Question

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Getting wireless to work on Ubuntu 11.10 (on a mac machine)

rated 0 times [ 4] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 8917 / 2 Years ago, wed, september 14, 2022, 2:28:31

I have a 2008 white 13.3 inch macbook that now solely runs ubuntu. However, I cannot get wifi or cable to work on it. Regarding the cable, it atleast tries to connect but eventually disconnects from the wired network.

Here is the output for lspci (pastebin)

I tried installing b43-fwcutter and firmware-b43 but get errors. (I loaded them from a thumb drive and tried sudo dpkg -i). I cannot understand these instructions from the documentation, as I cannot locate the pool directory.

b43-fwcutter is located on the Ubuntu install media under
../pool/main/b/b43-fwcutter/ and patch is located under
../pool/main/p/patch/ or both in the official repositories online.

Note: In some versions (10.04 and 11.04 at least) there is not a
/pool/main/p/patch/ If this file is missing then you don't need it. In
this case you only need to install /pool/main/b/b43-fwcutter by
following the instructions below.

Further information:

> uname -m

Linux monadist-MacBook 3.0.0-12-generic #20-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 7 14:56:25 UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux



> rfkill list all

0: phy0: Wireless LAN

    Soft blocked: no

    Hard blocked: no

2: hci0: Bluetooth

    Soft blocked: no

    Hard blocked: no







> sudo lshw -class network

PCI (sysfs)

  *-network

       description: Network controller

       product: BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n

       vendor: Broadcom Corporation

       physical id: 0

       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0

       version: 03

       width: 64 bits

       clock: 33MHz

       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list

       configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=0

       resources: irq:16 memory:d0500000-d0503fff memory:d0000000-d00fffff

  *-network

       description: Ethernet interface

       product: 88E8058 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller

       vendor: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.

       physical id: 0

       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0

       logical name: eth0

       version: 13

       serial: 00:1b:63:aa:82:c8

       size: 100Mbit/s

       capacity: 1Gbit/s

       width: 64 bits

       clock: 33MHz

       capabilities: pm vpd msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation

       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=sky2 driverversion=1.28 duplex=full firmware=N/A latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s

       resources: irq:43 memory:d0400000-d0403fff ioport:2000(size=256) memory:d0800000-d081ffff

  *-network DISABLED

       description: Wireless interface

       physical id: 2

       logical name: wlan0

       serial: 00:1d:4f:fa:a7:52

       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless

       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=b43 driverversion=3.0.0-12-generic firmware=N/A link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg

I have the appropriate b43-fwcutter and firmware-b43 deb files loaded in my home directory. However, when I try:

$ sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter_011-5_amd64.deb

I get the error

(Reading database ... 124194 files and directories currently installed.)

Preparing to replace b43-fwcutter 1:011-5 (using b43-fwcutter_011-5_amd64.deb) ...

Unpacking replacement b43-fwcutter ...

Setting up b43-fwcutter (1:011-5) ...

--2012-03-27 09:49:07--  http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o

Resolving downloads.openwrt.org... failed: Name or service not known.

wget: unable to resolve host address `downloads.openwrt.org'

dpkg: error processing b43-fwcutter (--install):

 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 4

Processing triggers for man-db ...

Errors were encountered while processing:

 b43-fwcutter

While installing firmware:

[~]$ sudo dpkg -i firmware-b43-installer_4.150.10.5-4_all.deb 

[sudo] password for username: 

(Reading database ... 124194 files and directories currently installed.)

Preparing to replace firmware-b43-installer 4.150.10.5-4 (using firmware-b43-installer_4.150.10.5-4_all.deb) ...

Deleting old extracted firmware...

Unpacking replacement firmware-b43-installer ...

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firmware-b43-installer:

 firmware-b43-installer depends on b43-fwcutter (>= 1:012); however:

  Version of b43-fwcutter on system is 1:011-5.

dpkg: error processing firmware-b43-installer (--install):

 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

Errors were encountered while processing:

 firmware-b43-installer

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4 Years ago

answered 2 Years ago enincroscope · Accepted Answer

ok,

The important part of your trace is the following from sudo lshw -class network

configuration: broadcast=yes driver=b43

This means that you need the b43 driver. This requires the package b43-fwcutter which is normally installed and activated via the Additional Drivers window.

Since you dont have any internet access, you will need to grab hold of another computer that does have internet access.

You'll need something to transfer between the offline PC and the internet connected PC such as a memory stick/CD etc.

Also - you have 11.10 - therefore you will need to grab a copy of the b43-fwcutter from the following location:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/oneiric/b43-fwcutter

Since you have a 64bit computer and 64bit installation you will need the file:

b43-fwcutter_014-9_amd64.deb

You will also need to download the firmware from the following locations:

http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o

http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2

Copy these three files to the offline PC.

to install

Install the b43-cutter deb package that was downloaded

sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter_014-9_amd64.deb

Next extract and install the two firmware files that were downloaded:

tar xfvj broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2

sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o

sudo b43-fwcutter --unsupported -w /lib/firmware broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5/driver/wl_apsta_mimo.o

Now reboot.

Re-run the following:

sudo lshw -class network

Your wireless network should NOT say DISABLED

Go to the network manager icon and tick the Network and wireless tick-boxes.

Fire up Firefox and go-to

http://askubuntu.com

Have fun!

(taken but slightly modified from source)