On 13.04 Cannot connect to password protected Wi-Fi Router BCM4313

**jcobban** · July 7th, 2013

Since going to 13.04 I have not been able to connect to the wi-fi feature of my ADSL modem which is password protected using WEP. I can connect to wi-fi hotspots, for example at coffee shops. When I try to connect to my local wi-fi modem the system tries for a while, pauses, and then tries again. There is no diagnostic message that I can see. Everything worked fine on 12.04 and 12.10. According to the web the only eligible driver for the BCM4313 is the proprietary STA driver, which is what I have activated. System > Software & Updates > Additional drivers only gives me the choice of using the proprietary driver or not using the wireless at all.

Code:

*************** info trace ***************

***** uname -a *****

Linux jcobban-laptop 3.8.0-26-generic #38-Ubuntu SMP Mon Jun 17 21:43:33 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

***** lsb_release *****

Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 13.04
Release:	13.04
Codename:	raring

***** lspci *****

01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 06)
	Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0513]
	Kernel driver in use: r8169
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4727] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0012]
	Kernel driver in use: wl

***** lsusb *****

Bus 002 Device 014: ID 05ca:181d Ricoh Co., Ltd 
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 138a:0011 Validity Sensors, Inc. VFS5011 Fingerprint Reader
Bus 006 Device 028: ID 045e:0040 Microsoft Corp. Wheel Mouse Optical
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

***** iwconfig *****

eth1      IEEE 802.11abg  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          

***** rfkill *****

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: yes

***** lsmod *****

wl                   3074449  0 
lib80211               14352  2 wl,lib80211_crypt_tkip
cfg80211              510937  1 wl

***** nm-tool *****

NetworkManager Tool

State: connected (global)

- Device: eth1 -----------------------------------------------------------------
  Type:              802.11 WiFi
  Driver:            wl
  State:             unavailable
  Default:           no
  HW Address:        <MAC address removed>

  Capabilities:

  Wireless Properties
    WEP Encryption:  yes
    WPA Encryption:  yes
    WPA2 Encryption: yes

  Wireless Access Points 


- Device: eth0  [Wired connection 1] -------------------------------------------
  Type:              Wired
  Driver:            r8169
  State:             connected
  Default:           yes
  HW Address:        <MAC address removed>

  Capabilities:
    Carrier Detect:  yes
    Speed:           100 Mb/s

  Wired Properties
    Carrier:         on

  IPv4 Settings:
    Address:         192.168.2.11
    Prefix:          24 (255.255.255.0)
    Gateway:         192.168.2.1

    DNS:             192.168.2.1



***** NetworkManager.state *****
[main]
NetworkingEnabled=true
WirelessEnabled=true
WWANEnabled=true
WimaxEnabled=true

***** NetworkManager.conf *****

[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile
dns=dnsmasq

[ifupdown]
managed=false

***** interfaces *****

# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

***** iwlist *****


***** resolv.conf *****

nameserver 127.0.1.1
search gateway.2wire.net

***** blacklist *****

[/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ath_pci.conf]
blacklist ath_pci

[/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf]
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist ssb
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist brcm80211
blacklist brcmfmac
blacklist brcmsmac
blacklist bcma

[/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf]
blacklist evbug
blacklist usbmouse
blacklist usbkbd
blacklist eepro100
blacklist de4x5
blacklist eth1394
blacklist snd_intel8x0m
blacklist snd_aw2
blacklist i2c_i801
blacklist prism54
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist garmin_gps
blacklist asus_acpi
blacklist snd_pcsp
blacklist pcspkr
blacklist amd76x_edac

***** dmesg *****

[15520.305281] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_scan : WLC_SCAN error (-22)
[15583.297981] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_scan : WLC_SCAN error (-22)
[15646.283504] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_scan : WLC_SCAN error (-22)
[15663.985448] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_scan : WLC_SCAN error (-22)
[15663.985705] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_scan : WLC_SCAN error (-22)
[15687.280318] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_scan : WLC_SCAN error (-22)
[52114.078857] ERROR @wl_notify_scan_status : eth1 Scan_results error (-22)
[52641.525545] ERROR @wl_dev_intvar_get : error (-1)
[52641.525556] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_get_tx_power : error (-1)

****************** done ******************

**chili555** · July 7th, 2013

According to the web the only eligible driver for the BCM4313 is the proprietary STA driver, which is what I have activated.

I think there is another way and I suggest you try it. Maybe we can try it temporarily before we take a hammer and saw to your system. Please open a terminal and do:

Code:

sudo ifconfig eth1 down
sudo modprobe -r wl
sudo modprobe brcmsmac

If there are any errors, warnings or other messages, please post them. Now do you have a wireless interface wlan0?

Code:

iwconfig

Will it scan?

sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

Does it connect?

If so, I'll sharpen my saw and we'll make it permanent.

**jcobban** · July 10th, 2013

Originally Posted by chili555

I think there is another way and I suggest you try it. Now do you have a wireless interface wlan0?

Code:

iwconfig

Will it scan?Does it connect?

That connected. Could you explain why it was not working and what my next step is?

**chili555** · July 11th, 2013

According to the web the only eligible driver for the BCM4313 is the proprietary STA driver,

That is incorrect. As you saw, when you unloaded it and loaded the correct native driver brcmsmac, it connected as expected. Let's fix it:

Code:

sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source

Reboot and you should be all set.

**jcobban** · July 11th, 2013

Thank you for your help. I am puzzled though. When I go to System > Software and Updates >Additional drivers it now displays for the BCM4313 "This device is not working" and "Do not use the device" is selected, even though my laptop is now connected to the wi-fi network. How is a non-expert user to figure this out?

**chili555** · July 11th, 2013

Originally Posted by jcobban

Thank you for your help. I am puzzled though. When I go to System > Software and Updates >Additional drivers it now displays for the BCM4313 "This device is not working" and "Do not use the device" is selected, even though my laptop is now connected to the wi-fi network. How is a non-expert user to figure this out?

There are bugs, unfortunately. The Addtional Drivers tool attempts to be all things to all Ubuntians but misses on 3-4 Broadcom devices out of dozens.

I recommend you ignore the tool and enjoy your wireless. I am sure the developers are working on it.