Installing A driver for a wireless adapter

[BaldBob]

I am an absolute Linux newbie trying to make a linux box of an older HP9100 Pavillion laptop. I seem to have successfully installed 32 bit Linux Mint (Mate) and have been able to use the internet with a wired ethernet connection. I would like to be able to operate in wireless mode, but the wireless adapter driver module doesn't appear in the list when I type lsmod (BTW that's about the extent of my terminal usage knowledge). I believe that the adapter is a Broadcom 43xx series. In another OS, the Broadcom STA driver worked. I think I found and downloaded the proper driver(hybrid-v35-nodebug-pcoem-6_30_223_248.tar.gz) , but I am absolutely clueless as to how to install it in my system. Any help would be greatly appreciated. When I used the search function in the forum under wireless, the answers that I found to what seemed to be similar issues might just as well have been written in urdu given my level of understanding.

[JeremyB]

In terminal, what does

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lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 net

show and what kernel

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uname -a

[kc1di]

Hello BaldBob and Welcome to Linus & Mint,

First make sure your connected via Lan - and have updated the system - Then go to Control Center > under System look for Driver Manager click on that
then wait it will search for your wireless card and recommend a driver solution , install the recommended driver and reboot , you should be good to go.
Enjoy

[BaldBob]

kc1d1 - followed that procedure & the first time it seemed to find the Broadcom Sta driver but never was able to hook up to it. Next time, after a reboot it coulodn't even find
it.

JeremyB - 1spci -nnk | -1A2 net returned " Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:14.0 Bridge [0680]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Ethernet Controller [10de:0269] (rev a3)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Presario V6133CL [103c:30b7]
Kernel driver in use: forcedeth"


uname -a returned "Linux bob-HP-Pavilion-dv9000-RP115UA-ABA 3.13.0-37-generic #64-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 22 21:30:01 UTC 2014 i686 athlon i686 GNU/Linux"

None of which means anything to this newby.

[kc1di]

Would you post the output of the following terminal commands:

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lspci
lsmod
rfkill list all

Thanks.

[BaldBob]

lspci returned "00:00.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:00.1 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a2)
00:00.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 1 (rev a2)
00:00.3 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 5 (rev a2)
00:00.4 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 4 (rev a2)
00:00.5 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:00.6 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 3 (rev a2)
00:00.7 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 2 (rev a2)
00:02.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:05.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation C51 [GeForce Go 6150] (rev a2)
00:09.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:0a.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 LPC Bridge (rev a3)
00:0a.1 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 SMBus (rev a3)
00:0a.3 Co-processor: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 PMU (rev a3)
00:0b.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:0d.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 IDE (rev f1)
00:0e.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev f1)
00:10.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:10.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
00:14.0 Bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 01)
07:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller
07:05.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
07:05.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 0a)
07:05.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 05)"

lsmod returned "Module Size Used by
wl 3999690 0
lib80211 14040 1 wl
bnep 18895 2
rfcomm 53664 0
bluetooth 342208 10 bnep,rfcomm
hp_wmi 13702 0
sparse_keymap 13708 1 hp_wmi
arc4 12536 2
uvcvideo 71309 0
rtl8192cu 66675 0
videobuf2_vmalloc 13048 1 uvcvideo
rtl_usb 18072 1 rtl8192cu
rtlwifi 52835 2 rtl_usb,rtl8192cu
videobuf2_memops 13170 1 videobuf2_vmalloc
snd_hda_codec_conexant 47785 1
rtl8192c_common 47340 1 rtl8192cu
videobuf2_core 39258 1 uvcvideo
videodev 108503 2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
snd_hda_intel 42730 3
snd_hda_codec 164067 2 snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13272 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 85501 2 snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
r852 17722 0
snd_page_alloc 14230 2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
sm_common 16772 1 r852
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
nand 58760 2 r852,sm_common
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
kvm 388117 0
nand_ecc 13136 1 nand
snd_rawmidi 25135 1 snd_seq_midi
nand_bch 13067 1 nand
mac80211 546051 3 rtl_usb,rtlwifi,rtl8192cu
snd_seq 55383 2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
bch 17197 1 nand_bch
snd_seq_device 14137 3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
nand_ids 8547 1 nand
mtd 52813 2 nand,sm_common
snd_timer 28584 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
r592 17711 0
joydev 17101 0
cfg80211 409394 3 wl,mac80211,rtlwifi
snd 60939 16 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device,snd_seq_midi
memstick 16174 1 r592
dm_multipath 22402 0
serio_raw 13230 0
soundcore 12600 1 snd
scsi_dh 14458 1 dm_multipath
k8temp 12842 0
ssb_hcd 12749 0
nv_tco 13300 0
i2c_nforce2 13037 0
mac_hid 13037 0
parport_pc 31981 0
ppdev 17391 0
lp 13299 0
parport 40836 3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
dm_mirror 21756 0
dm_region_hash 20121 1 dm_mirror
dm_log 18072 2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
hid_generic 12492 0
usbhid 47070 0
hid 87604 2 hid_generic,usbhid
pata_acpi 12886 0
nouveau 969577 2
sdhci_pci 18535 0
sdhci 37779 1 sdhci_pci
psmouse 91329 0
firewire_ohci 35529 0
mxm_wmi 12893 1 nouveau
firewire_core 61867 1 firewire_ohci
i2c_algo_bit 13197 1 nouveau
crc_itu_t 12627 1 firewire_core
ttm 72725 1 nouveau
forcedeth 62140 0
drm_kms_helper 48868 1 nouveau
sata_nv 23004 2
pata_amd 13761 0
wmi 18673 3 hp_wmi,mxm_wmi,nouveau
drm 244037 4 ttm,drm_kms_helper,nouveau
ssb 51854 1 ssb_hcd
video 18903 1 nouveau"

rfkill list all returned "0: phy1: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no"
Hope that makes some sense, and thank you for your patience.

[kc1di]

your card is a broadcom 4311 and should use the b43-firmware and not the STA/WL driver.

so you need to do the following in a terminal.

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sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source

then

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sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

then

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rmmod wl

reboot and try your wireless

[BaldBob]

All seemed to go well until I entered rmmod wl. Got " rmmod: ERROR: ../libkmod/libkmod-module.c:769 kmod_module_remove_module() could not remove 'wl': Operation not permitted
rmmod: ERROR: could not remove module wl: Operation not permitted'

[kc1di]

All seemed to go well until I entered rmmod wl. Got " rmmod: ERROR: ../libkmod/libkmod-module.c:769 kmod_module_remove_module() could not remove 'wl': Operation not permitted
rmmod: ERROR: could not remove module wl: Operation not permitted'

Sorry should have put

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sudo rmmod wl

if it's not loaded it may error out no such mod or something to that sort.
In any event try reboot and it should work.

[BaldBob]

[quote="kc1di"]
if it's not loaded it may error out no such mod or something to that sort.
In any event try reboot and it should work.[/quotebooted]
I'm afraid thats exactly what happened,with no joy upon reboot. Previously, when I tried rmmod without sudo, and then tried to reboot, I got a messaget that I needed to visit http://wireless.kernal.org/en/users/dri ... cefirmware , and carefully follow the instructions. I went there, but couldn't find any instructions for Mint - only open SUSE, Mandriva, Fedora ,Gentoo, & Ubuntu/Debian. I know Mint is Ubuntu based, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to know how to apply the Ubuntoo instructions.

[kc1di]

if it's not loaded it may error out no such mod or something to that sort.
In any event try reboot and it should work.[/quotebooted]
I'm afraid thats exactly what happened,with no joy upon reboot. Previously, when I tried rmmod without sudo, and then tried to reboot, I got a messaget that I needed to visit http://wireless.kernal.org/en/users/dri ... cefirmware , and carefully follow the instructions. I went there, but couldn't find any instructions for Mint - only open SUSE, Mandriva, Fedora ,Gentoo, & Ubuntu/Debian. I know Mint is Ubuntu based, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to know how to apply the Ubuntoo instructions.

could you list again the output of

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lsmod

[kc1di]

hi again baldbob,
lets also do the following again just to make sure it worked the first time.
enter the following commands in the terminal one at a time:

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sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source

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sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

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sudo modprobe b43

wait a couple of minutes and see if wifi is working.
if it is then enter this command:

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sudo echo "b43" >> /etc/modules

Let me know if that works?

[JeremyB]

The module must be blacklisted somewhere else, run the command to find where

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 for f in /etc/modprobe.d/*; do echo $f; cat $f | grep b43; done

[kc1di]

The module must be blacklisted somewhere else, run the command to find where

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 for f in /etc/modprobe.d/*; do echo $f; cat $f | grep b43; done

Thanks Jeremy I forgot to check for that hope he finds it.

[BaldBob]

The module must be blacklisted somewhere else, run the command to find where

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 for f in /etc/modprobe.d/*; do echo $f; cat $f | grep b43; done

Thanks Jeremy I forgot to check for that hope he finds it.

Thank you both for all your patience. OK before I try again, heres the output for lsmod:
Module Size Used by
hp_wmi 13702 0
sparse_keymap 13708 1 hp_wmi
rfcomm 53664 0
snd_hda_codec_conexant 47785 1
bnep 18895 2
bluetooth 342208 10 bnep,rfcomm
snd_hda_intel 42730 3
snd_hda_codec 164067 2 snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13272 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 85501 2 snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
uvcvideo 71309 0
videobuf2_vmalloc 13048 1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops 13170 1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core 39258 1 uvcvideo
videodev 108503 2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
snd_page_alloc 14230 2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_rawmidi 25135 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 55383 2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
b43 356470 0
bcma 42043 1 b43
dm_multipath 22402 0
snd_seq_device 14137 3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
scsi_dh 14458 1 dm_multipath
r852 17722 0
snd_timer 28584 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
kvm 388117 0
snd 60939 16 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device,snd_seq_midi
sm_common 16772 1 r852
mac80211 546051 1 b43
nand 58760 2 r852,sm_common
joydev 17101 0
nand_ecc 13136 1 nand
nand_bch 13067 1 nand
k8temp 12842 0
serio_raw 13230 0
bch 17197 1 nand_bch
cfg80211 409394 2 b43,mac80211
r592 17711 0
nand_ids 8547 1 nand
mtd 52813 2 nand,sm_common
memstick 16174 1 r592
soundcore 12600 1 snd
ssb_hcd 12749 0
nv_tco 13300 0
i2c_nforce2 13037 0
parport_pc 31981 0
ppdev 17391 0
mac_hid 13037 0
lp 13299 0
parport 40836 3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
dm_mirror 21756 0
dm_region_hash 20121 1 dm_mirror
dm_log 18072 2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
pata_acpi 12886 0
hid_generic 12492 0
usbhid 47070 0
hid 87604 2 hid_generic,usbhid
nouveau 969577 2
firewire_ohci 35529 0
psmouse 91329 0
firewire_core 61867 1 firewire_ohci
forcedeth 62140 0
sdhci_pci 18535 0
ssb 51854 2 b43,ssb_hcd
mxm_wmi 12893 1 nouveau
i2c_algo_bit 13197 1 nouveau
ttm 72725 1 nouveau
drm_kms_helper 48868 1 nouveau
sdhci 37779 1 sdhci_pci
drm 244037 4 ttm,drm_kms_helper,nouveau
pata_amd 13761 0
crc_itu_t 12627 1 firewire_core
sata_nv 23004 2
video 18903 1 nouveau
wmi 18673 3 hp_wmi,mxm_wmi,nouveau

and for f in /etc/modprobe.d/*; do echo $f; cat $f | grep b43; done:
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ath_pci.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
# replaced by b43 and ssb.
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-firewire.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-modem.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rare-network.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/dkms.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/fbdev-blacklist.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/mlx4.conf
/etc/modprobe.d/vmwgfx-fbdev.conf

now I'll retry the other & get back to you.

[BaldBob]

OK. The purge command got back a reply that the module wasn't there, so nothing removed. The install command got back a reply that I already had the latest version, so nothing was installed. in The echo command got:
bash: /etc/modules: Permission denied. so I didn't reboot.

[BaldBob]

Forgot to also say that the modprobe command returned nothing.

[kc1di]

Ok ls mod shows that b43 is loaded so the wireless card should work.

you can look and see if b43 is blacklisted by
going to /etc/modeprobe.d once there, there should be file name something like blacklist-bcm43.conf
open it in a text editor and see if b43 is in the list if it is you'll need to remove it. But you'll have to be root to do so.

[BaldBob]

I;m afraid I ddn't know how to do what you are suggesting. The command that Jeremy suggested [for f in /etc/modprobe.d/*; do echo $f; cat $f | grep b43; done], returned the following 2 lines (among others)
"/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
# replaced by b43 and ssb".
Is this what I'm looking for, and if so, how do I procede?

[BaldBob]

OK I figured out how to go /etc/modeprobe.d, but could not find b43. In Googling Linux b43 driver I found the following URL http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/692. I've downloaded the tar to my desktop but get"bash: cd/home/uname: No such file or directory", when I try to do steps 2 & 3. Would you please look at that site and see if you think I might be able to get to the right directory to make it work.