[SOLVED]No wireless network found

[hakiza]

Re: No wireless network found

Here are the steps I followed:

1. create a subdirectory called b4312drivers in my home directory
2. download the 4328 drivers from http://myspamb8.googlepages.com/R151517-pruned.zip
3. unzip R151517-pruned.zip and obtain five files: bcm43xx64.cat, bcm43xx.cat, bcmwl5.inf, bcmwl5.sys and bcmwl564.sys
4. copy these 5 files into the subdirectory b4312drivers then do the sudo:
5. hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ sudo apt-get purge remove b43-fwcutter
[sudo] password for hakiza:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package remove
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$

Because I removed b43-fwcutter After that I didn't succeed installing the wireless network using Synaptic

6.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ sudo su -
root@hakizadatorn:~# echo “blacklist bcm43xx” >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
root@hakizadatorn:~#

7. close console (in order of getting out of root)
8. open console again
9.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ cd b4312drivers
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ ls
bcm43xx64.cat bcm43xx.cat bcmwl564.sys bcmwl5.inf bcmwl5.sys
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

10.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf
driver bcmwl5 is already installed
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

11.

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ sudo ndiswrapper -m
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper, it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf line 56: ignoring bad line starting with '“blacklist'
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf line 57: ignoring bad line starting with '“blacklist'
module configuration already contains alias directive

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

12.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper, it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf line 56: ignoring bad line starting with '“blacklist'
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf line 57: ignoring bad line starting with '“blacklist'
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

13. close console
14. run wicd in this way: Applications->Internet->Wicd Network Manager

The Wicd Network Manager window pops up. I can read the "No wireless networks found" message. But the Wired Network is working. I do not know how to proceed further. As I said before, I am new to linux.

I appreciate your help.

[GreyGeek]

Re: No wireless network found

Here are the steps I followed:

1. create a subdirectory called b4312drivers in my home directory
2. download the 4328 drivers from http://myspamb8.googlepages.com/R151517-pruned.zip
3. unzip R151517-pruned.zip and obtain five files: bcm43xx64.cat, bcm43xx.cat, bcmwl5.inf, bcmwl5.sys and bcmwl564.sys
4. copy these 5 files into the subdirectory b4312drivers

good

then do the sudo:
5. hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ sudo apt-get purge remove b43-fwcutter
[sudo] password for hakiza:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package remove
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$
Because I removed b43-fwcutter After that I didn't succeed installing the wireless network using Synaptic

b43-fwcutter was already removed previously, OR, it wasn't installed in the first place. Which is it?

In other words, when you tried to install b43-fwcutter did it go through the process of pulling the drivers out of the firmware? It will list its activities in the details panel and you should be able read the steps it does as it does them. IF you had used Synaptic to install b43-fwcutter it would have pulled the drivers out of the firmware and automatically activated your 4306 wireless. I've never known the b43-fwcutter not to work on a broadcom 4306 chip.

But, your system now appears to be in a mixed state.

6.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ sudo su -
root@hakizadatorn:~# echo “blacklist bcm43xx” >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
root@hakizadatorn:~#

This step assumes that the line "blacklist bcm43xx" isn't already in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Having the line in blacklist.conf more than once doesn't hurt, aside from annoying but harmless warnings, but I'd open a Konsole and issue

kdesudo kwrite /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

and add the following lines at the bottom, to make sure other drivers aren't interfering with each other.
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist ssb

and save the file.

IF there is a line (blacklist bcm43xx) near the top then delete it.
Note: This only effects what is loaded at startup, so you will have to reboot to have the bcm43xx drivers disabled after you have completed the other changes.

7. close console (in order of getting out of root)
8. open console again
9.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ cd b4312drivers
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ ls
bcm43xx64.cat bcm43xx.cat bcmwl564.sys bcmwl5.inf bcmwl5.sys
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

Ok. The files were extracted successfully.

10.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf
driver bcmwl5 is already installed
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

This message indicates that you've already tried to use ndiswrapper more than once without cleaning out previous attempts.

You can see a list of ndiswrapper commands by just using the command in a Konsole without any parameters;

ndiswrapper (to just list the commands using sudo isn't necessary)

Normally,

ndiswrapper -l

will list all the drivers. If the driver is installed correctly, you should see the following output:

Installed ndis drivers:
{name of driver} driver present, hardware present

or

{name of driver} : driver installed
device ({Chipset ID}) present

If you see the name of a driver but the phrase "hardware present" is not beside it, then the driver didn't recognize the hardware and so either you need a different windows driver or ndiswrapper won't work for your chip.

The command:

ndiswrapper -e nameofdriver

will erase the driver. More about this later.

11.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ sudo ndiswrapper -m
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper, it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf line 56: ignoring bad line starting with '“blacklist'
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf line 57: ignoring bad line starting with '“blacklist'
module configuration already contains alias directive
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

"sudo ndiswrapper -m" configures ndiswrapper for use with the Network Admin settings - this adds an Alias to associate wlan0 to ndiswrapper in modprobe.d and allows it to be loaded automatically during boot up.

Before you use "sudo ndiswrapper -m" you can use use the following commands to test your ndiswrapper:

sudo depmod -a
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

These commands loads the driver you've associated with ndiswrapper into memory so you can test it. More about this later.

"sudo lsmod" will show all the modules installed. You can use "sudo lsmod | less" to page up and down if the list is more than one page long. "Q" quits the list. To start "from scratch" you need to remove previously installed ndiswrapper drivers from the modules and uninstall them. To remove a module you can use "sudo rmmod nameofmodule". Modules have to be removed in the reverse order they were installed. If installing module A causes it to load modules B and C, in that order, then to remove A (rmmod A) you must rmmod C followe by rmmod B followed by rmmod A.

So, use "sudo rmmod b43xx" (or b43legacy, or b43 or what ever the module is called) to unload the driver.

Then use

ndiswrapper -e drivername

to uninstall the driver from ndiswrapper control.

12.
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper, it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf line 56: ignoring bad line starting with '“blacklist'
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf line 57: ignoring bad line starting with '“blacklist'
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

13. close console
14. run wicd in this way: Applications->Internet->Wicd Network Manager

The Wicd Network Manager window pops up. I can read the "No wireless networks found" message. But the Wired Network is working. I do not know how to proceed further. As I said before, I am new to linux.

OK. I'll list the steps necessary to install, test and make permanent your wireless connection.

1) clean up blacklist.conf and added
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist ssb
to the blacklist.conf file.

2) removed b43-whatever from the list of loaded modules

3) uninstalled the bcmwl5 driver
sudo ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5

4) rebooted to clear memory and start fresh.

5) open a Konsole and cd to the directory where your windows drivers are;
sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf

6) check to see if driver is linked to hardware:
sudo ndiswrapper -l

If you see
Installed ndis drivers:
{name of driver} driver present, hardware present

or
{name of driver} : driver installed
device ({Chipset ID}) present

i.e. bcmwl5 driver present, hardware present
then your driver was installed correctly and bound to the hardware.

7) check to see if driver works
sudo depmod -a
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

If your wireless has a lamp it should turn on. You can now use "ifconfig" and "iwlist scanning" to check.
"ifconfig" will list all the network connections:

ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1d:ba:1b:08:5a
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:16

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:6821 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:6821 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1079297 (1.0 MB) TX bytes:1079297 (1.0 MB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:16:ea:4d:58:aa
inet addr:192.168.1.101 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::216:eaff:fe4d:58aa/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:77004 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:47865 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:57829800 (57.8 MB) TX bytes:9583519 (9.5 MB)

wmaster0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-16-EA-4D-58-AA-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
UP RUNNING MTU:0 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

jerry@Sonyvgnfw140e:~$

Mine shows that my wireless connection is labled "wlan0". So, I can issue in a konsole:

iwlist wlan0 scanning
wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:1E:E5:57:7B:68
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=70/70 Signal level=-26 dBm
Encryption keyn
ESSID:"GreyGeek"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Mode:Master
(snip some stuff)
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
jerry@Sonyvgnfw140e:~$

and it shows that my wireless is active and that my wireless router is the only one in my vicinity broadcasting.

8.) Either you can show your wireless router using ifconfig and iwlist or you can't. If you can't then you should uninstall everything and clean up. Then, look for another broadcom 4306 driver (I can send you the one I used on my old Gateway m675prr) and start over.

9) At this point, if ifconfig showed your wireless name and iwlist ... showed your wireless properties then you can issue
ndiswrapper -m

which will set up your system to automatically turn your wireless chip on during boot up. You can also use wicd to configure your wireless connection and establish it.

I appreciate your help.

Glad to help! Everyone was new to Linux at one time.

[Snowhog]

Re: No wireless network found

Everyone was new to Linux at one time.

Even Linus Torvalds.

[GreyGeek]

Re: No wireless network found

Yup!

He was the FIRST Linux newbie!

[hakiza]

Re: No wireless network found

Thank you very much! Now, I am following the steps you've listed. I am at step 2: removing of the b43-whatever from the list of loaded modules. I have to be sure that I am doing everything right. When I list the modules, I cannot find the b43-whatever.

Here is what I get:

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ sudo lsmod
Module Size Used by
binfmt_misc 8356 1
ppdev 6688 0
joydev 10272 0
snd_hda_codec_idt 59844 1
snd_hda_intel 26920 2
snd_hda_codec 75708 2 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 7200 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss 37920 0
snd_mixer_oss 16028 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 75296 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
b44 28684 0
ssb 35300 1 b44
mii 5212 1 b44
iptable_filter 3100 0
snd_seq_dummy 2656 0
snd_seq_oss 28576 0
lib80211_crypt_tkip 8636 0
ip_tables 11692 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 16544 1 ip_tables
snd_seq_midi 6432 0
snd_rawmidi 22208 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 6940 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
sdhci_pci 7100 0
sdhci 17472 1 sdhci_pci
led_class 4096 1 sdhci
snd_seq 50224 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_timer 22276 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 6920 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
uvcvideo 59080 0
videodev 36736 1 uvcvideo
v4l1_compat 14496 2 uvcvideo,videodev
dell_wmi 2564 0
snd 59204 16 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_ hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,
NOTE:The line above 'broken' so as to prevent a WIDE post. The line below is part of
the line above. Snowhog - Global Moderator
snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_ device
dell_laptop 8128 0
dcdbas 7292 1 dell_laptop
wl 1272936 0
lib80211 6432 2 lib80211_crypt_tkip,wl
soundcore 7264 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 9156 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
psmouse 56500 0
lp 8964 0
serio_raw 5280 0
parport 35340 2 ppdev,lp
fbcon 36640 72
tileblit 2460 1 fbcon
font 8124 1 fbcon
bitblit 5372 1 fbcon
softcursor 1756 1 bitblit
usbhid 38208 0
ohci1394 29900 0
ieee1394 86596 1 ohci1394
i915 221064 2
drm 159584 2 i915
i2c_algo_bit 5760 1 i915
video 19380 1 i915
output 2780 1 video
intel_agp 27484 2 i915
agpgart 34988 2 drm,intel_agp
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$


About the b43-fwcutter: I used Synaptic to install it (install b43-fwcutter). During the installation I could see that there is a message saying that the drivers are being pulled out of the firmware. The installation was successful. I rebooted the system and then run the wicd, but still there was that message "No wireless networks found". So I thought that it was no need to let it installed permanently. I used again Synaptic to remove it (remove the b43-fwcutter) completely.

Even though there is no wireless detection now, the WiFi lamp is on. I do not know why. It first went on when I followed the instructions given by GilGib (reply #6) about installing broadcom Drivers: Applications->System->Hardware Drivers and then Activate the Broadcom STA wireless driver. I removed this driver and then rebooted the system to see if the WiFi lamp goes off, but the lamp is on whenever the system is on.

I have activated again the Broadcom STA wireless driver.

[GreyGeek]

Re: No wireless network found

I have activated again the Broadcom STA wireless driver.

Which explains these entries in your lsmod listing:

wl 1272936 0
lib80211 6432 2 lib80211_crypt_tkip,wl

But these listing probably explain why you ar failing:

b44 28684 0
ssb 35300 1 b44

The STA installation instructions SPECIFiCALLY mentioned:

If any of these are installed, remove them:
# rmmod b43
# rmmod ssb
# rmmod wl

To blacklist these drivers and prevent them from loading in the future:
# echo "blacklist ssb" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
# echo "blacklist b43" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Which you failed to do.

Which raises the question that if those that are trying to help suggest one thing and you go off and do something else, what's the point of this thread?

The Broadcom STA wireless driver contain Broadcom's IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n hybrid Linux® device driver for use with Broadcom's BCM4311-, BCM4312-, BCM4321-, and BCM4322-based hardware. Your chip is apparently listed as being supported: 0x4328 4321 Dualband
BUT, the readme.txt file says:

ISSUES FIXED AND WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE
-------------------------------------------
+ Supports Linux kernel 2.6.29, 2.6.30.1, 2.6.31
+ Supports hidden networks
+ Supports rfkill in kernels < 2.6.31


KNOWN ISSUES AND LIMITATIONS
----------------------------
#72238 - 20% lower throughput on channels 149, 153, 157, and 161
#72324 - Ubuntu 8.04: cannot ping when Linux STA is IBSS creator with WEP enabled
#72216 - Ubuntu 8.04: standby/resume with WPA2 and wpa_supplicant causes a continuous
assoc/disassoc loop (issue with wpa_supplicant, restarting wpa_supplicant fixes the issue)
#76739 Ubuntu9.04: unable to connect to hidden network after stdby/resume
#76793 Ubuntu9.04: STA fails to create IBSS network in 5 Ghz band
#76814 Wireless option is Grayed out in Network Manager in FC-11-64bit

It doesn't mention support for the Kubntu 9.10 release.

Now, quite frankly, I can only guess as to what state your system is in. So, let's start by cleaning up your system and removing everything not needed, then go through the steps I mentioned again. And please, please, please STOP executing commands I haven't explicitly told you to do. It makes helping you impossible.

You do not know if the wl module is from the most recent STA installation or from some other things you've attempted to do. You probably have drivers stepping all over themselves and blocking each other from working. And, I don not know HOW you installed the STA driver. Did you use the menu option "Hardware Drivers" and the two packages in the repository (bcmwl-kernal-source and bcmwl-modaliases) or did you download and attempt to compile the STA driver made available on the Broadcom website?

And, was you system clean of previous drivers BEFORE you attempted to install ANY driver for your wireless chip?

So, let's start OVER by cleaning out your system.

Remove the STA drivers:
1) IF you compiled the driver from the Broadcom website then go to the directory where you did your "make & make install" command and do "make uninstall". IF you get a response that "make uninstall" is not known then look for an uninstall script -- "uninstall.sh" or something similar. If you can't find that then just delete the directory you put the package into and "locate "wl.ko". Using its path issue

sudo mv <path-to-driver>/wl.ko <path-to-driver>/wl.ko.orig

2) if you used the "Hardware Drivers" menu option then search Synaptic for "bcm" and remove those files specifically related to broadcom chips. (and ONLY broadcom chips).

3) MAKE SURE the blacklisting commands in blacklist.conf include
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist ssb
These just prevent modules from automatically loading at boot but don't stop manual or subsequent scripts activity from loading and running them.

4) make sure "wl" and "80211" are removed from the modules.
sudo rmmod b43
sudo rmmod ssb
sudo rmmod lib80211
sudo rmmod wl
sudo depmod

5) reboot

At this point, assuming that you've got all wireless drivers and settings removed from your system, you can either retry the "Hardware Drivers" menu option or the steps I mentioned in my previous post on using the ndiswrapper. If you are going to retry the "Hardware Drivers" then use Synaptic to uninstall the four ndis files I listed previous, otherwise follow the steps in my previous post.

REGARDLESS of the method you use, DO NOT try another method UNTIL you remove all files and configuration changes added by the previous method.

[hakiza]

Re: No wireless network found

To GreyGeek: Thanks a lot! I appreciate. Now I can see why my system is in a mess. But before I do anything, I have to give answers to that you've asked in order to see clearer.

I first followed the instructions given in Reply #1, where a url was given (http://dimitar.me/?p=728) in order to install broadcom drivers. When I was at step 3 in installation and I had to remove the ssb module, I got a problem as I said in Reply #5: I couldn't remove it; see below

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ lsmod | grep "b43\|ssb\|wl"
ssb 35300 1 b44
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ rmmod ssb
ERROR: Module ssb is in use by b44
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$

I think my mistake was to jump on instructions given in Reply #6, without finishing the steps already initiated. Reply #6 says that I should install broadcom drivers in this way:
Applications->System->Hardware Drivers and then activate it. Which I did.

From Reply #8 on, I am following your instructions and I WILL NOT do anything else.

[hakiza]

Re: No wireless network found

I didn't do anything yet.
Because I didn't finish the installation of the broadcom STA as stated in readme.txt (from the url of Reply #1); I was at step 3 as I said in the previous post and I couldn't remove ssb. So I can be sure that the installation of the broadcom STA drivers was done according to "Applications->System->Hardware Drivers".

When I do the Synaptic, I can see:

"b43-fwcutter" is not installed
"bcm5700 - source" is not installed
"bcmwl - kernel - source" is installed
"bcmwl - modaliases" is installed

Descriptions (given in Synaptic):
b43-fwcutter: utility for extracting Broadcom 43xx firmware
bcm5700 - source: module source for broadcom's bcm5700 ethernet driver
bcmwl - kernel - source: Broadcom 802.11 linux STA wireless driver source
bcmwl - modaliases: Modaliases for the Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA driver

So, according to step 1) in "Remove the STA drivers:", I should remove "bcmwl - kernel -source" and "bcmwl - modaliases" ?

[GreyGeek]

Re: No wireless network found

Yes.

Here is what I read in your list of installed modules:

b44 28684 0
ssb 35300 1 b44
....
lib80211_crypt_tkip 8636 0
.....
wl 1272936 0
lib80211 6432 2 lib80211_crypt_tkip,wl

Notice that lib80211 uses lib20811_crypt_tkip and wl, and that ssb uses b44.

When you tried to rmmod ssb you got this error msg:

ERROR: Module ssb is in use by b44

So, rmmod b44 first, then rmmod ssb. (Remember what I wrote about the order of removal of installed modules?)
Then remove lib80211 by
sudo rmmod wl
sudo rmmod lib20811_crypt_tkip
sudo rmmod lib20811
(I hadn't noticed the lib80211_crypt_tkip or the b44 module in your list or I would have included them in my previous post, also.)

Then
sudo depmod

Now your machine should be clean with the exception that ndiswrapper and ndisgtk are installed. However, I didn't see ndiswrapper among the installed modules so you must not have executed "ndiswrapper -m" yet, so their presence is harmless. But, we need to check if ndiswrapper was used to bind any drivers to your hardware.
So, do

sudo ndiswrapper -l

If you see any listing showing "bcmwl5 driver present, hardware present" ON THE SAME LINE, then you need to do

sudo ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5

If you see the name of some other driver bound to your hardware then remove it with the ndiswrapper erase command.

Hopefully, that should clean up your Kubuntu installation. Now, do

sudo depmod

and then reboot.

Once your desktop reappears you can start out FRESH to install a wireless driver. REMEMBER: if an installation fails BE SURE to remove the files and configurations and reboot BEFORE you attempt another installation. Otherwise you get what you've been getting, a tripped up installation because various drivers and configurations confuse each other.

Also, I recommend that you DO NOT use the Broadcom method shown on http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php. To be honest, you are not technically up to it.

So, now with a clean machine you can try either the
1) b43-fwcutter option
2) menu option "Hardware Drivers" or the ndiswrapper option
3) the ndiswrapper option

The 1st would be the easiest to do and undo, if it fails. The last time you tried it you may have had other drivers interfering, but this time you shouldn't. After you install the b43-fwcutter then reboot. Your lamp should come on or stay on. In a Konsole issue

sudo ifconfig

and see if you get a network device listed. It will be "wlan0" or "atheros5" or something like that. (This will be besides the usual eth0, lo and wmaster0. If a device is listed use

sudo iwlist devicename scanning

to see if you get your wireless router listed. If you do then you can connect with wicd. IF you get a iwlist listing or your wireless but wicd doesn't connect then install knetworkmanager (which will remove wice).

[hakiza]

Re: No wireless network found

I am following the steps. I have executed up to "sudo depmod". But when I do the "sudo ndiswrapper -l", I get this:

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ sudo ndiswrapper -l
[sudo] password for hakiza:
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper, it will be ignored in a future release.
bcmwl5 : driver installed
device (14E4:4328) present (alternate driver: ssb)
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$

This outcome is not exactly as you said it should be, that's to say
'If you see any listing showing "bcmwl5 driver present, hardware present" ON THE SAME LINE, then you need to do

sudo ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5 '

I wonder if I should execute "sudo ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5"

[GreyGeek]

Re: No wireless network found

Your output:

bcmwl5 : driver installed
device (14E4:4328) present (alternate driver: ssb)

is exactly like the second form I showed you.

or
{name of driver} : driver installed
device ({Chipset ID}) present

It also shows that you haven't removed ssb.

YES. do execute "sudo ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5"
And, try "sudo ndiswrapper -e ssb" too. This one may fail but it's worth a try since ndiswrapper "thinks" it is an alternative driver.

Complete all the steps I gave for cleaning your system of any wireless networking drivers.

[hakiza]

Re: No wireless network found

I have completed all the steps for cleaning of my system of any wireless networking drivers. I have rebooted and then installed b43-fwcutter. Rebooted again but when the desktop comes out, the WiFi lamp IS NOT on.

I issue sudo ifconfig and get:

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ sudo ifconfig
[sudo] password for hakiza:
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1d:09:b3:db:55
inet addr:192.168.0.64 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::21d:9ff:feb3:db55/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:42 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:71 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:6520 (6.5 KB) TX bytes:9430 (9.4 KB)
Interrupt:17

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:50 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:50 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:3060 (3.0 KB) TX bytes:3060 (3.0 KB)

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$

The wireless network device is not listed. Maybe I should try one of the two other alternatives:
2) menu option "Hardware Drivers" or the ndiswrapper option
or
3) the ndiswrapper option

But I need more info on how to proceed further. The b43-fwcutter is still installed.

[GreyGeek]

Re: No wireless network found

Many laptops have a mechanical switch which can be used to enable or disable the wireless chip. Does your laptop have such a switch? If so, make sure it is turned on.

If your laptop has a wireless switch and the wireless switch is turned on then the b43-fwcutter did not work. If the wireless switch was turned off and you turned it on then your lamp should turn on too. If so, you can use wicd or knetworkmanager to configure your wireless router.

If the b43-fwcutter failed then to remove it start Synaptic and search for "b43". Among the files listed in the panel will be "b43-fwcutter". It will have a green box in front of its name. The green box means it is installed on your system. Right mouse on the green box and choose "remove completely". Then click the Green Apply arrow icon. That will remove the b43-fwcutter package from your system.

Reboot, just to clear things up. Reboots are generally not needed but wireless drivers often contain files and configurations which are run at boot up and removing them requires that their effects be removed from /proc, /etc and other places by rebooting.

You still have ndiswrapper installed. You have downloaded and unpacked a zip file containing a set of Windows drivers supposedly written for your laptop & chip. So, lets follow that route.

sudo su -
cd to the directory where you unpacked the http://myspamb8.googlepages.com/R151517-pruned.zip zip file.
START HERE:
ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf
depmod -a
modprobe ndiswrapper

Use ifconfig to see if you now have a wireless port.
If so then
ndiswrapper -m
will make the settings permanent so they will survive rebooting. You can run wicd or knetworkmanager to make a connection to your wireless.

If ifconfig does not show a wirless port then one of several possibilities exist:
1) ndiswrapper won't work with the drivers in the zip file you have so a better set of Windows drivers need to be located, "ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5" run to remove the bad driver, the new driver unzipped, and goto START HERE:.
2) ndiswrapper won't work at all, which you won't know until you've tried another set of windows drivers specifically for your laptop.
3) you've strayed from my instructions.

[hakiza]

Re: No wireless network found

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ cd b4312drivers
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$ ls
bcm43xx64.cat bcm43xx.cat bcmwl564.sys bcmwl5.inf bcmwl5.sys
hakiza@hakizadatorn:~/b4312drivers$

As you can see, the directory which contains the unpacked files is a subdirectory of the home directory. The problem is that I cannot access this subdirectory from Root. Here is what I get:

hakiza@hakizadatorn:~$ sudo su -
root@hakizadatorn:~# cd ~/b4312drivers
-su: cd: /root/b4312drivers: No such file or directory
root@hakizadatorn:~# cd hakiza/b4312drivers
-su: cd: hakiza/b4312drivers: No such file or directory
root@hakizadatorn:~# cd ~/hakiza/b4312drivers
-su: cd: /root/hakiza/b4312drivers: No such file or directory
root@hakizadatorn:~#

[Snowhog]

Re: No wireless network found

root@hakizadatorn:~# cd ~/b4312drivers
-su: cd: /root/b4312drivers: No such file or directory

When you are operating as root: sudo su - you assume roots path. To change into the desired directory, you must specify the full path: cd /home/hakiza/b4312drivers