't Install (Broadcom)
________________________________________

NDISWrapper I wanted to put off trying because I've never gotten it to work on other cards and my wifi WAS working before the upgrade without it...I was about to try it before I found this:

http://penkin.wordpress.com/2008/03/...dcom-wireless/

It's a simple, pain-free guide to compiling the Broadcom drivers yourself and explicitly installing them. They are Linux-kernel-sensitive, and the Hardy team didn't (hopefully "hasn't yet") remember to recompile them or something from what I'm reading elsewhere. The only problems were I had to run the final command with "sudo" prepended and substitute the “$FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR” with the explicit ”/lib/firmware" (sans quotes).

I reset. The Hardware Drivers dialog is fixed - shows it running, checked, green. It kept the strange "wlan0_rename" name, which is ugly, but it's working, so I'm not going to touch it. And WICD is up and running at just over a speedy ~2600kb/s (which is of course, a beautiful number)

Revision history for this message
Aaron (aaron-lloyd) said : 		#4

I tried Tony's suggestion (sudo apt-get install hal-device-manager) and received the following output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package hal-device-manager

Thanks for the advice, but still not quite there. I'll investigate BWilcox's suggestion.

Revision history for this message
Aaron (aaron-lloyd) said : 		#5

Thanks to all!

After going through all the threads of BWilcox's suggestion, I still couldn't see any networks.
After rebooting, still no luck.
Out of desperation, I disabled the Broadcom driver, then enabled it and VOILA!

This thanks is being posted via my wireless card at this moment.

Thanks Again!

Revision history for this message
Aaron (aaron-lloyd) said : 		#6

Thanks BWilcox, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
BWilcox (benwilcox) said : 		#7

Glad to hear...

Revision history for this message
Uneba (monnom3-14) said : 		#8

Guys,the link BWilcox posted seems to be dead now..
Does anyone have a new link or something?I'm running into the same problems setting up wireless
and from what I read,BWilcox's suggestion's worth a shot!

Revision history for this message
marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#9

Uneba try http://penkin.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/ubuntu-804-broadcom-wireless/#more-51

HTH

Revision history for this message
TonyR (rooneyo) said : 		#10

I installed NDISWRAPPER & Utils and extracted the windows WG311 Netgear drivers and confirmed that it is installed as per the Wifi Doc instructions and the device is present however I do not seem to have an interface to configure my connection to the wireless network.

If I use System Preferences - Wireless Network I get a message "Click Admin Mode button to allow modifications as Root user" however when I select the Admin Mode button I just get a repeat of the message with no means to supply the Root password or even the password that i provided when I setup up the system? Even logged in a root I have not way to get past this message so all the tab are greyed out? Sudo accepts my password OK for all other installations and configurations however how do I provide credentials to the wireless interface applet?

If I try the Manual Network Configuration - Edit Wireless Networks from the top right of the desktop I have a Name Box and the next Box "bssid" which not accept any input? I do not understand where I assign the SSID and the WEP passcode? I have no wireless connectivity yet the NDISWRAPPER is installed and the device is present. I have kwavecontrol (0.4.2-2) and kwifimanager 4.3.1.10 installed & nm_editor 0.6.6 but do I need something else to setup my wireless connection?

I do not understand why this is so problematic for Ubuntu to see my WAP? I have already burned many hours so any help would be appreciated.

Many Thanks

Revision history for this message
Austin (oneaustin) said : 		#11

I am having a very similar problem. I have switched from the default driver to the one that comes with ndiswrapper. Still, no networks appear, but tests from all tutorials I have found show it to be working.
Where do I find the system preferences for wireless?

Revision history for this message
TonyR (rooneyo) said : 		#12

Hi

I never got a solution which was most disappointing so I have to revert to Windows.

i love the idea of open source however could not make it work or get assistance.

I hope you have better luck.

Kind Regards

--
Regards

Anthony Rooney
0411 649978
(08) 8332 9717

---- Austin <email address hidden> wrote:
> Question #35774 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/35774
>
> Austin posted a new comment:
> I am having a very similar problem. I have switched from the default driver to the one that comes with ndiswrapper. Still, no networks appear, but tests from all tutorials I have found show it to be working.
> Where do I find the system preferences for wireless?
>
> --
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
TonyR (rooneyo) said : 		#13

Hi Austin

I never got an answer.

I had to revert to Windows which was very dissappointing as I love the idea of opensource however I could not get it to work or get assistance.

I also tried to record audio with Audiocity but couold not get any signal or response to the questions I posted.

It worked 1st time in Windows.

What a shame.