(Solved) Can't get Broadcom BCM4311 802.11b/g running

[JeremyB]

Yes it is an acer laptop. It has a switch on the front of the machine. Whenever I would try something new, I'd try this switch, but no led light comes on, it just flashes. I also try to activate it by the icon in the panel but that doesn't help either.

Try the switch and run

Code: Select all

rfkill list all

to see the affect of the switch, we want to see no blocks on the wifi like this

Code: Select all

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no

The wireless script showed

Code: Select all

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: yes
1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: yes
   Hard blocked: no

and that prevents wifi from being enabled from the Network Manager. Don't rely too much on the wifi light as it might not work correctly in Linux

[DanielE]

The switch the way I have it now shows this:

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

[JeremyB]

The switch the way I have it now shows this:

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

So is the network enabled and able to see your access point? You may have to unplug the ethernet cable to get it to default to wifi

[DanielE]

YES! Congratulations, you did it. My wifi is up and running. Thank-you very much. After a reboot, the system recognised the wifi.

Thanks again,
Daniel

[Krusidull]

Hi
Just read about the problem with the broadcom BCM4311 and the Acer laptop which looks simular to my problem.

What should I do when I get another result from the code "rfkill list all"?
I get this result:
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: no

Does that mean that I have two drives craching with eachother?

[AlbertP]

Short answer: That your wifi is blocked means that either a software component or a hardware component, turned it into airplane mode. This can happen for a variety of reasons depending on your laptop manufacturer & type.

To get help with fixing this problem, please open a new topic in the Wireless category. This one is already marked as solved so it may be overlooked by people trying to help.
If you post the link to your new topic here then I'll see the topic too and will be able to help you.

[vl1969]

Krusidull, you do not need to open another topic, search the forun for bmc4311 and there is a solution already exist, I know because I have seen it last month.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

[AlbertP]

vl1969, he needs help with a soft block in rfkill, which is not in the standard procedure for BCM4311. I'm still in favour of opening a new topic for Krusidull's problem.

[vl1969]

Albertp, I am not against him opening a new topic, just advise to search the forum as the solution might just be already there. I have the same chipset on my laptop, and had issues with getting it going too, I found the solution here and on one of the Ubuntu forums. 4311 is one of the problematic modules but common enough and old enough. for the help been there for most of the issues you come across. I know I did not open new topic at the time, so...

Also if it is a soft block, don't he just need to edit some config file in /device or something. I remeber when I had issues with my laptop under opensuse that was the way to remove the block.


Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

[Krusidull]

I'm in here just for a minute, having a very busy week, but just want to say I will look into both of your advice as soon as I get some time for a relaxing computing hour
I've been using Ubuntu alongside with windows for a long time but still feel like a newbe to linux. LinuxMint seem very nice. Just installed it on this old laptop last weekend.
Everything works exept the wired and wifi connection. Can get access with throug usb-connection and my mobile though.

Thank you so far

[Krusidull]

Short answer: That your wifi is blocked means that either a software component or a hardware component, turned it into airplane mode. This can happen for a variety of reasons depending on your laptop manufacturer & type.

To get help with fixing this problem, please open a new topic in the Wireless category. This one is already marked as solved so it may be overlooked by people trying to help.
If you post the link to your new topic here then I'll see the topic too and will be able to help you.

Thank you Albert P. I've started a new thread now under networking/wifi. "No wifi or wired connection with Broadcom BCM 94311"