Xubuntu 11.04 drivers installed but no wireless on Acer Extensa 5220 laptop

[Rytron]

Hi.

I installed Xubuntu 11.04 today on my Acer Extensa 5220 laptop. The drivers are installed but I cannot get wireless with the built in wireless card. I could get wireless with my D-Link USB dongle though (I need that for my desktop).

This is odd as I've not had a wireless problem with that laptop with Ubuntu based distros for a very long time.

In 'Additional Drivers' window it says "This driver is activated and currently in use"

[chili555]

Please open a terminal and run and post:

rfkill list all
lsmod | grep -e acer -e b43 -e wl

Thanks.

[Rytron]

Please open a terminal and run and post:

rfkill list all
lsmod | grep -e acer -e b43 -e wl

Thanks.

Hi chili555. Here is the output [image attached].

[chili555]

The wireless is not blocked and the module wl is loaded and no other conflicting drivers are loaded. So far, so good! Let's be certain that wl is correct for your device:

lspci -nn | grep 0280
dmesg | grep -e wl -e eth1

Thanks.

[Rytron]

The wireless is not blocked and the module wl is loaded and no other conflicting drivers are loaded. So far, so good! Let's be certain that wl is correct for your device:

lspci -nn | grep 0280
dmesg | grep -e wl -e eth1

Thanks.

Output:

:~$ lspci -nn | grep 0280
04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN [14e4:4311] (rev 01)
rytron@AcerE:~$ dmesg | grep -e wl -e eth1
[   23.529111] wl: module license 'MIXED/Proprietary' taints kernel.
[   24.001746] wl 0000:04:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[   24.001756] wl 0000:04:00.0: setting latency timer to 64

[chili555]

I believe the driver b43 and its associate ssb are correct for your device, not wl.

Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN [14e4:4311] (rev 01)

As a temporary measure, please do:

sudo rmmod -f wl
sudo modprobe b43

If your wireless springs to life, we'll tweak a couple of files and you'll be all set.

If not, please post:

ls /lib/firmware/b43

Thanks.

[Rytron]

After I ran

sudo rmmod -f wl
sudo modprobe b43

I clicked on network icon and next to wireless it said "Wireless Networks device not ready (firmware missing)"
So I went back to look at 'Additional Drivers' window and it now says "This driver is activated but not currently in use"

ls /lib/firmware/b43

gave this

ls: cannot access /lib/firmware/b43: No such file or directory

[chili555]

Do you have an available ethernet connection? Please do:

sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

Then try again:

sudo rmmod -f b43
sudo rmmod -f wl
sudo modprobe b43

[Rytron]

I installed b43-fwcutter.

No error from other commands except sudo rmmod -f wl gave this

ERROR: Removing 'wl': No such file or directory

ls /lib/firmware/b43 still gives

ls: cannot access /lib/firmware/b43: No such file or directory

[chili555]

Another try before I turn in my scalpels:

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
sudo rmmod -f b43
sudo modprobe b43

If it works, we will still need a small tweak to make it persistent.