Wired connection with 12.04 and Dell 1545

[Panawe]

I know there's a fair bit of info on this problem and I think I'm part way to solving it but I still can't get a stable wired internet connection on a Dell 1545 laptop on which I've installed Ubuntu 12.04.

It is equipped with:-
Broadcom BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY

Marvell 88E8040 PCI-E [11ab:4354] rev3

I've installed (I hope) the Marvell Kernel 2.6X Linux driver package and I can get a brief wired connection but it's no more than a few seconds before it stops. I can see a huge update waiting and I want to get the wireless adaptor working but until I get the wired connection going I'm stuck!

TIA

[varunendra]

I can see a huge update waiting and I want to get the wireless adaptor working but until I get the wired connection going I'm stuck!

Try manually downloading the nonfree firmware package from here : http://packages.ubuntu.com/raring/al...nfree/download

Then copy it to your Ubuntu desktop and install by simply double-clicking, or via terminal -

sudo dpkg -i Desktop/linux-firmware-nonfree_1.14ubuntu1_all.deb

If we got either one working, troubleshooting the other one would become a lot easier.

[Panawe]

Hi, thanks for this.

Done that and package seemed to install but still no stable wired connection?

Just to clarify, here's the terminal printout for the installation...

sudo dpkg -i linux-firmware-nonfree_1.14ubuntu1_all.deb
(Reading database ... 143187 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace linux-firmware-nonfree 1.14ubuntu1 (using linux-firmware-nonfree_1.14ubuntu1_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement linux-firmware-nonfree ...
Setting up linux-firmware-nonfree (1.14ubuntu1) ...
person@person-Inspiron-1545:~/Desktop$

[Panawe]

Been trying different things but still no stable wired connection.
Does this print from Terminal throw any light on the problem?

person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$ lsmod | grep "brcmsmac\|b43\|ssb\|bcma\|wl"
b43 364596 0
mac80211 541819 1 b43
cfg80211 453853 2 b43,mac80211
bcma 39810 1 b43
ssb 51554 1 b43
person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$ lspci -n | grep 14e4
0c:00.0 0280: 14e4:4315 (rev 01)
person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$

Don't honestly understand them :/

[varunendra]

Done that and package seemed to install but still no stable wired connection?

Sorry I should have clarified that - it was meant to help the wifi. Is it (wireless) still not working?

Your second post simply shows that the correct drivers are loaded. Did you try connecting to a wireless network? Does it even scan available networks yet? Try -

sudo iwlist scan

If it fails to scan wireless networks, please post the output of -

dmesg | grep b43

Since this card is supposed to work with the correct firmware, and the firmware should have been installed with the nonfree package, I'm focusing only on the wireless for now.

[Panawe]

Thanks for your help.

I need to get the laptop working wirelessly eventually, I just thought the wired connection was essential as a first step.

Here's the Terminal printout:

person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$ sudo iwlist scan
[sudo] password for person:
wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down


lo Interface doesn't support scanning.


eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.


person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$ dmesg | grep b43
[ 18.083036] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4312 WLAN found (core revision 15)
[ 18.124219] b43-phy0: Found PHY: Analog 6, Type 5 (LP), Revision 1
[ 33.040619] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 666.2 (2011-02-23 01:15:07)
[ 33.348375] b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to DISABLED
[ 33.349807] b43-phy0: Radio turned on by software
[ 33.349812] b43-phy0: The hardware RF-kill button still turns the radio physically off. Press the button to turn it on.

I guess that stuff about the RF-kill button is a clue?

Thanks.

[varunendra]

Yup, try the wireless switch or key-combination - whatever your laptop has to toggle the wifi on/off. If that doesn't seem to work, try -

rfkill unblock all

Then check -

rfkill list

If the wifi (apparently "phy0") still seems to be "Hard blocked", and the toggle switch doesn't work, please follow the "Wireless Script" link in my signature, download and run the script as per instructions there, and post back the report it generates.

[Panawe]

Having pressed the button I get this:

person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$ iwlist scan
wlan0 No scan results


lo Interface doesn't support scanning.


eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.


person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$ dmesg | grep b43
[ 18.083036] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4312 WLAN found (core revision 15)
[ 18.124219] b43-phy0: Found PHY: Analog 6, Type 5 (LP), Revision 1
[ 33.040619] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 666.2 (2011-02-23 01:15:07)
[ 33.348375] b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to DISABLED
[ 33.349807] b43-phy0: Radio turned on by software
[ 33.349812] b43-phy0: The hardware RF-kill button still turns the radio physically off. Press the button to turn it on.
[ 1129.028288] b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to ENABLED
[ 1129.216292] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 666.2 (2011-02-23 01:15:07)

It's trying to connect to the router wirelessly but not succeeding.

Information overload

person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$ lshw -C network
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
*-network
description: Network controller
product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:0c:00.0
version: 01
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=0
resources: irq:17 memory:f69fc000-f69fffff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
vendor: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:09:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 13
serial: 00:23:ae:1e:73:c8
capacity: 100Mbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=sky2 driverversion=1.30 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
resources: irq:44 memory:f68fc000-f68fffff ioport:de00(size=256)
*-network
description: Wireless interface
physical id: 2
logical name: wlan0
serial: 00:24:2b:66:1c:3c
capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=b43 driverversion=3.8.0-29-generic firmware=666.2 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
WARNING: output may be incomplete or inaccurate, you should run this program as super-user.

[varunendra]

I'd prefer the wireless_script's output for an "information overload".

PS:
Terminal commands & outputs should always be posted within 'Code' tags to preserve their formatting and make the post compact and more readable. To see a quick 'HowTo' with screenshots, please follow the "Using Code Tags" link in my signature.

[Panawe]

You mean like this?

   person@person-Inspiron-1545:~$ lshw -C network  
 WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.  
   *-network                
        description: Network controller  
        product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY  
        vendor: Broadcom Corporation  
        physical id: 0  
        bus info: pci@0000:0c:00.0  
        version: 01  
        width: 64 bits  
        clock: 33MHz  
        capabilities: bus_master cap_list  
        configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=0  
        resources: irq:17 memory:f69fc000-f69fffff  
   *-network  
        description: Ethernet interface  
        product: 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller  
        vendor: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.  
        physical id: 0  
        bus info: pci@0000:09:00.0  
        logical name: eth0  
        version: 13  
        serial: 00:23:ae:1e:73:c8  
        capacity: 100Mbit/s  
        width: 64 bits  
        clock: 33MHz  
        capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation  
        configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=sky2 driverversion=1.30 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair  
        resources: irq:44 memory:f68fc000-f68fffff ioport:de00(size=256)  
   *-network  
        description: Wireless interface  
        physical id: 2  
        logical name: wlan0  
        serial: 00:24:2b:66:1c:3c  
        capabilities: ethernet physical wireless  
        configuration: broadcast=yes driver=b43 driverversion=3.8.0-29-generic firmware=666.2 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg  
 WARNING: output may be incomplete or inaccurate, you should run this program as super-user.

Is this the wireless script output?