Dell inspiron 1501 network problems

[mike24216]

Hey I am newbie to ubuntu 12.04 Lts and I installed it on my dell inspiron 1501 laptop. I installed it with dual boot with windows vista. I am having problems with the network. The wired and the wireless does not work. Can anyone help me out. I have tried some of the post but most threads i found want you to hook up the wired connection but like I said it does not work. Thanks.

[chili555]

Please give us more information about your ethernet and wireless devices. Please open a terminal and run and post:

lspci -nn | grep -e 0200 -e 0280

[mike24216]

mike@mike-Inspiron-1501:~$ lspci -nn | grep -e 0200 -e 0280
05:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN [14e4:4311] (rev 01)
08:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX [14e4:170c] (rev 02)
mike@mike-Inspiron-1501:~$

[chili555]

Please get a temporary wired ethernet connection. We are going to get it going easily in one step:

sudo modprobe b44
sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Detach the ethernet, reboot and everything should now be working.

[mike24216]

mike@mike-Inspiron-1501:~$ sudo modprobe b44
[sudo] password for mike:
mike@mike-Inspiron-1501:~$ sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
fakeroot dkms
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED:
bcmwl-kernel-source*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 4,274 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
(Reading database ... 142635 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing bcmwl-kernel-source ...
Removing all DKMS Modules
Done.
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Purging configuration files for bcmwl-kernel-source ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.8.0-29-generic
mike@mike-Inspiron-1501:~$ sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package linux-firmware-nonfree
mike@mike-Inspiron-1501:~$


When I entered the first line of the code the wired connection established but toward the end it says E:unable to locate package. Did something go wrong.

[chili555]

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package linux-firmware-nonfree

Please try this instead:

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

[mike24216]

ok tried that and still says unable to locate it. I did the additional driver update and it found the sta driver and it said it needed to reboot and now it is stuck on a bunch of writting and it will not boot into ubuntu. Well have to go to bed work comes early I will get back tomorrow.

[chili555]

You do not want the STA driver! That's what is causing all these problems in the first place!! Now you've reinstalled it!

See you tomorrow...

Sigh...

[mike24216]

ohh well that is why I am a newbie. Sorry about that. I will holler at you tomorrow if you are around. I dont know what kind of mess I am in now. I will worry about it tomorrow after work. Thanks.

[chili555]

ohh well that is why I am a newbie. Sorry about that. I will holler at you tomorrow if you are around. I dont know what kind of mess I am in now. I will worry about it tomorrow after work. Thanks.

I am posting this so that, perhaps, other newbies and searchers will see and heed it.

The 'Additional Drivers' tool cheerfully offers the wrong driver for a few Broadcom wireless cards, including your 4311. Then you get in more difficulty than just, 'my wireless won't work.' You get:

it said it needed to reboot and now it is stuck on a bunch of writting and it will not boot into ubuntu.

So, newbies, search this forum for SOLVED and your pci.id, something like 14e4:4311. Follow the process in the solved thread and don't take Additional Drivers' suggestion to wreck your system.

End rant.

So, Mike, start by telling me what Ubuntu version you have:

lsb_release -a
uname -r

Next, hook up the ethernet and do:

sudo modprobe b44
sudo apt-get remove -purge bcmwl-kernel-source

You need firmware for your 4311 wireless and the best method to install it depends on your version.