Step 1.
Open a terminal window under the desktop menu Applications > Accessories > Terminal and enter the following command:
~$ lspci -vvnn | grep 14e4
The following is an example of the information required to identify your card type and typical lspci output.
Note: the PCI-ID is of particular importance.
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:432b] (rev 01)
If you are unable to use the b43 kernel driver or the STA hybrid driver, you will need to go for ndiswrapper - this will allow you to use closed source drivers to activate your wifi card.
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Supported models, mostly found on Dell hardware, include:
BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4313, BCM4321, BCM4322, BCM43224, BCM43225
Step 1.
Install the STA hybrid drivers/firmware from the restricted repository using the Software Centre or the Synaptic Package Manager (Under the desktop menu System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager) and search for the bcmwl-kernel-source package and install or in a terminal (under the desktop menu Applications > Accessories > Terminal) issue the following commands:
~$ sudo apt-get update ~$ sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
Step 2.
Under the desktop menu System > Administration > Hardware/Additional Drivers, the STA drivers can be activated for use.
Note: A computer restart may be required before using the wifi card.
For temporary use with the LiveCD and LiveUSB environments, simply use the Software Centre or the Synaptic Package Manager to search for and install the bcmwl-kernel-source package. Refer to Step 1 and Step 2 of the instructions above.
Step 3.
Instead of a computer restart, in a terminal issue the following commands:
~$ sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb wl ~$ sudo modprobe wl
Note: Allow several seconds for the network manager to scan for available networks before attempting a connection.
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If you do not have any other means of Internet access on your computer, you will have to install the bcmwl-kernel-source package from the restricted folder under ../pool/restricted/b/bcmwl on the Ubuntu install media.
Note: Systems installed from CDROM can simply add the install CD as a package source and install bcmwl-kernel-source, automatically installing the required dependencies.
Note: The following instructions are for a stock Ubuntu Desktop Edition via USB install. Netbook edition, other variations and matured systems may require more/less packages be installed to satisfy dependencies of bcmwl-kernel-source.
Note: The GUI front end for dpkg will automatically display required packages that need to be installed to satisfy the bcmwl-kernel-source dependencies. To use the front end, navigate the file system using the file manager and double click on the packages to install/list required dependencies.
Step 1.
Navigate the install media and double click to install bcmwl-kernel-source
Navigate the install media and install the packages listed below by double clicking or navigate the install media and install these packages consecutively in a terminal (under the desktop menu Applications > Accessories > Terminal):
../pool/main/d/dkms
:/dkms/$ sudo dpkg -i dkms*
../pool/main/p/patch
:/patch/$ sudo dpkg -i patch*
../pool/main/f/fakeroot
:/fakeroot/$ sudo dpkg -i fakeroot*
../pool/restricted/b/bcmwl
:/bcmwl/$ sudo dpkg -i bcmwl-kernel-source*
Step 2.
Under the desktop menu System > Administration > Hardware/Additional Drivers, the STA drivers can be activated for use.
Note: A computer restart may be required before using the wifi card.
Note: The install media contents are mounted under /cdrom of the filesystem.
Step 3.
For temporary use with the LiveCD and LiveUSB environments, instead of a computer restart, in a terminal issue the following commands:
~$ sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb wl ~$ sudo modprobe wl
Note: Allow several seconds for the network manager to scan for available networks before attempting a connection.
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Supported models include:
BCM4301 BCM4306/2, BCM4306/3, BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4318, BCM4320
The Ubuntu kernel in versions 8.04.x (Hardy Heron) and higher do provide the b43 drivers, however due to copyright restrictions not the proprietary firmware which is required to run your card. See here for a list of known PCI devices and their available modes as well as supported/unsupported chipsets.
The following instructions explain how to extract the required firmware.
If you have some other kind of Internet access on your computer, you can download the firmware by simply installing the b43-fwcutter package which does the download and setup for you automatically.
Step 1.
To install b43-fwcutter issue the following command in a terminal (under the desktop menu Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and follow the prompts:
~$ sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter
Step 2.
Under the desktop menu System > Administration > Hardware/Additional Drivers, the b43 drivers can be activated for use.
Note: A computer restart may be required before using the wifi card.
Step 3.
For temporary use with the LiveCD and LiveUSB environments, instead of a computer restart, in a terminal issue the following commands:
~$ sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb ~$ sudo modprobe b43
Note: Allow several seconds for the network manager to scan for available networks before attempting a connection.
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If you do not have any other means of Internet access on your computer, you will have to install b43-fwcutter and patch packages from the install media. After that you will need to setup firmware manually (without the firmware automatically downloading and being set up).
Setp 1.
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.
Double click on the package to install or in a terminal (under the desktop menu Applications > Accessories > Terminal) navigate to the folder containing the package and issue the following command:
:/b43-fwcutter/$ sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter*
Step 2.
On a computer with Internet access, download the required firmware files from http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o and http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
Step 3.
Copy the downloaded files to your home folder and execute the following commands consecutively in a terminal to extract and install the firmware:
~$ 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
Step 4.
Under the desktop menu System > Administration > Hardware/Additional Drivers, the b43 drivers can be activated for use.
Note: A computer restart may be required before using the wifi card.
Note: The install media contents are mounted under /cdrom of the filesystem.
Step 5.
For temporary use with the LiveCD and LiveUSB environments, instead of a computer restart, in a terminal issue the following commands:
~$ sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb ~$ sudo modprobe b43
Note: Allow several seconds for the network manager to scan for available networks before attempting a connection.