new Ubuntu install - no WiFI

Asked by Fred Merker

I recently installed ubuntu 8.04 on a Dell Latitude D 600, model PP05L. I use a Linksys wireless G Broadband router, model WRT54G2 V1. The WiFi does not work on the Ubuntu installation, it is fine with the Windows XP installation. I followed some of the commands suggested in "WiFiDocs/WirelessTroubleShootingGuide/Commands". Here is a cut and paste of the result:

fmerker@fmerker-laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:""
          Mode:Managed Channel:0 Access Point: Not-Associated
          Tx-Power=0 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

fmerker@fmerker-laptop:~$ ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:11:43:42:84:71 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wmaster0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc ieee80211 qlen 1000
    link/ieee802.11 00:0b:7d:14:60:30 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:0b:7d:14:60:30 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
fmerker@fmerker-laptop:~$ lshw -C network
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
  *-network:0
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: NetXtreme BCM5705M Gigabit Ethernet
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 01
       serial: 00:11:43:42:84:71
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 66MHz
       capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=tg3 driverversion=3.86 firmware=5705-v3.16 latency=32 mingnt=64 module=tg3 multicast=yes
  *-network:1
       description: Network controller
       product: BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 3
       bus info: pci@0000:02:03.0
       version: 03
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master
       configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=32 module=ssb
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 1
       logical name: wlan0
       serial: 00:0b:7d:14:60:30
       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g
fmerker@fmerker-laptop:~$

I think there is no driver for the WiFi but that is a guess on my part. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you, Fred Merker

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Ubuntu gnome-nettool Edit question
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Mark Rijckenberg
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Willing2Learn (curious-g74) said :
#1

If you can get online by plugging into your computer without the wifi, you will likely be able to download the proprietary driver. Once you're online, you can go to something like Preferences --> Additional Drivers. From there, Ubuntu should display the driver that will work for your wifi and all you have to do is select it and click activate. Ubuntu will download and install the driver and you should be good to go from there.

Revision history for this message
Best Mark Rijckenberg (markrijckenberg) said :
#2

Ubuntu 8.04 is end-of-life and not supported anymore since May 12, 2011.

I suggest testing Ubuntu 12.04 LTS from a LiveCD session and installing it, if everything works fine.

Revision history for this message
Fred Merker (k3taz) said :
#3

Thank you for the suggestion. Fortunately, a friend of mine in the IT department at work is helping me. He installed the necessary drivers and then gave me a copy of Ubuntu 12.04. I completed the upgrade and everything worked except for WiFI. He found that there was no driver for WiFi, similar to the first attempt. He told me he that he will install the driver tomorrow.
              Thanks again. Fred Merker