12.04 wireless issue - driver is active, but no networks

[jethro1138]

[QUOTE=wildmanne39;11908764]Hi, please post the output of:

Oh, uh. No, uh. No worries here. Turns out this is one of those laptops with an actual switch that turns off the wifi. After beating it up for 6 hours and installing 4 different distributions and having the same exact problem I figured out that at some point I must've accidentally moved that thing.

Yes, I am extremely embarrassed.

[wildmanne39]

Hi, I am glad it is working and it happens to a lot of people so no worries.
Enjoy

[webwalker60]

I'm having the exact same issue as Abkajud. Same laptop Vostro 1500. I did what you said and it doesn't work for me. Any other possibilities?

Here's my output.

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=12.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=precise
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 12.04 LTS"
Linux brendas-laptop 3.2.0-27-generic-pae #43-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 6 15:06:05 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
brenda@brendas-laptop:~$ lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 net
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX [14e4:170c] (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0228]
        Kernel driver in use: b44
--
0c:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN [14e4:4311] (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card [1028:0007]
        Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
brenda@brendas-revlinixos-desktop:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 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 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 05a9:2640 OmniVision Technologies, Inc. OV2640 Webcam
Bus 003 Device 010: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp. BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046 Bluetooth)
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 045e:0040 Microsoft Corp. Wheel Mouse Optical
Bus 003 Device 011: ID 413c:8126 Dell Computer Corp. Wireless 355 Bluetooth
Bus 003 Device 012: ID 0a5c:4502 Broadcom Corp. Keyboard (Boot Interface Subclass)
Bus 003 Device 013: ID 0a5c:4503 Broadcom Corp. Mouse (Boot Interface Subclass)
brenda@brendas-laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth1      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=off   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on
          
brenda@brendas-laptop:~$ rfkill list all
1: dell-wifi: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no
2: dell-bluetooth: Bluetooth
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no
3: phy0: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: yes
        Hard blocked: no
5: hci0: Bluetooth
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no
brenda@brendas-laptop:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
rfcomm                 38139  16 
parport_pc             32114  0 
ppdev                  12849  0 
bnep                   17830  2 
joydev                 17393  0 
nvidia              10962290  34 
arc4                   12473  2 
snd_hda_codec_idt      60251  1 
b43                   342643  0 
mac80211              436455  1 b43
r852                   17901  0 
sm_common              16737  1 r852
snd_hda_intel          32765  3 
nand                   49667  2 r852,sm_common
snd_hda_codec         109562  2 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
psmouse                72919  0 
nand_ids                8547  1 nand
mtd                    35584  2 sm_common,nand
nand_bch               13003  1 nand
snd_hwdep              13276  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                80845  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi           13132  0 
snd_rawmidi            25424  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event     14475  1 snd_seq_midi
uvcvideo               67203  0 
snd_seq                51567  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              28931  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device         14172  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
r592                   17808  0 
snd                    62064  15 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore              14635  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         14108  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
serio_raw              13027  0 
dm_multipath           22710  0 
dell_wmi               12601  0 
dell_laptop            17767  0 
dcdbas                 14098  1 dell_laptop
btusb                  17912  2 
cfg80211              178679  2 b43,mac80211
videodev               86588  1 uvcvideo
sparse_keymap          13658  1 dell_wmi
bch                    21757  1 nand_bch
wmi                    18744  1 dell_wmi
memstick               15857  1 r592
bcma                   25651  1 b43
bluetooth             158438  23 rfcomm,bnep,btusb
nand_ecc               13070  1 nand
mac_hid                13077  0 
lp                     17455  0 
parport                40930  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
dm_raid45              76451  0 
xor                    25987  1 dm_raid45
dm_mirror              21822  0 
dm_region_hash         16065  1 dm_mirror
dm_log                 18193  3 dm_raid45,dm_mirror,dm_region_hash
btrfs                 638208  0 
zlib_deflate           26622  1 btrfs
libcrc32c              12543  1 btrfs
vesafb                 13516  1 
b44                    31364  0 
usbhid                 41906  0 
hid                    77367  1 usbhid
sdhci_pci              18324  0 
sdhci                  28241  1 sdhci_pci
firewire_ohci          40172  0 
firewire_core          56906  1 firewire_ohci
crc_itu_t              12627  1 firewire_core
ssb                    50691  2 b43,b44
video                  19068  0 
zram                   18193  1

[wildmanne39]

Hi, please try:

echo "blacklist dell_laptop" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Thanks

[webwalker60]

wildmanne39, I already backed up that file and removed the blacklisted 43xx and saved it. After my last post I installed wicd and the wireless works perfectly, but when I hover over the original "Network Management" connection it says the wireless is "disabled in software". I can't seem to find anyway to enable it. When I do a "scan" under Network Management my wireless Netgear connection does not show up.

Does this help any?

I have it working with wicd, but hate to give this to the customer like this. I would rather it be working under the original "Network Management"

Let me know if you would still like the output of your last post.

Thanks for the quick reply!

[webwalker60]

wildmanne39, here is the output.

blacklist dell_laptop

[wildmanne39]

Hi, that command I gave you to run should not have output anything, do you mean that

blacklist dell_laptop

is in the blacklist file? that is where it should be.

Wicd is better then network manager in a lot of instances so I would not have any issue giving someone a computer with wicd on it.

It is possible we could get it to work with network manager but I do not know for sure you would have to install network manager then we could check it.
Thanks

[webwalker60]

Thanks wildmanne39, I copy and pasted what you gave me into the terminal, and this is all it gave me. As I stated previously, I removed the BCM 43xx from the blacklist file and saved it. After backing up the original of course. (just in case) I'm assuming that prevented it from being seen by the OS. I guess I'm a little confused why kubuntu would blacklist something that is being used on some laptops. Oh, well! Kubuntu uses Network Manager by default. Maybe I should just remove it (if I can without causing other problems) and just use wicd-kde.

Your thoughts?

Thanks,

Webby

[wildmanne39]

Hi, BCM 43xx is suppose to be blacklisted it was replaced by b43 and ssb.

But I do not see it load so no harm done but if it gets loaded you will not be able to connect.
Thanks

[skeeter123]

Hello newbie here - i am running dual xp and ubuntu 12.04. my wireless is not working. i have ethernet. tried to resolve by reading this forum but am lost. see below info i thought might be helpful if someone is kind enough.

14e4:170c] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Inspiron 6400 [1028:01af]
Kernel driver in use: b44
--
0b:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN [14e4:4311] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card [1028:0007]
Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
steve@ubuntu:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 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 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 048d:1167 Integrated Technology Express, Inc.
steve@ubuntu:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSIDff/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Power Managementn

eth0 no wireless extensions.

steve@ubuntu:~$ rfkill list all
0: dell-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no