2

I've been at this for 3 hours and I can't figure out why it's not working! I successfully got the installer installed, but when I check for the firmware it says it's not there. My wireless device's PCI.ID is 14e4:4318 rev 02 and I cannot connect via ethernet cable. So I have to transfer the files to install.

There's conflicting instructions and I can't wrap my head around what's what now. I am a newbie and this is my first time with Ubuntu as well so that's likely what's wrong here! But anyway I'm going to reinstall Ubuntu fresh and try again.

Is there any good newibie instructions I can follow to get my wireless card working?

EDIT

Ran the command to check the drivers and it came back with this:

[   20.894855] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4318 WLAN found (core revision 9) 
[   20.957474] b43-phy0: Found PHY: Analog 3, Type 2 (G), Revision 7 
[   21.034511] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2 
[   21.034518] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper 
[   22.271586] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2 
[   22.271592] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper 
[   22.477077] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2 
[   22.477084] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper 
[   22.481364] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2 
[   22.481370] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper 
[   22.488736] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode5.fw" not found 
[   22.488742] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43-open/ucode5.fw" not found 
[   22.488745] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the correct firmware for this driver version. Please carefully read all instructions on this website.

It also says it is not soft blocked and not hard blocked.

muru
  • 197,895
  • 55
  • 485
  • 740
user313571
  • 23

2 Answers2

2

This is confirmed as working on Ubuntu 14.04 32-bit. The laptop I fixed is 32-bit, and it won't run Ubuntu 14.10.

This should also work for Ubuntu 14.10 though, and for all Broadcom cards that are supported. Almost all Broadcom cards are supported though, so cross your fingers :)

For a fresh installation, run these commands one-by-one in the terminal:

sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree
sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
sudo modprobe -r b43 && sudo modprobe b43  
sudo reboot

You will get no errors this time on startup, and your wireless will work. If it doesn't work, please edit your question to add the results of running some diagnostics:

dmesg | grep -e b43 -e wlan
rfkill list all
karel
  • 114,770
user251256
  • 71
  • 1
  • 2
1

Please download this file and transfer it to the desktop: http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/multiverse/l/linux-firmware-nonfree/linux-firmware-nonfree_1.14ubuntu1_all.deb Now, open a terminal and do:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Desktop/linux-firmware*.deb
sudo modprobe -r b43 && sudo modprobe b43

Your wireless should now be working. If it is not, please edit your question to add some diagnostics:

dmesg | grep -e b43 -e wlan
rfkill list all
chili555
  • 60,188
  • I did a fresh reinstall of Ubuntu and did exactly as you said. No wireless connection! To reiterate what I did: placed the .deb on the desktop and ran the first command in a terminal. It completed. I ran the second one, and it just immediately jumped to a fresh line. No confirmation or failure message. I think it has to do with that second command. – user313571 Aug 08 '14 at 20:54
  • Please see my edit. No response indicates that the command was executed as requested and there are no errors or warnings to report. – chili555 Aug 08 '14 at 20:59
  • I edited my original question as per the instructions in your edit. – user313571 Aug 08 '14 at 21:09
  • My sincere apologies. I linked the wrong file. I am editing my answer. I regret my misstep. – chili555 Aug 08 '14 at 21:19
  • How do I undo the wrong file I installed? And that's fine. – user313571 Aug 08 '14 at 21:23
  • No need to undo it. Please proceed. – chili555 Aug 08 '14 at 21:27
  • I am happy to report that it worked like a charm! Thank you very much. – user313571 Aug 08 '14 at 21:36
  • Awesome! Sorry it took two tries. – chili555 Aug 08 '14 at 21:37