Wifi Broken with bcm4311, and now totally broken internet

[rsfairman]

I can't get wifi to work on a Dell Latitude D520, with bcm4311. Here's what I've done.

This laptop had (and has) Puppy Linux on one partition, and wireless internet does work there.

I installed jessie 8.7.1 on a new partition. During the install process, which was done from a USB stick with CD1 only, the software reported "network configuation failed..." so I skipped that step, and everything worked out fine. The machine can boot into either Puppy or Debian. But no wireless under Debian.

So, I hooked it up to wired internet, and that does (or did) work. Before installing anything, I did have to uncomment a few lines in /etc/apt/sources.list because (I think) these sites were commented out during the install process because it couldn't get online. I then followed the directions at

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https://wiki.debian.org/wl

So, I added the line

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deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free

to sources.list, then did

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apt-get update
apt-get install linux-image-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') broadcom-sta-dkms

modprobe -r b44 b43 b43legacy ssb brcmsmac bcma
modprobe wl

All of this went through, with no error messages or other obvious problems, but no wireless. iwconfig reports

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lo  no wireless extensions

and nothing further. To top it off, hardwired internet no longer works.

This is a fresh install. The only other thing I've done is install firefox-esr.

I have some experience as a linux user, mostly working as a programmer where someone else takes care of the sysadmin stuff, but this is the first machine I've ever tried to install linux on myself.

[arochester]

http://linuxg.net/how-to-fix-broadcom-b ... inux-mint/ ?

[stevepusser]

At least one of those Mint commands is Ubuntu-specific.

You may also have a Broadcom ethernet device, and the modprobe -r command removed their drivers--you can reload them with just plain "modprobe <driver>" to hopefully get the wired NIC working.

Anyway, did you try installing firmware-b43-installer to get your device working with the kernel's built-in b43 driver, which is supposed to work for the 4311? https://wiki.debian.org/bcm43xx

[Head_on_a_Stick]

http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=39366

[rsfairman]

I have been unable to fix this problem. After fiddling with it for two days, I'll just accept that wireless does not work. For what I want to use this machine for, it's not that critical. For the occasional times I want to install a package, I can go to wired internet, and live with that.

Thanks for your help though.

[stevepusser]

It's possible--just try the MX 16 live ISO, which is based on Debian but has the different drivers preinstalled and some automation to do what you have do manually in Debian, and I bet the wireless just works out of the box.

[Segfault]

Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis.
In ancient times a Unix admin reconfigured, built and installed the kernel to accommodate the hardware. This was considered part of basic admin skillset.
Not so long ago Linux admins did the same.
Evan today, what forbids you from grabbing the latest kernel sources and configure and build a kernel that supports your hardware. Check the dmesg and add required firware. Done.

[rsfairman]

Segfault, nothing prevents me from doing that, just like nothing prevents me from digging up some iron ore as the first step to building a car, although either would be a great learning exercise. I just want to get down to the task at hand, which is writing my own code, not messing with the OS. As for "ancient times," that is exactly when I learned to use Unix -- before linux or X11 existed. Having to mess with the OS, building kernels and whatnot, feels like a throwback to the bad old days, which I would rather not revist.

Head_on_a_Stick's quote of Rob Pike is apt: "Such is modern computing: everything simple is made too complicated because it’s easy to fiddle with; everything complicated stays complicated because it’s hard to fix."

[Segfault]

I have been unable to fix this problem. After fiddling with it for two days, I'll just accept that wireless does not work.

Getting kernel sources and building a kernel that works for you takes considerably less than two days. I'd say 30 minutes or less, assuming you have at least half decent internet connection. You car analogy is a little off, I didn't suggest you write your own kernel. It is just a matter of adjusting the seat for new driver.

[rsfairman]

Fair enough. I'll live with what I have for now, and maybe try Gentoo at some point down the road since a friend recommends it, and it ought to be able to solve the wireless problem.

[Segfault]

Gentoo is Linux From Scratch with convenience provided by Gentoo Portage. Gentoo really is not a distro, it is a set of tools to build your own. And a damn good set of tools, I've to say. Portage makes maintaining Gentoo (whether it is a single box or a farm of computers) a breeze you wouldn't expect considering all the customization in place and the fact it is source-based.