[SOLVED] Alienware 17R3: no wifi adapter detected

I installed Zorin 15.1 on my Alienware notebooks. On the Alienware 13 everything is working fine. But on the 17R3 no WIFI adapter is detected. I checked other threats, but could not find anything helpful.
I am new to Zorin (linux/ubuntu, happy to avoid Windows finally), so please explainf for a beginner.

See this thread:

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienwar ... -p/5608601

What Dell fail to acknowledge is that ALL notebooks AND computers, have network power saving switched to on to save power/battery in respect of machines pre-installed with Windows - I even had to remind an IT technician about this where I work when they couldn't find why it was losing connection. My concern is that I don't know if the Windows setting if not unchecked and Linux installed whether the 'software power saving' permanently affects the hardware - if you get my drift.

This post on the Dell forum should assist you with any sound/wifi issues (hopefully!):

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienwar ... p/5550751#

Thank you, I installed Zorin alongside Windows, so going back to Windows I could switch off the power savings for both wifi and killerwire.
After restart, back to Zorin, in the settings there is the message "no wifi adapter found", The power LED for the wifi is permanently on though.
Installation was smooth andweverything else is working fine, even the sound and headphone switch. BIOS is up to date.
How can I make Zorin to find the wifi adapter?

Please open a terminal in Zorin and enter:

Code:

ifconfig

and post back please.

enp8s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 192.168.178.47 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.178.255
inet6 2001:16b8:1145:7d00:9fb:21a9:1bf2:759a prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x0<global>
inet6 fe80::faef:bbf2:ffca:644b prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
inet6 2001:16b8:1145:7d00:8ede:e1a7:f4c1:723f prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x0<global>
ether ec:f4:bb:50:68:2d txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 2879419 bytes 4229134954 (4.2 GB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 1397737 bytes 129545976 (129.5 MB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
device interrupt 18

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host>
loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 1802 bytes 191222 (191.2 KB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 1802 bytes 191222 (191.2 KB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

I can see by that report that the wireless is not being picked up at all - do you happen to know what the brand and model of the wireless chipset is in Windows?

The Servicesupport Program ist showing: Killer e2200 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.20)
The same does Windows device manager:
For the Service Tag I also find the following: 555-BBCB Dell Wireless 1705 802.11/g/n with Bluetooth v4.0
Number part R4GWO: CRD, WRLES, HMCRD, DW1704, BGN, WW
Number part YXKRV: LBL, REG, WRLES, DW1705, CSMB, WW

It appears your wireless chipset is Broadcom. If you can connect via Ethernet cable directly to your router, try the advice here:

https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/broadco ... -tip/12844

[Source: https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/how-to- ... 8-04/17304]

Thank you. Unfortunately is did not work. Here is what happened:

jay@RS-Enterprise-Z:~$ sudo lshw -class network
[sudo] password for jay:
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: Killer E220x Gigabit Ethernet Controller
vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:08:00.0
logical name: enp8s0
version: 10
serial: ec:f4:bb:50:68:2d
size: 1Gbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm pciexpress msi msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=alx duplex=full ip=192.168.178.47 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
resources: irq:18 memory:d2800000-d283ffff ioport:3000(size=128)
*-network
description: Network controller
product: BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:0a:00.0
version: 03
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=bcma-pci-bridge latency=0
resources: irq:16 memory:d2600000-d2607fff memory:d2400000-d25fffff
jay@RS-Enterprise-Z:~$ lspci -vvnn | grep 14e4
0a:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:43b1] (rev 03)
jay@RS-Enterprise-Z:~$ sudo apt-get update
Hit:1 http://ppa.launchpad.net/zorinos/apps/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:2 http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:3 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security InRelease
Hit:4 http://ppa.launchpad.net/zorinos/drivers/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:5 http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates InRelease
Hit:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/zorinos/patches/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:7 http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports InRelease
Hit:8 http://ppa.launchpad.net/zorinos/stable/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:9 https://packages.zorinos.com/stable bionic InRelease
Hit:10 https://packages.zorinos.com/patches bionic InRelease
Hit:11 https://packages.zorinos.com/apps bionic InRelease
Hit:12 https://packages.zorinos.com/drivers bionic InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
jay@RS-Enterprise-Z:~$ sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libllvm8 libllvm8:i386
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
b43-fwcutter
The following NEW packages will be installed:
b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 29,7 kB of archives.
After this operation, 123 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 b43-fwcutter amd64 1:019-3 [25,7 kB]
Get:2 http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse amd64 firmware-b43-installer all 1:019-3 [3950 B]
Fetched 29,7 kB in 0s (159 kB/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously unselected package b43-fwcutter.
(Reading database ... 282563 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../b43-fwcutter_1%3a019-3_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking b43-fwcutter (1:019-3) ...
Selecting previously unselected package firmware-b43-installer.
Preparing to unpack .../firmware-b43-installer_1%3a019-3_all.deb ...
Unpacking firmware-b43-installer (1:019-3) ...
Setting up b43-fwcutter (1:019-3) ...
Setting up firmware-b43-installer (1:019-3) ...
No chroot environment found. Starting normal installation
--2020-01-23 21:17:30-- http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/br ... 38.tar.bz2
Resolving www.lwfinger.com (www.lwfinger.com)... 173.254.30.178
Connecting to www.lwfinger.com (www.lwfinger.com)|173.254.30.178|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 13514651 (13M) [application/x-tar]
Saving to: ‘broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2’

broadcom-wl-5.100.1 100%[===================>] 12,89M 4,22MB/s in 3,1s

2020-01-23 21:17:33 (4,22 MB/s) - ‘broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2’ saved [13514651/13514651]

Deleting old extracted firmware...
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_ap.o
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_sta.o
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/README
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/config/
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/config/wlconfig_lx_shared
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/config/wl.mk
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/config/wl_default
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/config/wl_hnd
broadcom-wl-5.100.138/config/wlconfig_nomimo
This file is recognised as:
filename : wl_apsta.o
version : 666.2
MD5 : e1b05e268bcdbfef3560c28fc161f30e
Extracting b43/lp0initvals14.fw
Extracting b43/lcn0bsinitvals25.fw
Extracting b43/n0bsinitvals25.fw
Extracting b43/n0bsinitvals17.fw
Extracting b43/ucode17_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/ucode16_lp.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn1initvals27.fw
Extracting b43/lp2bsinitvals19.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn3bsinitvals21.fw
Extracting b43/ucode16_sslpn.fw
ucode time: 01:15:07
Extracting b43/ucode25_lcn.fw
Extracting b43/ucode21_sslpn.fw
Extracting b43/lp0bsinitvals14.fw
Extracting b43/b0g0initvals9.fw
Extracting b43/ucode20_sslpn.fw
Extracting b43/a0g1bsinitvals9.fw
Extracting b43/lp1initvals20.fw
Extracting b43/b0g0bsinitvals13.fw
Extracting b43/lp2initvals19.fw
Extracting b43/n2bsinitvals19.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn4bsinitvals22.fw
Extracting b43/ucode16_sslpn_nobt.fw
ucode date: 2011-02-23
Extracting b43/n1bsinitvals20.fw
Extracting b43/n1initvals20.fw
Extracting b43/b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
Extracting b43/ucode22_sslpn.fw
Extracting b43/b0g0initvals13.fw
Extracting b43/ht0initvals26.fw
Extracting b43/ucode33_lcn40.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn1bsinitvals20.fw
Extracting b43/lcn400bsinitvals33.fw
Extracting b43/ucode14.fw
Extracting b43/a0g0initvals5.fw
Extracting b43/lp1bsinitvals22.fw
Extracting b43/n16initvals30.fw
Extracting b43/lp0bsinitvals16.fw
Extracting b43/lcn1bsinitvals25.fw
Extracting b43/lcn400initvals33.fw
Extracting b43/n0bsinitvals24.fw
Extracting b43/lcn2bsinitvals26.fw
Extracting b43/lcn1initvals26.fw
Extracting b43/n0bsinitvals22.fw
Extracting b43/n18initvals32.fw
Extracting b43/lcn2initvals26.fw
Extracting b43/a0g1bsinitvals5.fw
Extracting b43/n0bsinitvals11.fw
Extracting b43/lcn2initvals24.fw
Extracting b43/lcn0initvals26.fw
Extracting b43/n0absinitvals11.fw
Extracting b43/ucode21_sslpn_nobt.fw
ucode time: 01:15:07
Extracting b43/ucode26_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/n2initvals19.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn3initvals21.fw
Extracting b43/a0g1bsinitvals13.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn4initvals22.fw
Extracting b43/pcm5.fw
Extracting b43/ucode22_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/ucode9.fw
Extracting b43/lcn2initvals25.fw
Extracting b43/lp1initvals22.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn1bsinitvals27.fw
Extracting b43/lcn0initvals24.fw
Extracting b43/ucode32_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/a0g0bsinitvals9.fw
Extracting b43/n18bsinitvals32.fw
Extracting b43/n0initvals24.fw
Extracting b43/n0initvals25.fw
Extracting b43/a0g1initvals5.fw
Extracting b43/ucode24_lcn.fw
Extracting b43/n0initvals17.fw
Extracting b43/n0bsinitvals16.fw
Extracting b43/lp0initvals15.fw
Extracting b43/b0g0initvals5.fw
Extracting b43/ucode20_sslpn_nobt.fw
Extracting b43/lcn1initvals24.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn0initvals16.fw
Extracting b43/a0g1initvals13.fw
Extracting b43/lp1bsinitvals20.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn2initvals19.fw
Extracting b43/a0g1initvals9.fw
Extracting b43/lcn1bsinitvals24.fw
Extracting b43/ucode5.fw
Extracting b43/lcn2bsinitvals24.fw
Extracting b43/lp0bsinitvals13.fw
Extracting b43/n0initvals16.fw
Extracting b43/ucode19_sslpn_nobt.fw
Extracting b43/b0g0bsinitvals9.fw
Extracting b43/ucode11.fw
Extracting b43/lp0initvals16.fw
Extracting b43/ucode16_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/lcn0bsinitvals26.fw
Extracting b43/ht0initvals29.fw
Extracting b43/lcn2bsinitvals25.fw
Extracting b43/a0g0initvals9.fw
Extracting b43/ucode29_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/lcn0bsinitvals24.fw
Extracting b43/ucode19_sslpn.fw
Extracting b43/lcn1initvals25.fw
Extracting b43/ucode30_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/n16bsinitvals30.fw
Extracting b43/ucode25_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/ucode24_mimo.fw
Extracting b43/ucode27_sslpn.fw
Extracting b43/lp0initvals13.fw
Extracting b43/a0g0bsinitvals5.fw
Extracting b43/ht0bsinitvals26.fw
Extracting b43/ucode13.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn2bsinitvals19.fw
Extracting b43/ucode15.fw
Extracting b43/lp0bsinitvals15.fw
Extracting b43/n0initvals11.fw
Extracting b43/lcn0initvals25.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn0bsinitvals16.fw
Extracting b43/sslpn1initvals20.fw
Extracting b43/lcn1bsinitvals26.fw
Extracting b43/n0initvals22.fw
Extracting b43/ht0bsinitvals29.fw
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1) ...
jay@RS-Enterprise-Z:~$ sudo apt-get remove bcmwl-kernel-source
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package 'bcmwl-kernel-source' is not installed, so not removed
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libllvm8 libllvm8:i386
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
jay@RS-Enterprise-Z:~$
sudo reboot

jay@RS-Enterprise-Z:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

OK, Please take a look at this thread. It's been a while since I looked at wireless issues so forgive me!:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/55868/i ... ss-drivers

YES, that did it!
Thank you so much.