Comprehensive ndiswrapper troubleshooting guide

[MikeLitt]

owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo cat /var/log/syslog | grep -e b43 -e firmware -e wlan -e wpa -e etork | tail -n75
Feb 19 19:41:57 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[895]: <info> monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
Feb 19 20:35:11 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[895]: <info> kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware' changed
Feb 19 21:05:04 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[845]: <info> monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
Feb 19 21:39:08 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[765]: <info> monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
Feb 19 22:22:05 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[721]: <info> monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
Feb 19 23:19:10 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[721]: <info> kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware' changed
Feb 19 23:22:08 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[629]: <info> monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
Feb 19 23:50:53 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[538]: <info> monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
Feb 20 05:53:38 MJP1-Latitude-D820 NetworkManager[578]: <info> monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$

[wildmanne39]

Hi, you are using the sta driver we need to get rid of it. Please do:

sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-source

sudo apt-get install --reinstall b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer

unplug wired connection and reboot.
Thanks

[praseodym]

If the firmware from these packages does not work, use this package:

wget http://media.cdn.ubuntu-de.org/forum...irmware.tar.gz 
sudo tar xvf 2480236-Broadcom_Firmware.tar.gz -C /lib/firmware/
sudo modprobe b43

[pytheas22]

Sorry to jump in here and contradict you all, but I am pretty certain MikeLitt needs the STA driver. Although the b43 website says that b43 supports his chip (with PCI ID 14e4:4311), on my Ubuntu 11.10 system it appears not to, as "modinfo b43 | grep 4311" returns nothing. However the STA driver should support it:

$ modinfo wl | grep 4311
alias:          pci:v000014E4d00004311sv*sd*bc*sc*i*

None of the syslog output that he posted indicates a firmware problem. (Some of them mention firmware, but none in a way that indicates an error.) The problem is that no driver is loaded to drive his device, because he needs the "wl" module, not "b43."

So in non-geek terms, MikeLitt, what this means is that your device should work if you run these commands (some of these may produce error messages; that is expected and alright):

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo rmmod ssb
sudo rmmod b43
sudo rmmod wl
sudo rmmod ndiswrapper
sudo modprobe wl
sudo ifconfig eth1 up

See if you are able to connect at this point. If so, we can make the solution permanent (for the time being if you reboot you will probably need to run that list of commands again to make things work).

[wildmanne39]

Hi pytheas22, I will defer to you in this matter and back out and let you help this person.
Thanks

[MikeLitt]

Hi, you are using the sta driver we need to get rid of it. Please do:

sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-source

sudo apt-get install --reinstall b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer

unplug wired connection and reboot.
Thanks

Ok I did this.. nadda then I read I could use the sta driver,, but lol it's gone now. so I dunno.

[wildmanne39]

Hi, it is true that you can possibly use the sta but I always use the b43 even for this card with 11.10 because the driver is better in my opinion.

Please post:

lsmod
iwconfig
sudo iwlist scan

Thanks

[pytheas22]

Ok I did this.. nadda then I read I could use the sta driver,, but lol it's gone now. so I dunno.

If you run these commands they will reinstall the STA driver, deactivate any other drivers (b43 or ndiswrapper) which may be trying to control the card, and activate the STA driver:

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo rmmod ssb
sudo rmmod b43
sudo rmmod wl
sudo rmmod ndiswrapper
sudo modprobe wl
sudo ifconfig eth1 up

If after running these commands your wireless still doesn't work, it would be helpful to see the output of:

dmesg | grep -e b43 -e wl -e ndis
lshw -C Network
lsmod | grep -e b43 -e wl -e ndis
sudo iwlist scan

Hi pytheas22, I will defer to you in this matter and back out and let you help this person.

Don't mean to push you out--feel free to keep responding! But since the b43 driver on my Ubuntu 11.10 system clearly appears not to recognize the PCI ID of MikeLitt's chip as a supported device, I don't think it will only work with the STA driver.

[pytheas22]

Update: I was wrong. The b43 driver will support this device. I thought it didn't because I'd forgotten that the PCI ID matches for the b43 driver are actually built into the "ssb" module, not b43 itself. "modinfo ssb" does indeed indicate that the chipset 14e4:4311 is supported.

The STA driver should as well, although according to some sources (such as this one) it may not work as well as b43.
So, MikeLitt, I'll join the others and ask that you post the output of the commands they've already requested. In particular, it would be helpful to see what you get from:

sudo cat /var/log/syslog | grep -e b43 -e firmware -e wlan -e wpa -e etork | tail -n75
lshw -C Network

So we can figure out why b43 is apparently not claiming your hardware.

[MikeLitt]

[QUOTE=pytheas22;11705982]If you run these commands they will reinstall the STA driver, deactivate any other drivers (b43 or ndiswrapper) which may be trying to control the card, and activate the STA driver:

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo rmmod ssb
sudo rmmod b43
sudo rmmod wl
sudo rmmod ndiswrapper
sudo modprobe wl
sudo ifconfig eth1 up

If after running these commands your wireless still doesn't work, it would be helpful to see the output of:

owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
[sudo] password for owner: 
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for owner: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
bcmwl-kernel-source is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
bcmwl-kernel-source is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo rmmod ssb
ERROR: Module ssb does not exist in /proc/modules
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo rmmod b43
ERROR: Module b43 does not exist in /proc/modules
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo rmmod wl
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo rmmod ndiswrapper
ERROR: Module ndiswrapper does not exist in /proc/modules
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo modprobe wl
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be ignored in a future release.
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$ sudo ifconfig eth1 up
eth1: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
owner@MJP1-Latitude-D820:~$

ok now restart, and i'll get both the codes asked for.. ty