Missing Wireless Firmware, Broadcom Wireless Driver Won't Activate (Installing Ubuntu)

Asked by Barbie D

I have a MacBook and I am trying to install Ubuntu, but the wireless is disconnected because it is "missing firmware."

According to other threads, I should be able to activate the driver from Additional Drivers. (I am using Broadcom for wireless internet.) However, when I click Activate, the following message appears *Sorry, installation of this driver failed. Please have a look at the log file for details:* /var/log/jockey.log

How can I get my internet up and running in order to install Ubuntu?

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Warren Hill (warren-hill) said :
#1

Where did you get the download from?

One of the changes between 12.04 and 12.04.1 appears to be which wireless cards are supported by default. I couldn't get wifi to work on my laptop running 12.04 live CD but I downloaded the 12.04.1 and it worked so I installed it and as I'm now writing to you it proves it works.

If you don't have the latest image get it from here

http://releases.ubuntu.com/12.04/

Check the md5sum to make sure the download has no errors.

If that still doesn't work then you may be able to use a wired connection to get you up and running. Once its running we can probably guide you to a suitable driver you can download and install.

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Mark Rijckenberg (markrijckenberg) said :
#2

Hi,

Please first connect your wired network adapter 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:

If you are using the Gnome interface, open the Terminal console via "Applications->Accessories->Terminal"

If you are using the Unity interface, the easiest way to open the Terminal is to use the 'search' function on the dash. Or you can click on the 'More Apps' button, click on the 'See more results' by the installed section, and find it in that list of applications. A third way, available after you click on the 'More Apps' button, is to go to the search bar, and see that the far right end of it says 'All Applications'. You then click on that, and you'll see the full list. Then you can go to Accessories > Terminal after that.

The methods in Unity are:
Press Control-ALT-T key combination.
Dash > Search for Terminal
Dash > More Apps > 'See More Results' > Terminal
Dash > More Apps > Accessories > Terminal

Step 2: Please copy-paste the following command from https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WirelessTroubleshootingProcedure 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 lsmod. 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 apt-get update; sudo apt-get install hwinfo grep rfkill; sudo lshw -C network; rfkill list; sudo iwlist scanning; cat /etc/network/interfaces; cat /etc/lsb-release; lspci -nn; lsusb; sudo lshw -short; uname -a; dmesg | egrep 'acx|at76|ath|b43|bcm|brcm|CX|eth|ipw|ireless|irmware|isl|lbtf|orinoco|ndiswrapper|NPE|ound|p54|prism|rtl|rt2|rt3|rt5|rt6|rt7|usb|witch|wl';sudo dmidecode|egrep 'anufact|roduct|erial|elease'; iwconfig; cat /etc/modprobe.d/* | egrep 'acx|at76|ath|b43|bcm|brcm|CX|eth|ipw|irmware|isl|lbtf|orinoco|ndiswrapper|NPE|p54|prism|rtl|rt2|rt3|rt6|rt7|wmi|witch|wl'; cat /var/lib/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.state; sudo hwinfo --netcard ; ps -aux|egrep 'wpa|icd|etwork'; sudo lsmod

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.

Step 4: Please also specify the exact model and make of your PC (if known) on this thread

Regards,

Mark

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