Netgear WN311B freezes computer

[Aryding]

I have been using 64-bit 9.10 and 10.04 (alpha 3) and have had no luck in getting my WN311B to work. I have attempted to use Ndiswrapper, b43, and Broadcom STA drivers with no luck. The only drivers that did work, momentarily, was Broadcom STA. However, the STA drivers freeze the computer after 5-30 mins of use.

Any ideas? I'm very frustrated and have followed numerous tutorials on the WN311B, but since I'm using a 64-bit OS I don't think my drivers are correct?

Thank you for your help,
aryding

[Aryding]

Bump, any ideas? Is there anyone else out there in the same situation? I might have to buy a new wireless card, does anyone recommend a good N-card?

[elderly_punk]

Hi. I'm having the exact same problem. Using 64 bit Ubuntu 9.10 with the WN311B. Tried all the same things as you, I'm sure. Took the drivers from a Windows7 64 bit system, but couldn't get them to work with ndiswrapper. Broadcom STA restricted drivers do work sort of reliably, but I do get system freezes anywhere between 15mins and 2-3hrs after boot. It seems like whenever I try to upload or download a large batch of files to my NAS it triggers the problem. Up until the freezes, everything seems ok. If I manage to resolve it, I'll post back here... Please do the same if you find anything. I have a feeling we may be out on an island with this one...

[elderly_punk]

Hi again.... I reverted to Ubuntu 32bit, and everything is working fine with the Broadcom STA drivers. No freezing or anything. I hate to go back to 32, but it's my wife's machine and all that matters is stability and reliability.... Hopefully when Ubuntu 64 is more ready for prime-time we can move back. Since the WN311B is such a good wireless card (the only one that has worked in my metal-frame condo building), the downgrade is probably worth it...

[B.C.]

Elderly, it's not Ubuntu's fault that the hardware manufacturer refuses to release a stable driver for 64-bit Linux. Blame Broadcom for not releasing drivers and Netgear for using Broadcom chipsets, not 64-bit Ubuntu.

[tgalati4]

Right after a freeze, quickly pull the card and feel it. If it is quite warm, then it's possible that the 64-bit drivers are causing an overheat condition. This would cause random shutdowns when moving a lot of files.

Send an email to broadcom and to netgear describing your experiences.

[B.C.]

I forgot to mention that I installed Kubuntu 10.04 64-bit on my workstation today and both my Nvidia video card and WN311B wireless card are detected. The proprietary Broadcom STA driver downloads and installs without issue. It seems to work just fine on my 802.11n network, which is secured by WPA2 encryption.

I have a fan in my case which provides ample airflow to my PCI cards, so perhaps the issue is truly one of overheating as the previous poster suggests.

Note: to download the drivers for the respective cards, I had to initially plug the machine into a wired network, but everything worked as intended and I can work in my home office without a 50-foot cable strung across the living room.

[mrdoob]

Same problem here. With a WPN311 after 5-30 min of internet connection the system freezes. It didn't do that on 9.10 64-bit

I'll try 10.04 32-bit...

[mrdoob]

So far 32-bit seems to be the solution.
Big pheew!

[mrdoob]

No. It still hangs. Reverting to 9.10 64-bit (or something...)