HOWTO: Dell Inspiron E1505 Wireless (Broadcom 1390 WLAN)

[mkzimms]

dell e1705
Hardy Alpha 6

sudo modprobe -r b44
sudo modprobe -r b43
sudo modprobe -r ssb
sudo modprobe -r ndiswrapper
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
sudo modprobe b44

this worked for me!!! If i create a script to do this, where can I add it to have it run at startup?

[jw5801]

You could either add it to your desktop session so it runs after you log in. Or put it in /etc/init.d/ then you'll need to use "update-rc.d" to tell it when it should run during startup. Not sure what runlevel to give it though. erunaheru might be able to help more.

[mkzimms]

working great now, anyone else in need here you go...

i created the script called "wireless_fix.sh" and dropped it into /etc/init.d/

#!/bin/bash

modprobe -r b44
modprobe -r b43
modprobe -r ssb
modprobe -r ndiswrapper
modprobe ndiswrapper
modprobe b44

sudo chmod 755 wireless_fix.sh
sudo update-rc.d wireless_fix.sh defaults

defaults will start at run levels 2345, and stop the service in run levels 016.

[mkzimms]

yeah... that worked for all this morning but stopped working again when I got home from work. grrrr

[tschneiter]

I wanted to say that this worked for me too.
Even after blacklisting SSB, it would still start, but this clears everything up.
For the record, I am on a bcmwl4328. I used Dell's latest drivers to plug into ndiswrapper.

Thank you!

[jw5801]

yeah... that worked for all this morning but stopped working again when I got home from work. grrrr

Heh, hate it when that happens. I didn't suggest using defaults because I'm not sure at what point the modules you're removing initially get added to the kernel. My suggestion would be to try blacklisting all of them (including ndiswrapper) and then just modprobe ndiswrapper and b44 in the order you want in your boot script. From what I understand all the blacklist does is prevent the modules from being loaded automatically. If you manually load them they should still work correctly. I'm not 100% positive on that but give it a try and see what happens!

[mkzimms]

i have a possible explanation for it not working anymore... i did a fresh install of Alpha6 and then the beta came out over night. i did a -d update at work in the morning to the beta, that could have made some unwanted changes. thats the only modification made from it working the night before to not working the next day. im about to step through the tutorial again and give it another go. ill let you know what happens.

[mkzimms]

Yup, that was it. Ran through the tutorial again and now its working like a champ! Finally i can get off the floor next too the network jack and go sit on my couch!

[cashman286]

Hey I have a question about this, but here are my specifications:

This is a Dell Inspiron 6400/E1505.
I am using Ubuntu 7.04.

My question is, how will I get the executable from Dell's website if my Ubuntu doesn't have any internet? Would I need a USB drive or something?

[mkzimms]

you should have no problem using a wired connection to start with, so just plug in. if you dont have a wired connection you'd have to go someplace where you can get one or use another computer to burn a cd or usb stick.