Broadcom BCM4312 wireless card on Dell Mini

**stevesy** · August 17th, 2014

Originally Posted by varunendra

The same way as suggested previously. If the first command completed without errors, the rest should complete without complains as well. But if the source media that you are installing from is intact, you shouldn't face such problems at all.

If you face the same issues and same errors on the fresh install as before, check your installation media for consistency : https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM

If errors are found, it means your downloaded ISO of Lubuntu is broken itself, in which case, a fresh download would be essential. For downloading ISOs, torrents are recommended to ensure data integrity during the download.

Ok varunedra Lubuntu is reinstalled and wired connection is working. So I should go ahead and try purging and re-installing network-manager package?

**varunendra** · August 18th, 2014

Only if the problem persists after installing "linux-firmware-nonfree" package as before. So install that one first, as it is required to make the native driver work -

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Reboot and make sure you can connect, using the previous fix if required.

Then run "nm-applet" in a terminal again and see if it works this time. If not, and it returns the same error as in post #25, then please do an update -

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

..then proceed with reinstalling network-manager packages as mentioned in post #28. You can confirm whether ALL the required packages are actually downloaded to the system or not by looking in the /var/cache/apt/archives directory. Look in it BEFORE running the first command in post #28, then again AFTER running it. If there are new packages in it (especially network-manager-gnome...., network-manager.... etc.), proceed with purging/reinstalling.

**stevesy** · September 10th, 2014

Originally Posted by varunendra

Only if the problem persists after installing "linux-firmware-nonfree" package as before. So install that one first, as it is required to make the native driver work -

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Reboot and make sure you can connect, using the previous fix if required.

Then run "nm-applet" in a terminal again and see if it works this time. If not, and it returns the same error as in post #25, then please do an update -

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

..then proceed with reinstalling network-manager packages as mentioned in post #28. You can confirm whether ALL the required packages are actually downloaded to the system or not by looking in the /var/cache/apt/archives directory. Look in it BEFORE running the first command in post #28, then again AFTER running it. If there are new packages in it (especially network-manager-gnome...., network-manager.... etc.), proceed with purging/reinstalling.

Hi varunendra I've been away for a while sorry for the delay in replying. I decided to install Xubuntu 14.04.1 as Lubuntu was doing my head in. Again, wireless is not working for me on Xubuntu. I've installed linux-firmware-nonfree and rebooted but no luck. I've tried creating a wireless network connection as before and that isn't working. nm-applet (icon with an up and down arrow) is on the panel and it also appears on the panel when I enter nm-applet into the terminal, so i assume it's working ok. Can you please help me to get this problem sorted, thanks.

**varunendra** · September 10th, 2014

Originally Posted by stevesy

nm-applet (icon with an up and down arrow) is on the panel..

..the up/down arrow icon usually indicates an active Ethernet connection. Can you try the wireless without the ethernet cable plugged in? Reboot with the cable unplugged if required. If the wireless doesn't detect any available networks, please try -

Code:

sudo iwlist scan

..and see if it can detect the available networks now and connect to the desired one. If not, please post a fresh report of the wireless_script.

PS:
You shouldn't direct your posts to specifically me when you have so many great personalities of the wireless team on your thread.

**stevesy** · September 10th, 2014

Originally Posted by varunendra

..the up/down arrow icon usually indicates an active Ethernet connection. Can you try the wireless without the ethernet cable plugged in? Reboot with the cable unplugged if required. If the wireless doesn't detect any available networks, please try -

Code:

sudo iwlist scan

..and see if it can detect the available networks now and connect to the desired one. If not, please post a fresh report of the wireless_script.

PS:
You shouldn't direct your posts to specifically me when you have so many great personalities of the wireless team on your thread.

Thanks varunendra, yes I rebooted and tried wireless with the ethernet cable unplugged but no wireless networks were detected.

Code:

steve@steve-Inspiron-910:~$ sudo iwlist scan
[sudo] password for steve: 
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

steve@steve-Inspiron-910:~$

Wireless Script

Code:

    ======== Wireless-Info START ========

System-Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve-Inspiron-910 3.13.0-32-generic i686,  Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS, trusty

CPU    : Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270   @ 1.60GHz
Memory : 991 MB
Uptime : 17:48:19 up 14 min,  3 users,  load average: 0.16, 0.36, 0.29


lspci ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
    Subsystem: Broadcom Corporation Device [14e4:04b5]
    Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 02)
    Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b0]
    Kernel driver in use: r8169


lsusb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0c45:63e4 Microdia 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1058:0830 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 1131:1004 Integrated System Solution Corp. Bluetooth Device
Bus 005 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 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub


PCMCIA Card Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



iwconfig ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



rfkill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Interface                 Soft blocked  Hard blocked
0: hci0: Bluetooth                  no            no
1: compal-wifi: Wireless LAN        no            no
2: compal-bluetooth: Bluetooth      no            no


lsmod ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

b43                   356470  0 
bcma                   42043  1 b43
mac80211              546051  1 b43
cfg80211              409394  2 b43,mac80211
ssb                    51854  1 b43


module parameters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

b43          (10): allhwsupport=0 | bad_frames_preempt=0 | btcoex=1 | hwpctl=0 | hwtkip=0 | nohwcrypt=0 | pio=0 | qos=1 | verbose=2
cfg80211      (2): cfg80211_disable_40mhz_24ghz=N | ieee80211_regdom=00
mac80211      (5): beacon_loss_count=7 | ieee80211_default_rc_algo=minstrel_ht | max_nullfunc_tries=2 | max_probe_tries=5 | probe_wait_ms=500


nm-tool ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

State: connected (global)
============================o=======o========o===========o=========o===========o==============o===========
 Interface & ID             | Type  | Driver | State     | Default | Speed     | Support      | HW Addr   
============================o=======o========o===========o=========o===========o==============o===========
 eth0  [Wired connection 1] | Wired | r8169  | connected | yes     | 100 Mb/s  |              | <MAC eth0>

    Address:         192.168.0.11
    Prefix:          24 (255.255.255.0)
    Gateway:         192.168.0.1
    DNS:             89.101.160.4
    DNS:             89.101.160.5
----------------------------+-------+--------+-----------+---------+-----------+--------------+-----------


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


NetworkManager.conf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile,ofono
dns=dnsmasq

[ifupdown]
managed=false


NM WiFi Profiles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 


interfaces ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

resolv.conf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

nameserver 127.0.1.1


Routes & Ping ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
0.0.0.0         192.168.0.1     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 eth0
192.168.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     1      0        0 eth0

--- 192.168.0.1 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 999ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.741/0.756/0.771/0.015 ms

--- 127.0.1.1 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 999ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.097/0.098/0.100/0.010 ms


iw reg get ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Region : en_US.UTF-8)
country 00:
    (2402 - 2472 @ 40), (3, 20)
    (2457 - 2482 @ 40), (3, 20), PASSIVE-SCAN, NO-IBSS
    (2474 - 2494 @ 20), (3, 20), NO-OFDM, PASSIVE-SCAN, NO-IBSS
    (5170 - 5250 @ 40), (3, 20), PASSIVE-SCAN, NO-IBSS
    (5735 - 5835 @ 40), (3, 20), PASSIVE-SCAN, NO-IBSS


iwlist chan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

           - 


iwlist scan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No way to aquire root rights found.


blacklist ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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


modinfo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[b43]
filename:       /lib/modules/3.13.0-32-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.ko
firmware:       b43/ucode9.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode5.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode16_mimo.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode15.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode14.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode13.fw
firmware:       b43/ucode11.fw
srcversion:     42BAE2DB9BADE3E7ECA2CC0
depends:        bcma,ssb,mac80211,cfg80211
parm:           bad_frames_preempt:enable(1) / disable(0) Bad Frames Preemption (int)
parm:           fwpostfix:Postfix for the .fw files to load. (string)
parm:           hwpctl:Enable hardware-side power control (default off) (int)
parm:           nohwcrypt:Disable hardware encryption. (int)
parm:           hwtkip:Enable hardware tkip. (int)
parm:           qos:Enable QOS support (default on) (int)
parm:           btcoex:Enable Bluetooth coexistence (default on) (int)
parm:           verbose:Log message verbosity: 0=error, 1=warn, 2=info(default), 3=debug (int)
parm:           pio:Use PIO accesses by default: 0=DMA, 1=PIO (int)
parm:           allhwsupport:Enable support for all hardware (even it if overlaps with the brcmsmac driver) (int)

[bcma]
filename:       /lib/modules/3.13.0-32-generic/kernel/drivers/bcma/bcma.ko
srcversion:     E41B811D88783DD5BC38565
depends:        

[mac80211]
filename:       /lib/modules/3.13.0-32-generic/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
srcversion:     8ADA881D348148A3358334C
depends:        cfg80211
parm:           max_nullfunc_tries:Maximum nullfunc tx tries before disconnecting (reason 4). (int)
parm:           max_probe_tries:Maximum probe tries before disconnecting (reason 4). (int)
parm:           beacon_loss_count:Number of beacon intervals before we decide beacon was lost. (int)
parm:           probe_wait_ms:Maximum time(ms) to wait for probe response before disconnecting (reason 4). (int)
parm:           ieee80211_default_rc_algo:Default rate control algorithm for mac80211 to use (charp)

[cfg80211]
filename:       /lib/modules/3.13.0-32-generic/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
srcversion:     E786D076B61F97809B04B64
depends:        
parm:           ieee80211_regdom:IEEE 802.11 regulatory domain code (charp)
parm:           cfg80211_disable_40mhz_24ghz:Disable 40MHz support in the 2.4GHz band (bool)

[ssb]
filename:       /lib/modules/3.13.0-32-generic/kernel/drivers/ssb/ssb.ko
srcversion:     3DE188310F77C566C2E8CB3
depends:        


udev rules ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

# PCI device 0x10ec:0x8136 (r8169)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="<MAC eth0>", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth0"


Custom files/entries ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

/etc/modules        : Default
/etc/rc.local       : Default
/etc/modprobe.d     : Not Default
/etc/pm/(cnf|pw|sl) : Default

[/etc/modprobe.d]
iwlwifi.conf      : remove iwlwifi \
                    (/sbin/lsmod | grep -o -e ^iwlmvm -e ^iwldvm -e ^iwlwifi | xargs /sbin/rmmod) \
                    && /sbin/modprobe -r mac80211
mlx4.conf         : softdep mlx4_core post: mlx4_en


Kernel boot line ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-32-generic root=UUID=c804f558-481e-4084-9d5c-192200c75949 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7


dmesg ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[    1.227611] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba
[    1.228430] audit: initializing netlink socket (disabled)
[    2.165659] ssb: Found chip with id 0x4312, rev 0x01 and package 0x00
[    2.165688] ssb: Core 0 found: ChipCommon (cc 0x800, rev 0x16, vendor 0x4243)
[    2.165711] ssb: Core 1 found: IEEE 802.11 (cc 0x812, rev 0x0F, vendor 0x4243)
[    2.165733] ssb: Core 2 found: PCMCIA (cc 0x80D, rev 0x0A, vendor 0x4243)
[    2.165755] ssb: Core 3 found: PCI-E (cc 0x820, rev 0x09, vendor 0x4243)
[    2.168268] r8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver 2.3LK-NAPI loaded
[    2.228673] ssb: Sonics Silicon Backplane found on PCI device 0000:03:00.0
[    9.049798] Bluetooth: BNEP (Ethernet Emulation) ver 1.3
[    9.502410] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4312 WLAN found (core revision 15)
[    9.564281] b43-phy0: Found PHY: Analog 6, Type 5 (LP), Revision 1
[    9.625595] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[    9.625609] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.331366] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[   11.331371] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.542175] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[   11.542181] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.545119] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[   11.545125] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.570667] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode15.fw" not found
[   11.570876] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43-open/ucode15.fw" not found
[   11.571083] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the correct firmware for this driver version. Please carefully read all instructions on this website.

    ======== Done ========

I take your point varunendra, I meant no offence to any of the guys on the wireless team by directing my post to you, it was just because you had been dealing with my problem in depth. I welcome and appreciate input from all of you : ]

**varunendra** · September 10th, 2014

Doesn't look like 'linux-firmware-nonfree' package is installed -

Originally Posted by stevesy

Code:

[   11.570667] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode15.fw" not found
[   11.570876] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43-open/ucode15.fw" not found
[   11.571083] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the correct firmware for this driver version. Please carefully read all instructions on this website.

    ======== Done ========

Please try that again, with a working wired connection -

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Post back its output/errors here. If there are no errors, you should have a working wireless after a reboot.

If your ethernet connection is not working either, then to install the firmware offline : http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=13062169

**stevesy** · September 10th, 2014

Originally Posted by varunendra

Doesn't look like 'linux-firmware-nonfree' package is installed -

Please try that again, with a working wired connection -

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Post back its output/errors here. If there are no errors, you should have a working wireless after a reboot.

Code:

steve@steve-Inspiron-910:~$ sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree
[sudo] password for steve: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
linux-firmware-nonfree is already the newest version.
0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 0 to remove and 98 not to upgrade.

**varunendra** · September 10th, 2014

Hmm.. looks like it's time to go manual..

Please download the attached zip file onto your Desktop. Then open a terminal, and run the following commands in it -

Code:

cd Desktop
unzip b43.zip
sudo mkdir -p /lib/firmware/b43
sudo cp b43/* /lib/firmware/b43

Reboot, and check -

Code:

dmesg | grep firmware

If no errors, you should have a working wifi. If the error messages do show up again, please post back the output of -

Code:

ls /lib/firmware/b43

**stevesy** · September 10th, 2014

Originally Posted by varunendra

Hmm.. looks like it's time to go manual..

Please download the attached zip file onto your Desktop. Then open a terminal, and run the following commands in it -

Code:

cd Desktop
unzip b43.zip
sudo mkdir -p /lib/firmware/b43
sudo cp b43/* /lib/firmware/b43

Reboot, and check -

Code:

dmesg | grep firmware

If no errors, you should have a working wifi. If the error messages do show up again, please post back the output of -

Code:

ls /lib/firmware/b43

YES!! It's working varunendra : ] Thank you!

Code:

steve@steve-Inspiron-910:~$ dmesg | grep firmware
[   13.533552] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 666.2 (2011-02-23 01:15:07)

**varunendra** · September 10th, 2014

Awesome!!

If you have a launchpad account, or if you don't mind creating one, please add yourself to the "Affects Me" list of this bug report : https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1367882 ..adding a comment on how the usual installation of "linux-firmware-nonfree" package failed.

Thanks!