[SOLVED] Wireless not working on my netbook

A friend recently turned me onto Zorin so I installed it on three computers, one desktop a laptop and a netbook. I had no problems with the first two computers but the netbook is proving to be very difficult. The netbook is a HP Mini and I am running a dual boot with Zorin 6 and Windows XP. I have tried both the internal wireless card and an external wireless usb with no luck. I have done a lot of searching but so far I have not found the fix.

Here is my cards info if that will help:
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ lspci -nn | grep 0280
01:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 174f:1105 Syntek SM-MS/Pro-MMC-XD Card Reader
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 046d:c043 Logitech, Inc. MX320/MX400 Laser Mouse
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ sudo lshw -c network
[sudo] password for ray:
*-network UNCLAIMED
description: Network controller
product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
version: 01
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:feafc000-feafffff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: AR8132 Fast Ethernet
vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: c0
serial: 00:25:b3:6f:51:1f
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 100Mbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=atl1c driverversion=1.0.1.0-NAPI duplex=full firmware=N/A ip=192.168.1.126 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
resources: irq:43 memory:febc0000-febfffff ioport:ec80(size=128)
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ sudo rfkill list all
1: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$

Hi,

do a forced update in case there are any missing dependencies with the following terminal command (Ctrl + Alt + t) and then restart your PC, do the update USING A NETWORK CABLE!:

Code:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -f

See the update guide also and make sure that your software sources are set more or less per the guide!.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2247

Let us know if it helps.

Wolfman, thanks for the reply. I did follow your guide but unfortunately it did not work. Any other idea's?

Hi,

wait for Madvinegar as he is the resident WiFi expert, sorry it didn't work out, he will be able to help you for sure!.

Ok thanks again.

Hi,

in the meantime, check this out:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiD ... otingGuide

Your internal card should work just fine.
Plug an ethernet cable to get internet, open terminal and write the following commands the one after the other, pressing <enter> after each one.

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

Wait for 5 seconds and then check if your wireless is up and running. A reboot may be required.

ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
[sudo] password for ray:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
bcmwl-kernel-source is already the newest version.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
language-pack-zh-hans gir1.2-json-1.0 kde-l10n-de gir1.2-timezonemap-1.0
language-pack-kde-de language-pack-kde-en language-pack-de-base
linux-headers-3.2.0-37 language-pack-kde-zh-hans language-pack-kde-en-base
kde-l10n-engb linux-headers-3.2.0-37-generic-pae language-pack-kde-de-base
kde-l10n-zhcn gir1.2-xkl-1.0 firefox-locale-de language-pack-zh-hans-base
firefox-locale-zh-hans language-pack-de language-pack-kde-zh-hans-base
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ sudo modprobe -r wl
FATAL: Module wl not found.
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$

Give the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y upgrade
sudo apt-get install --reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source

Reboot and then post back the result of the following command:
dmesg | grep wl

ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ dmesg | grep wl
[ 0.000000] DMI: Hewlett-Packard HP Mini 110-1000/308F, BIOS 308F0 Ver. F.07 06/18/2009
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$

For some reason, even if we install the wl module, it does not show...
What happens if you run

Code:

sudo modprobe wl

If it works, run the following command and reboot:

Code:

echo 'wl' | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

If it does not work, please post back the result of

Code:

lsmod

Also, could you also show to me the contents of

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ sudo modprobe wl
[sudo] password for ray:
FATAL: Module wl not found.
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
joydev 17393 0
hp_wmi 13652 0
sparse_keymap 13658 1 hp_wmi
dm_multipath 22747 0
uvcvideo 67203 0
videodev 86588 1 uvcvideo
psmouse 96744 0
snd_hda_codec_idt 60251 1
serio_raw 13027 0
snd_hda_intel 32719 3
snd_hda_codec 109562 2 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13276 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 80916 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
snd_rawmidi 25424 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
rfcomm 38139 0
bnep 17830 2
bluetooth 158447 10 rfcomm,bnep
parport_pc 32114 0
ppdev 12849 0
snd_seq 51592 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 28931 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14172 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 62218 15 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
mac_hid 13077 0
binfmt_misc 17292 1
soundcore 14635 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 14115 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
lp 17455 0
parport 40930 3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
dm_raid45 76451 0
xor 25987 1 dm_raid45
dm_mirror 21822 0
dm_region_hash 16100 1 dm_mirror
dm_log 18193 3 dm_raid45,dm_mirror,dm_region_hash
btrfs 638387 0
zlib_deflate 26622 1 btrfs
libcrc32c 12543 1 btrfs
atl1c 36718 0
i915 428282 3
wmi 18744 1 hp_wmi
drm_kms_helper 45466 1 i915
drm 197641 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 13199 1 i915
video 19115 1 i915
zram 18193 1
ray@ray-HP-Mini-110-1000:~$ sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

(gedit:3206): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:994:22: Not a valid image

(gedit:3206): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:1001:22: Not a valid image

(gedit:3206): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: nautilus.css:10:20: Not using units is deprecated. Assuming 'px'.

(gedit:3206): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: nautilus.css:18:20: Not using units is deprecated. Assuming 'px'.

(gedit:3206): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: nautilus.css:28:20: Not using units is deprecated. Assuming 'px'.

(gedit:3206): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: nautilus.css:31:0: 'sideb' is not a valid property name



# This file lists those modules which we don't want to be loaded by
# alias expansion, usually so some other driver will be loaded for the
# device instead.

# evbug is a debug tool that should be loaded explicitly
blacklist evbug

# these drivers are very simple, the HID drivers are usually preferred
blacklist usbmouse
blacklist usbkbd

# replaced by e100
blacklist eepro100

# replaced by tulip
blacklist de4x5

# causes no end of confusion by creating unexpected network interfaces
blacklist eth1394

# snd_intel8x0m can interfere with snd_intel8x0, doesn't seem to support much
# hardware on its own (Ubuntu bug #2011, #6810)
blacklist snd_intel8x0m

# Conflicts with dvb driver (which is better for handling this device)
blacklist snd_aw2

# causes failure to suspend on HP compaq nc6000 (Ubuntu: #10306)
blacklist i2c_i801

# replaced by p54pci
blacklist prism54

# replaced by b43 and ssb.
blacklist bcm43xx

# most apps now use garmin usb driver directly (Ubuntu: #114565)
blacklist garmin_gps

# replaced by asus-laptop (Ubuntu: #184721)
blacklist asus_acpi

# low-quality, just noise when being used for sound playback, causes
# hangs at desktop session start (Ubuntu: #246969)
blacklist snd_pcsp

# ugly and loud noise, getting on everyone's nerves; this should be done by a
# nice pulseaudio bing (Ubuntu: #77010)
blacklist pcspkr

# EDAC driver for amd76x clashes with the agp driver preventing the aperture
# from being initialised (Ubuntu: #297750). Blacklist so that the driver
# continues to build and is installable for the few cases where its
# really needed.
blacklist amd76x_edac

Ok, lets try again from the beginning. A new and clean install of wl.

Plug an ethernet cable to get internet and in terminal give

Code:

sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source

Reboot.
Then in terminal give again:

Code:

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

Unplug the ethernet cable, reboot and see if your wireless is working.

Nope still nothing, its not showing that there is wireless at all.

This is very strange.
I would like to try something else just to see if the problem has to do with any settings you have made.
Do you still have the live CD/USB of Zorin that you used to do the installation?
Can you boot into Zorin using the live CD/USB, plug an ethernet cable and then run the following commands in terminal?

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

If the wireless will work, there must be something wrong with your installation.

Ok I will try that when I get home from work. If that doesn't work I will try a full reinstall. Can I completely remove the Zorin OS and leave my windows installation intact? I read something about using the Windows CD to do this but my Netbook never came with a CD.

madvinegar wrote:This is very strange.
I would like to try something else just to see if the problem has to do with any settings you have made.
Do you still have the live CD/USB of Zorin that you used to do the installation?
Can you boot into Zorin using the live CD/USB, plug an ethernet cable and then run the following commands in terminal?

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

If the wireless will work, there must be something wrong with your installation.

Ok that did not work either, I guess I will completely reinstall the OS and see what happens.

It looks like a full reinstall did the trick. I finaly have internet now.

I was sure about the instructions I gave you. Your card works with the wl driver.
I suppose there was something wrong with your installation.

Glad you got it working.

madvinegar wrote:I was sure about the instructions I gave you. Your card works with the wl driver.
I suppose there was something wrong with your installation.

Glad you got it working.

Yeah thanks for the help.

Nice that wifi works.

There is however a simpler way to get it working with that Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY.. shipset

sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

reboot and internal wifi works.