[SOLVED] Latitude E4300 no os

I recently purchased a refurbished Dell Latitude E4300 in the hope of installing Zorin Ultimate as its main os. I have been playing around with this os along with puppy linux and mint and zenwalk. Unfortunately when i tried using just the live cd i could not get any wireless connection. Much as I tried turinignthe switch on and off, fn + F2 or F5 I could not get it to work. Mind you Iam really new to Linux and not re quite comfortable in it.
Weird part is I tried the other live CDs: Mint, PuppyLinux, Zorin Core, Lite, Ultimate but I could not get the laptop to even "see" any wireless connections. I know there is at least three available I am using 1 desk top and up to 3 laptops with no problem.
I then tried zenwalk live 6.4 CD and bingo!!! I could access the internet. All I needed was put in the key and voila I'm in. really frustrating since I was trying to convince others to give this a try.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi.
Could you please boot to live usb, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T), and post back the results of the following commands:

lspci -nn
lsusb
sudo lshw -c network
sudo rfkill list all

You should press <enter> after each command. In case you will be asked for your password, type it in normally even if you don't see it. Then press <enter>

I have made a little search on your laptop's model and found that you have the BCM4322 card. As I have seen, this card works with both the wl and b43 driver.
To confirm that you actually have the BCM4322 card, I will be waiting for the results of the "lspci -nn" terminal command.

If this is indeed the case, lets try first with the wl driver.
Plug an ethernet cable to get internet, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and write the following commands, pressing <enter> after each one.
In case you will be asked for your password, type it in normally even if you don't see it and then press <enter>. (Even if I doubt that you will be asked for your password since you will be in "live" mode).

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo modprobe wl

In case this will not work, we can try with the b43 driver.

Gentlemen,

Thanks for all your help. Finally got this little laptop to work. I really appreciate all your help. I hope to learn more and help somebody someday too.

Thanks again,

ZF

Hi ZF,

great to hear that your problem is solved, would you care to tell us what solved it for you so it may help others.

Was this what fixed it for you?:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4695&p=22220#p22220

(Also a thread from you!!)

Regards Wolfman

Hi Wolfman,

I followed your advice: written below:

Hi,

start by using a network cable and install then restart and do the updates per this guide:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2247

Once restarted after updating, open System Settings > Hardware > Additional Drivers and look to see if your drivers are there, select them if they are.

originally I did not connect to the internet because I could not coonect to the wireless network. I asked one of my friends if I could use thier cable to connect and followed your advice.

BTW, thanks again, I like how much you follow thru this so it may help others.

ZF

Hi ZF and thanks for the info.

Regards Wolfman