Cant get wireless to work

[jicksrocks]

Hello everyone.. I just installed kubuntu 7.10 (gutsy) and I'm using an asus F5R series with a wireless "802.11b/g + BT."
I am completely new to linux but a quick learner so hopefully I will only have to do all this network stuff and can become more knowledgeable .
Originally the problem was that I could not use the restricted driver for the "firmware for broadcom 43xx chipset family" and that was restricting wireless use. Although I have now managed to get the status of that to "in use."
Basically once I restarted the system the wireless network device disappeared...
My progress so far is: 1: installed ndiswrapper 2:installed bcm43xx-fwcutter_006-3_i386.deb 3: used wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o. 4: out of ideas as I'm still very new to linux but am keen to get better
If anyone could help me resolve this network problem I would greatly appreciate it!

[lingenfr]

Re: Cant get wireless to work

Wow. First of all, using the kernel driver (i.e. the Restricted Driver w/ Firmware) will only get you 11Mbs. If you use ndiswrapper, you can get 54Mbs. If you execute the following command you can find out which Broadcom device you have.

lspci -v | grep Broadcom

Unfortunately, the best instructions aren't making it in to the wiki. I may take a crack at creating a page when I build my next machine. If you follow these instructions, you should be in good shape.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...eisty_No-Fluff

Unless you are using wpa, don't complete the last command in Step 3.

DO NOT COMPILE NDISWRAPPER FROM SOURCE. If the instructions don't work, that is not the problem. Follow the instructions to the letter and I will be glad to assist you further if that doesn't work for you. Post you errors. Good luck.

[jicksrocks]

Re: Cant get wireless to work

thanks lingenfr.. I'll give it a go and see where it gets me

[jicksrocks]

Re: Cant get wireless to work

I think I'm going to have to leave fixing the network and wireless for a while... its just too complicated a thing to fix for someone who is completely new to linux... I think if I just learn the basics of linux.. installing. moving... editing files or directories.. the different types of files linux uses etc ill have a sound knowledge then ill be prepared to fix the netowrk. Because at the moment I'm unsure of what im installing and what its doing.

Ill just have to use the main pc to work out all my problems lol.

[lingenfr]

Re: Cant get wireless to work

You might do a little googling and see if their is a linux users group in your area. They normally always have time to help new folks with problems such as yours.

[jicksrocks]

Re: Cant get wireless to work

Well so far I have determined that I have "Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 01)" and I have tried to learn how to install cabextract but, being completely new to the shell I feel like I'm going in circles.
The problem is that I have no internet connection because it is dependent on the wireless lol and I believe these so called "repositories" are dependent on an active internet connection... I downloaded cabextract and burnt it onto cd and transferred it over to my laptop but the only good thing I have learnt so far... is what doesn't work lol. I don't know how to use the install command and I have tried learning it but it all seems a bit complicated. If anyone could put it in simple terms I would really appreciate it.

cheers.

p.s. (I managed to install ndiswrapper through adept-manager)