Broadcom Wifi card shows up as eth0, not solved by instructions from ubuntuforums

[KittyCatHerder]

lsmod

Lists wl (used by 0), b43 (used by 0), and bcma (used by 1, b43). So, it would seem that wl is not being used. There are also, of course, many other modules printed in the output but I don't know what else to look for other than what you listed.

iwconfig

Lists two interfaces. lo - no wireless extensions, and eth0 - no wireless extensions

sudo iwlist eth1 scan

Interface doesn't support scanning. (I have some idea of what this can be used for, so it sucks that it doesn't support scanning!)

rfkill list all

0: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft Blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

So, it would seem that wl is not in use, and bcma is being used by b43, but b43 is not being used itself. lspci still lists the Broadcom BCM4313. Are we sure this is a problem with the driver and/or module? Or is it possible I screwed something else up by following those instructions from the other thread that I linked to in my original post?

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So now I understand that a driver (driver file? driver package?) provides a module. What else does the driver provide? How, and by what, is each part of the driver used? These are the things I never really had the opportunity to learn during my many years with proprietary operating systems and software.

I did have a pretty good understanding of hardware versions and the fact that some only work at all with very specifically written driver software and others can work well with generic driver software. What I don't yet understand is how driver software interacts with hardware, operating system, user input, variables, etcetera, but I don't expect to be learning all of that right here right now. I just hope I can get a little closer to having the level of understanding of digital logic, OS kernels, programming language, etc, etc, etc, that someone who could write a complete OS and software suite for it would have. Yeah, I was born with the highest level of curiosity. It's about half and half a great thing and frustrating/exhausting.

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Some time in the near future I think I might do a little research into which model of WiFi card works best under Ubuntu 12.04 and my hardware configuration and replace the BCM4313. The machine in question was very cheap, on sale, when I bought it. I love the machine but it lacks some stuff I would really like to have, namely bluetooth and a GPS receiver (and a backlit keyboard, but it's a netbook). Maybe I could find a mPCIe card that combines WiFi, Bluetooth, & GPS, or maybe one that just combines WiFi and one of the other two if a card with all three doesn't exist?

[Hadaka]

ok, would you be so kind as to share the output of..

lsmod

by posting said output.
thanks.

[Hadaka]

Hi, my good friend chili555 also suggests
we make sure the sta (wl) broadcom-kernel-source
driver does not conflict with any of the b43 driver
modules, so lets do this... open a terminal ctrl/alt/t
COPY and paste the following commands...

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

add these 3 lines at the bottom of the file..

blacklist b43
blacklist bcma
blacklist ssb

proof read ...save..and close gedit..
then in terminal..please do..

sudo apt-get install --reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source
modprobe wl

then boot the computer..
report back please..
thanks

[KittyCatHerder]

For some reason when I "reply with quote" I get a quote from the wrong post. Hmmm. Anyway, here is the output of

lsmod

Module Size Used by
usblp 17885 0
usb_storage 39683 1
wl 2906597 0
lib80211 14040 1 wl
joydev 17393 0
acer_wmi 23612 0
sparse_keymap 13658 1 acer_wmi
snd_hda_codec_realtek 174313 1
snd_hda_intel 32719 3
snd_hda_codec 109562 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13276 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 80916 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
uvcvideo 67203 0
videodev 86588 1 uvcvideo
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
snd_rawmidi 25424 1 snd_seq_midi
psmouse 86520 0
serio_raw 13027 0
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 51592 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
bnep 17830 2
rfcomm 38139 0
parport_pc 32114 0
bluetooth 158479 10 rfcomm,bnep
ppdev 12849 0
snd_timer 28931 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14172 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
i915 423466 3
wmi 18744 1 acer_wmi
snd 62218 15 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec, snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,sn d_seq_device
rts_pstor 353252 0
drm_kms_helper 45466 1 i915
drm 197641 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
soundcore 14635 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 14108 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
b43 342669 0
i2c_algo_bit 13199 1 i915
mac_hid 13077 0
video 19115 1 i915
mac80211 436493 1 b43
cfg80211 178877 3 wl,b43,mac80211
bcma 25651 1 b43
ssb 50691 1 b43
lp 17455 0
parport 40930 3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
r8169 56368 0

[Hadaka]

Hi, did you do the commands in post #13?
please do those and post the results.
thanks.

[KittyCatHerder]

Hi, my good friend chili555 also suggests
we make sure the sta (wl) broadcom-kernel-source
driver does not conflict with any of the b43 driver
modules, so lets do this... open a terminal ctrl/alt/t
COPY and paste the following commands...
add these 3 lines at the bottom of the file..

blacklist b43
blacklist bcma
blacklist ssb

proof read ...save..and close gedit..
then in terminal..please do..

sudo apt-get install --reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source
modprobe wl

then boot the computer..
report back please..
thanks

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

I had already started a 'section' at the bottom of the file with the comment "#created by me to fix wifi problems", and I had already black listed and commented out "b43f" which I had done by instruction from an earlier post if I remember correctly. I had already black listed "brcmsmac" and "bcma". I added "b43" and "ssb" to the black list, saved the file.

I then ran

sudo apt-get install --reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source

which resulted in a lot of stuff printed in the terminal (which I saved in a text file in case it would be useful).

modprobe wl

immediately returned me to prompt so I assume it worked.

I am sorry to say that, after rebooting, I still do not have any wireless interface listed by

ifconfig

which still only lists eth0 and lo, and I am still unable to connect to my network by WiFi.

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After we have sorted my problem, I would really like to ask some general questions about the terminology used by yourself and your friend so far. Belive it or not, even with the strange problems I've been having, as soon as I started using Linux I felt like 'finally, an operating system that works the way one that is made for humans to oeprate should operate'. After growing up on Windows, I hadn't even fully realized after all that time at just how convoluted and round about it had become to accomplish tasks with it.

This Ubuntu community, so far, seems to be highly organized and networked. This is a good thing because I am going to have hundreds of questions in the coming months and years haha. As soon as WiFi is working I will be posting several new threads to get help with several others things that I haven't been able to solve/execute by searching here and the rest of the internet. I hope you all are still available then! Thanks for the help.

[Hadaka]

Ok, thanks, Its late here so we shall continue
tomorrow. I may be late getting on so i have
asked chili555 to repond to your post, He is
the best, if anyone can solve your problem it
is him. Either way, i will check in on the progress.
night.

[KittyCatHerder]

A few minutes ago I remembered that I have a micro usb wifi adapter that came with an old bluray player. It would be great if I could use that to help with the diagnosing of this problem.

Just for fun and experimentation I plugged it in and ran ifconfig, and the terminal hung, giving no output, no promt, and not responding to the "ctrl+C" keyboard input. I ran lsusb which, admittedly, I didn't know existed until I tried it, but the card didn't show up. I don't know how I would go about 'installing' the card to make it useable to connect to my network, which is a VERY strange feeling after having spent over 20 years cruising through Windows. Obviously this is mostly just me using my curiosity to pass time but I am going to have to figure it out now that I wondered if it could be done/how to do it, but that is another matter for another time, I guess.

[KittyCatHerder]

Ok, thanks, Its late here so we shall continue
tomorrow. I may be late getting on so i have
asked chili555 to repond to your post, He is
the best, if anyone can solve your problem it
is him. Either way, i will check in on the progress.
night.

Thanks a lot for your help so far! It's late here as well so nothing more could be accomplished before some sleep anyway. It's really cool that top community experts are donating time here!

[chili555]

Please run and post:

rfkill list all
dmesg | grep wl

Thanks.