14.04LTS on Compaq Mini 110 netbook (Broadcom BCM 4312), wifi issues

[sebastian-poliuc]

I can log into normally secured networks just fine, like my house and my portable hotspot. But when I try to sign into a more secure WiFi network, (my school, it is isolated, and heavily adminn'ed) it just keeps asking for the password. I can log in thru windows 7 starter just fine, and the weirdest part is that back on 12.04 LTS (I think it was the LTS version) it connected just fine as well. Now I log in, it shows a connecting animation for a couple seconds, and then it asks for encryption keys again and again, no matter how many times i enter it. Ive already contacted our network admin, and she gave me the correct login info, no dice. Seems like a driver issue, but im on broadcom's correct driver afaik. Its a compaq mini 110 netbook, almost identical to the hp mini 110. Help?

[Roasted]

Can you post the output of lspci? As in, open terminal, type lspci (that's LSPCI, but in all lower case), and copy the contents here to the forum for us to see. It's a hardware readout and will give us the exact wireless card you have as there are many types of Broadcoms, and quite a few use wildly different drivers.

Also, whenever I have issues on any system with wireless (not just Ubuntu), I go into the network manager and delete that entry altogether. Afterwards, I let network manager re-scan for available networks and try to connect again. Once in a blue moon I have this happen on my Windows 8 system, Macbook Pro, and Ubuntu. Each time I just delete it and re-add and see what happens from there. This may or may not work, but it's an easy enough step to try first, just to be sure.

[sebastian-poliuc]

Here's the output of running lspci:

~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GSE Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 02)
01:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR8132 Fast Ethernet (rev c0)

I have tried what you've said about readding the network, with no luck sadly.

[Roasted]

Based on your chip type, it looks like you need to use the wl driver, otherwise known as the STA driver.

wl - Proprietary Broadcom STA Wireless driver

For Chip ID BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4313, BCM4321, BCM4322, BCM43224, BCM43225, BCM43227 and BCM43228.

Install either bcmwl-kernel-source (instructions below) OR the broadcom-sta (instructions at http://wiki.debian.org/wl) packages.

b43 - Open source driver

For Chip ID BCM4306 (rev 03), BCM4309, BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4318, BCM4322, BCM4331, BCM43224 and BCM43225.

Note: Not all PCI-ID's and/or modes are supported. A more complete and up-to-date list of supported b43/b43legacy devices may be found on the Linux Wireless wiki. Use your card's PCI ID (the number in the square brackets) to find its status in the table.

I assume you installed the STA driver through Software and Updates >> Additional Drivers?

[mörgæs]

Moved to Networking and Wireless, in which there is a sticky note on Broadcom.

[chili555]

Moved to Networking and Wireless, in which there is a sticky note on Broadcom.

And which explains that the STA driver is incorrect and must be purged.

[sebastian-poliuc]

Thanks for the help! I will try that thread ASAP, and post results.

[sebastian-poliuc]

morgaes, I did install the driver through the default Ubuntu Driver Manager. As for the thread that was linked, a package name for my card on 14.04 has not been confirmed. Should i risk using the 13.10 driver package, or wait for them to confirm 14.04?

[98cwitr]

Im having a similiar issue with my BCM4321 using the STA driver. According to Broadcom's readme file, the latest version (6.30.223.141) has support up to kernel 3.8. Read more here: http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

I dont agree that it should be purged per se, but maybe we should all chip in and send Broadcom and email or five.

Have you tried loading the b43 driver?

run the following

sudo modprobe -r wl
sudo modprobe b43

IF that works, add b43 to the end of your /etc/modules file.

[Roasted]

Im having a similiar issue with my BCM4321 using the STA driver. According to Broadcom's readme file, the latest version (6.30.223.141) has support up to kernel 3.8. Read more here: http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

I dont agree that it should be purged per se, but maybe we should all chip in and send Broadcom and email or five.

Have you tried loading the b43 driver?

run the following



IF that works, add b43 to the end of your /etc/modules file.

Yes - try the above. How did I miss this? I didn't realize that the 4312 was ALSO listed under B43. If B43 can fly I'd certainly use that.

Here's a question though. If the B43 is the open source driver, that to me would suggest that wireless would have worked out of the box. If wireless worked out of the box, there'd be no reason to even attempt installing the closed source STA driver. So that begs the question... was the STA driver installed while wireless was working? Or did 14.04 somehow not detect wireless whatsoever?