Solution to Broadcom 43xx Card Problem (12.04 - Precise Pangolin)

[backflip]

I also had this problem of wireless not working with the Broadcom STA Wireless driver after up-grading to 'Natty Narwhal' on my Acer laptop with a Broadcom 4311 wifi module. A big thank you to all who posted before me even though the suggestions put forward did not work. However I found a work around this problem and I hope others may find it useful.
The solution in my case worked using a network cable and 'Synaptic Package Manager'. This is what I did:-
1) In Additional drivers I de-activated the STA driver
2) In 'Synaptic' I then removed them completely.
3) Went back into Synaptic and found 'b43-fwcutter' and 'firmware-b43-installer'. I installed both packages because I was not sure which one was needed.
4) After a reboot wireless signed in to the router and the cable removed

Thank you so much, after much hair tugging I tried your solution and it worked perfectly on my Inspiron 6400.

[TombstoneX]

OS: Ubuntu 11.04
Notebook: Dell Inspiron 9400
Wireless Card: BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN


This worked perfectly for me.

The solution in my case worked using a network cable and 'Synaptic Package Manager'. This is what I did:-
1) In Additional drivers I de-activated the STA driver
2) In 'Synaptic' I then removed them completely. (I never did this step)
3) Went back into Synaptic and found 'b43-fwcutter' and 'firmware-b43-installer'. I installed both packages because I was not sure which one was needed.
4) After a reboot wireless signed in to the router and the cable removed

[silvertwilight]

Thanks for finding a solution. Acer Aspire 3000 with the bcm4318
chip. Wired connection and followed suggestions. Worked to get
wireless going. I run both MS WINXP and Ubuntu on the laptop.
If you think you have downloaded and installed the software/firmware
recommendations and nothing happens, do a search on bcm in the
Synaptic Network manager to pull up related files. I had to check
the box and install one of the above files and wireless worked
after that.

[MZBKA]

Would anybody be willing to help me follow the readme guide here:
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

I have a BC 4313 and the guide seems to be what has helped everybody with this wireless card, but I am new to linux. I don't know how to install the .tar.gz file I've downloaded from Broadcom's website. In particular, I don't know what <PATH> means in

 tar xzf <path>/hybrid-portsrc_x86-32_v5.100.82.38.tar.gz

I'm on at HP Pavilon g4
BCM4313 802.11b/g/n

Thanks a lot in advance.

[ArinSky]

Guys, make sure you are removing blacklists.

In your /etc/modprobe.d folder there are sets of blacklists. Often the STA driver will install a blacklist on the 43xx and all other broadcom drivers to make sure there won't be a conflict. I tried for hours doing the correct steps as posted in this, but it wouldn't work until I looked through the blacklists and found that the 43xx I was trying to install was indeed blacklisted in about 4 spots.

This also helped me fix my video card, ironically, as this update also forced me to downgrade to the nvidia 173 driver and it was having the same issue because of blacklists xD

[theiron]

A little late to the party, I had issues upgrading to 11.04 from 10.10 using the ISO from a USB stick while offline completely. I ended up downgrading to 10.10 and got that working again without the STA, just the B43 Firmware updated.

That said, I've been timid of upgrading again until I hear from on high that all is solved, but I stumbled onto the following:

On another laptop, I had both wired and wireless connected during the upgrade, and the upgrade didn't change that. So, may I suggest that them's thinking about upgrading do so with the network connections hooked up like you would normally, and it should retain the changes that were made to the previous rev.

I will be performing the upgrade again tonight, with the wireless connected, which was not the case when I tried prior.

[MrD_scifi]

Dell Inspiron 1520, Broadcom 4311

on fresh install of 11.04:

1) attach ethernet lead
2) in "additional drivers", turn off STA driver that was auto installed after vanilla 11.04 install
3) in synaptic package manager, remove bcmwl-kernel-source, every b43/broadcom entry, finding them by using the "search" button on those two terms and not the "quick filter"
4) restart computer
5) open terminal,"sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source"
6) restart computer and enjoy the wifi.

[marty331]

Dell Inspiron 1520, Broadcom 4311

on fresh install of 11.04:

1) attach ethernet lead
2) in "additional drivers", turn off STA driver that was auto installed after vanilla 11.04 install
3) in synaptic package manager, remove bcmwl-kernel-source, every b43/broadcom entry, finding them by using the "search" button on those two terms and not the "quick filter"
4) restart computer
5) open terminal,"sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source"
6) restart computer and enjoy the wifi.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 with the Broadcom 4312. Do you have any idea if this will work with my setup? I installed Natty and was thoroughly disappointed that I could not get wifi to work, so I did a clean install of 10.10. Also, I could not get Virtual Box to work, I use a windoz box on there for logging into one of my clients that has made it difficult for Linux.

Thanks,
marty

[GuitarzanHV]

I haven't had any luck with my own thread, so I'll try posting on here.

Upgraded from 10.10 to 11.04 on a Dell Inspiron 4010 with a Broadcom 4313 card.
For me, the wifi only works if I start the computer with ethernet plugged in. Sometimes if I go to another building on campus, the wifi will come back on, but on reboot its gone again. Tried using the b43 driver, no avail. Output of lshw, nm-tool, and rfkill list for working and non-working connections are below.

My own thread is here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1753493

[marty331]

I haven't had any luck with my own thread, so I'll try posting on here.

Upgraded from 10.10 to 11.04 on a Dell Inspiron 4010 with a Broadcom 4313 card.
For me, the wifi only works if I start the computer with ethernet plugged in. Sometimes if I go to another building on campus, the wifi will come back on, but on reboot its gone again. Tried using the b43 driver, no avail. Output of lshw, nm-tool, and rfkill list for working and non-working connections are below.

My own thread is here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1753493

Have you tried MrD_scifi's recommendation above? I am going to try doing an upgrade tonight and will see if it works on my Dell 1525 with Broadcom 4213.