No wireless networks found in wicd

Question

I have a laptop ThinkPad Edge E430, with Xubuntu 12.04.4 LTS installed on it. I'm using wicd to manage my networks. My wired network works just fine, but I can't detect any wireless network ("no wireless networks found") although I've checked that there were several wireless networks available nearby (I have a dualboot with windows).

I've reinstalled the wicd, just for case:

sudo apt-get install --reinstall wicd

I've tried this great AskUbuntu troubleshooting answer [My WiFi adapter is not working at all, how to troubleshoot?]:

I've installed all updates. I've checked my network with lshw:

sudo lshw -C network

*-network               
   description:   Wireless interface
   product:       BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter
   vendor:        Broadcom Corporation
   physical id:   0
   bus info:      pci@0000:03:00.0
   logical name:  eth2
   version:       01
   serial:        08:3e:8e:a2:91:9f
   width:         64 bits
   clock:         33MHz
   capabilities:  pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
   configuration: broadcast=yes driver=wl0 driverversion=6.20.155.1 (r326264)
                  latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abg
   resources:     irq:17 memory:f2d00000-f2d03fff

I ran rfkill for possible software and hardware switches:

rfkill list

0: tpacpi_bluetooth_sw: Bluetooth
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
2: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no

I figured out that I have "hardware requiring special care" as mentioned at the bottom of the post so I followed attached link [Installing Broadcom Wireless Drivers].

My wireless card is:

lspci -nn -d 14e4:

Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:4727] (rev 01)

So the table suggested me to install bcmwl since my kernel version is 3.2.0-67-generic.

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

bcmwl-kernel-source is already the newest version.

I've rebooted my PC.

And now I'm stuck. Can you help me solve the wireless network issue or at least locate the problem? Is it driver issue? Is it wicd issue? Is it bfu user issue?

Please run the script that is in the accepted answer in the link below so we may see the information needed to help diagnose the issue. http://askubuntu.com/questions/425155/my-wireless-wifi-connection-does-not-work-what-can-i-do — Wild Man, Aug 27 '14 at 13:49
I was looking in some older posts for the same issue: is the wireless interface listed in the wicd preferences? https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/220088 — Charles Green, Aug 27 '14 at 14:42
Include the output of iwlist wlan0 scan (replacing wlan0 with whatever your device is called). — Braiam, Aug 27 '14 at 14:48

KIMW · Answer 1 · 2017-08-21T13:20:51.977

That's probably because the wireless interface hasn't been recognized.

Go to Wicd Network Manager (if you can't find it type Wicd in Application Launcher) > Preferences (arrow right top corner) > General Settings tab.

On Wireless Interface write the name of your interface (usually wlan0 but it can be something else. To find out what it is, run iwconfig in terminal).

Reboot.
Rescan, NOT from Wicd Network Manager, but from System Tray (righ click on icon).
Wait.

If your wireless interface still hasn't been recognized perhaps it's just switched off. If you have a laptop check if there isn't a physical button to turn it on.

If the answer was useful, click the up arrow "^"

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 27 '14 at 15:00

1

Problem solved.
Solution: I gave up and used the last option - reinstalled the OS from scratch. I've installed the latest Trusty Tahr LTS and everything works fine. I was using the OS for just a couple of weeks so the loss of time and effort isn't that huge.

answered Aug 27 '14 at 15:00

Jeyekomon

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6
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But to be honest, from the first view Trusty Tahr looks and works way better than Precise Pangolin. They really did some work there. – Jeyekomon Aug 27 '14 at 15:02

Mihai · Answer 3 · 2014-08-27T14:26:11.073

0

Open a terminal and insert these commands:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic
sudo apt-get install --reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source

reboot and see if it works

edited Aug 27 '14 at 14:26

answered Aug 27 '14 at 09:29

Mihai

1,644

I tried. Linux headers were already the newest version. I rebooted the PC and no success. Can't detect any wireless network although I'm in range of several of them. Wired network still works fine. – Jeyekomon Aug 27 '14 at 10:05
But you did reinstall the bcmwl-kerle-source? – Mihai Aug 27 '14 at 10:09
Of course I did all the commands you provided. – Jeyekomon Aug 27 '14 at 10:19
I edited my response, please try the new commands – Mihai Aug 27 '14 at 10:41
Sorry for delay, I've been reinstalling wicd, just for case, checking for non-wicd way of displaying wireless etc. I ran both commands, rebooted but still no wireless networks were found. :-( Something must be terribly wrong in my PC. – Jeyekomon Aug 27 '14 at 11:08
EDIT: I tried a non-wicd way to check for available conections (via terminal): I ran iwlist wlan0 scan. When I had bcmwl drivers it said "No wireless networks found", now with firmware-nonfree it says "Failed to read scan data : Network is down". It seems a bit odd to me. Just in case. – Jeyekomon Aug 27 '14 at 11:25
Can you ping the wireless router? – ben rudgers Aug 27 '14 at 11:43
I have edited again my answer, reinstall the bcmwl, reboot and see if you get again the "no wireless network found" – Mihai Aug 27 '14 at 14:27

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 27 '14 at 12:14

-1

Just to be sure, try to uninstall Network Manager with sudo apt-get purge nm-applet

answered Aug 27 '14 at 12:14

Scott Goodgame

2,636
15
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Why in the world would he want to do this? – Seth Aug 27 '14 at 14:13
@Seth: Well I actually did it after I installed the wicd. – Jeyekomon Aug 27 '14 at 14:51

No wireless networks found in wicd

4 Answers4