Broadcom Wireless fix for Ubuntu 12.10


Yes, I am ahead of the game; I am testing Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal, which is currently on the Alpha-2 release.

More than this I am testing the 12.10 kernel on 12.04! I like to live on the edge.

Of course, on the Dell mini v10 (Inspiron 910), this means grief with the ever troublesome Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g wireless adapter. In this combination, the firmware and Additional Drivers don't work. At all...

But looking at the existing bug reports, and 1003793 'broadcom wireless does not work with quantal-backport-kernel' in particular, it needs the firmware found in the  linux-firmware-nonfree package.


As Tim Gardner reports:
"If you've installed the Broadcom wl binary driver, then the kernel drivers won't work since they are all black listed in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf.

You can check to see if Jockey has installed the binary driver:

dpkg -l | grep bcmwl-kernel-source

The only way the Quantal kernel will work is if you remove the wl driver:

sudo apt-get remove bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

As I found, following these instructions and giving the machine a restart fixes the wireless adapter. DON'T go installing the Broadcom proprietary drivers through System Settings, Additional Drivers, or you'll just reset the whole lot back to the non-working ones! RC

Comments

  1. Anonymous23 July 2012 at 08:07

    I followed your instruction on ubuntu 12.04. Works great. thanks for sharing your wisdom.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown27 September 2012 at 09:33

    Yes, it works great. thank You very much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown22 October 2012 at 08:58

    Did this, but my card is still not picking up any networks...very frustrating. I'm using an Acer Aspire 5750 with a BCM4277 wireless card. I've googled everything. Am I missing something?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Robin Catling25 October 2012 at 11:06

    Theo: now that is frustrating. The BCM model numbers seem to make a difference as the firmware is different and the behaviour inconsistent as you have found.

    I've not found any useful references to the 4277 either, which is disappointing now that Ubuntu 12.10. It may be worth jumping in the IRC channels and see if a networking expert can point you in the right direction. RC

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  5. Anonymous8 November 2012 at 04:25

    It worked perfectly for me in 12.10 :) Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown1 December 2012 at 18:27

    I just installed Ubuntu 12.10 I followed the instructions above and my wireless now works like a charm. I will continue to test the fix and report back if I find anything different.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robin Catling4 December 2012 at 11:38

      Excellent; always good when a solution works for others. RC

      Delete
  7. Janmesh8 December 2012 at 19:28

    Robin, Thanks a lot for the fix . It worked for Ubuntu 12.10 ( BCM4312 802.11b/g wireless adapter )

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jaggie22 December 2012 at 23:16

    Hi Robin, didnt work for me so far. HP2133 with U 12.04.
    BCM4311 802.11a/b/g [4311:14e4] Set-up was ok for 6 months;
    allowed updates; now nothing. sudo lshw results in: UNCLAIMED.
    Also shows 64bits - this is 32? or is the results from non-loaded driver/ module not powered-up. How can I determine?
    Thanks. Jaggie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robin Catling27 December 2012 at 18:02


      The update process is not perfect and certain firmwares can go walkabout from one update to the next. There are also variations in the firmware requirements between Broadcom adapter versions and I seem to recall not all made sense.

      If you haven't already, you might want to check the correct drivers for the device according to the pci.id. Broadcom devices don't always update correctly when a newer kernel version is installed (as I know from past experience).

      It may be worth trying the following:

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

      RC

      Delete
    2. Jaggie29 December 2012 at 15:15

      Many thanks for your response Robin. Just done a re-install of U12.04 (no updates!) I will try your cmds & let you know the outcome. Thanks again. Jaggie.

      Delete
    3. Jaggie29 December 2012 at 16:02

      Robin. Great!! Many thanks for the solution. This will be recorded for future & assist others. Over several weeks,tried various solutions: briefly worked with b43 until powered down - then no wl again. Of all the published remedies, YOUR solution - simplest & best for me with limited Terminal know-how. Wonderful!! Jaggie.

      Delete
  9. prizerebel24 December 2012 at 18:23

    My lubuntu 12.10 says cannot find bcmwl kernel source

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robin Catling30 December 2012 at 10:42

      prizerebel: haven't run Lubuntu for a while now, so not sure where they are in terms of firmware. Will ponder a while for a solution. RC

      Delete
  10. Anonymous29 December 2012 at 21:32

    Thanks - don't know what I'd have done without your help.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous6 January 2013 at 01:33

    Thanks, works for me. I'm on Ubuntu 12.10. Dell Vostro 1520. Broadcom BCM4312

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous17 January 2013 at 11:05

    Thank you, Works for me, Acer Aspire 8943G, ubuntu 12.10

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous22 January 2013 at 04:42

    HP Pavilion dv6 + BCM4312 = works perfectly. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous22 January 2013 at 10:48

    oops... my system is hp pavillion. comes with Broadcom BCM4312 .
    tried everything above, no avail. bcmwl-kernel-source isnt installed and couldnt be located when i tried to reinstall

    i am using ubuntu 12.10

    pls help,i need to browse with wifi

    ReplyDelete
  15. Leigh Verlag22 January 2013 at 18:35

    Here's another success story! Thanks for sharing your instructions! I'm on Ubuntu 12.10, HP Pavilion dv1000 (dv1710us), Broadcom BCM4311.

    Normally I use Jockey to do this for me with great success, but it just wasn't kicking in this time. I even tried the other instructions to use b43cutter, etc. but that didn't work either, so my thanks goes out to you!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous26 January 2013 at 17:11

    Thanks! You saved my life! =)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous30 January 2013 at 22:39

    Thanks! This worked for my Dell Inspiron 1545. Now on to my OS Class :P

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous11 February 2013 at 02:49

    Yeeesss! So many googling dead ends before I found this one. Mad props. Dell Inspiron 1520 with Ubuntu 12.10

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous22 February 2013 at 20:33

    I am currently using an Acer Aspire 5100 with Broadcom Adapter. Until locating this blog I was about to give up hope because of all the misinformation out there guiding many of us in the wrong direction and putting us at wit's end. This is very cut and dry, and my Acer now connects on wireless ! Job well done RC, Can't thank you enough. Your commitment to resolving this issue will help others for years to come.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Lazarus23 February 2013 at 14:19

    E: Invalid operation linux-firmware-nonfree?

    I have the CD in the drive. What have I done wrong

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous23 March 2013 at 02:58

    Works neat in my Ubuntu 12.10 !
    Thanks !!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Mike Broyles15 April 2013 at 01:53

    Worked for me as well. Dell Studio 1537 (Notebook).

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous14 July 2013 at 18:19

    Excellent !!
    worked for me on my HP
    Great.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Kando Arts17 July 2013 at 18:17

    Really thought after I don't know how many hours your solution was going to work - but alas still no wireless. The problem first occurred after a year of trouble free computing with Ubuntu 12.4. I updated to 12.10 in the hope of wireless kicking in. Terminal tells me drivers there but doesn't recognise wireless! Anyway thanks for your help, it was the simplest yet precise approach so far.
    Thanks Kelvin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous30 August 2013 at 14:47

      I had the same problem, found the wireless disabled in the bios, then after correcting that, had to use the blue Fn key + wireless icon to switch on the wireless after booting. Not sure if that will help, but figured I'd suggest it.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous12 August 2013 at 17:22

    hi Robin,I am having ubuntu 12.04 on my DELL 3521 and my wifi is not working.
    i have tried the above method but didn't work for me.
    so , can you please provide an alternative solution.
    thanks in advance.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous12 August 2013 at 19:11

    Muchas Gracias!!!, ahora puedo usar wifi con mi notebook :) ...
    Thanks!!!

    Saludos, Valeria (Argentina).

    ReplyDelete
  27. Robin Catling1 September 2013 at 11:22

    Anon: I don't know specifically which wlan adapter the 5321 uses, but it appears to be one of the lesser Atheros cards. Without more info, I'm struggling to advise any further. RC

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous22 October 2013 at 17:11

    Just did this on an old HP dv1000. Lubuntu 13.10

    finally have wifi on this thing!!

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous14 March 2014 at 23:34

    This was great man! thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete

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