Configuring BCM4312 w/ 17.2 rafaela KDE

[tgmct]

I'm new to LinuxMint but I've been around RH&SUSE based distros for years. I first loaded Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS on a laptop I'm re-purposing and my wireless worked flawlessly. But I was not a fan of the Ubuntu UI where I've been using KDE for a very log time. So I decided to rebuild the laptop with LinuxMint 17.2 rafaela where it apparently has better KDE support and seems a lot easier than fiddling with Ubuntu to get the same result. The install went well with the exception of the internal Broadcom BCM4312 wireless controller (Dell DW1397) installed.

The OS sees the card but does not seem to know how to configure it. This is the output of mintwifi:

mintwifi
-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
-- Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)
==> PCI ID = 14e4:4315 (rev 01)
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...

So I went looking around for a fix for my problem and I've found all sorts of suggestions but I can't seem to find anything specific to 17.2 let alone rafaela. A look at the potential modules available is even more daunting:

bcmwl-driver-source
bcmwl-kernel-source
bcmwl-modaliases
broadcom-sta-modules
broadcom-sta-dkms
broadcom-sta-source
broadcom-sta-common
and possibly more

And to make matters worse Apt shows some have dependency incompatibilities as well.

So what's the real solution here? One that won't be broken when the next kernel comes out.

Also, It is my understanding that LinuxMint is based on Ubuntu; so why in the world has this issue been carried forward?

[JeremyB]

If you have a wired connection

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

Reboot

[tgmct]

It works fine now. So why was this module not included during the machine install?

[JeremyB]

Legal issues with licensing of the firmware.