Ubuntu
ubiquity package

Install of 12.04 errors out when 'b43/ucode5.fw' not found

Asked by Eric

Attempting to install 12.04 from CD. Errors out/hangs on:
b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode5.fw" not found
b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43-open/ucod5.fw" not found

The firmware is for a Broadcom wireless care integrated on mobo. Disabled "LAN controller" in BIOS (don't know if it disabled the Broadcom, the wired LAN, both or neither) but had no effect except got to the error about 35 seconds quicker.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Can you give the output of:

lsb_release -a; uname -a

Thanks

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Eric (ericsmith3d) said : 		#2

No, I don't currently have an operating system installed. The disk is blank--a veritable tabula rasa. Since the install process hangs, I can't run any utilities.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

You can run the commands if you select to try the OS, you can run it there. I also recommend you get online with the installer and run:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get -y install ubiquity gparted

It can help

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Eric (ericsmith3d) said : 		#4

I'm sorry, I must not be clear about my problem. If I select "Try Ubuntu" it still errors out looking for the Broadcom firmware. I can't run anything at that point, just hard reboot. The same thing happens when I try to install directly from the CD. And I'm not connected to the internet at any time during the process.

I could boot w/ Ultimate Boot CD but then ls_release and uname would give you info on that release, not the Ubuntu one. And I'm not trying to partition the disk, it's one big ext4 partition, totally blank, no os, no nothing.

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Ubfan (ubfan1) said : 		#5

Odd since that's usually not a fatal error. The process should just continue, looking next in b43-open for the firmware, then just proceed without the wireless if none is found. Try doing the install without the checkoff for updates, Did you wait a few minutes after it hung up? There may be some sort of timeout, I have seen waits of 60 seconds from network timeouts.

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Eric (ericsmith3d) said : 		#6

The install was done without looking for updates. I tried this numerous times and sometimes waited hours. BTW, the Linux Mint try/install does exactly the same thing.

I was hoping that someone had found an easy workaround. At this point, the only thing I can think to do would be to add the firmware to the .iso. I know how to do that in theory, but never have done it in reality. And it sounds awfully tedious.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#7

Mint is pretty much the same OS, so trying it doesn't really test much. The firmware is proprietary and the additional drivers app will install it for you. It makes life a lot easier if you get a web connection and get updated. This guide shows how to do it offline as the app you need is on the CD
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDoc

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