"Enable Wireless" is gray on ubuntu 11.10 (Dell Vostro 1520)

[Peng Yu]

Hi,

I installed ubuntu 11.10 on Dell Vostro 1520. When I click on the up
and down arrows on the top bar, I see "Enable Wireless" menu item is
gray. Is it because the wireless network card is not properly
recognized by ubuntu? Does anybody know how to fix the problem?

[Peng Yu]

Post by Peng Yu
Hi,
I installed ubuntu 11.10 on Dell Vostro 1520. When I click on the up
and down arrows on the top bar, I see "Enable Wireless" menu item is
gray. Is it because the wireless network card is not properly
recognized by ubuntu? Does anybody know how to fix the problem?

I have the following output of these commands.

~$ sudo lshw -C network
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci at 0000:08:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 03
serial: 00:24:e8:9c:24:44
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list
rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt
1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169
driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=full firmware=rtl_nic/rtl8168d-1.fw
ip=192.168.1.116 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=MII
speed=100Mbit/s
resources: irq:47 ioport:4000(size=256)
memory:fe004000-fe004fff memory:fe000000-fe003fff
memory:fe020000-fe03ffff
*-network DISABLED
description: Wireless interface
product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci at 0000:0e:00.0
logical name: eth2
version: 01
serial: 00:24:2c:a1:1a:30
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet
physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=wl0
driverversion=5.100.82.38 latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE
802.11bg
resources: irq:18 memory:f6000000-f6003fff

~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

eth2 IEEE 802.11 Access Point: Not-Associated
Link Quality:5 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 invalid crypt:0 invalid misc:0

[Tab Gilbert]

description: Wireless interface
product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY

I am no expert but I am pretty sure you need to install

--fwcutter is a tool which can extract firmware from various source files.
It's written for BCM43xx driver files

which is available in the Ubuntu Software Center.

tab

Post by Peng Yu

Post by Peng Yu
Hi,
I installed ubuntu 11.10 on Dell Vostro 1520. When I click on the up
and down arrows on the top bar, I see "Enable Wireless" menu item is
gray. Is it because the wireless network card is not properly
recognized by ubuntu? Does anybody know how to fix the problem?

I have the following output of these commands.
~$ sudo lshw -C network
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci at 0000:08:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 03
serial: 00:24:e8:9c:24:44
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list
rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt
1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169
driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=full firmware=rtl_nic/rtl8168d-1.fw
ip=192.168.1.116 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=MII
speed=100Mbit/s
resources: irq:47 ioport:4000(size=256)
memory:fe004000-fe004fff memory:fe000000-fe003fff
memory:fe020000-fe03ffff
*-network DISABLED
description: Wireless interface
product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci at 0000:0e:00.0
logical name: eth2
version: 01
serial: 00:24:2c:a1:1a:30
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet
physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=wl0
driverversion=5.100.82.38 latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE
802.11bg
resources: irq:18 memory:f6000000-f6003fff
~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
eth2 IEEE 802.11 Access Point: Not-Associated
Link Quality:5 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 invalid crypt:0 invalid misc:0
--
Regards,
Peng
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[Pete]

Post by Peng Yu
description: Wireless interface
product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY
I am no expert but I am pretty sure you need to install
--fwcutter is a tool which can extract firmware from various source
files. It's written for BCM43xx driver files
which is available in the Ubuntu Software Center.
tab
On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 18:17, Peng Yu <pengyu.ut at gmail.com
On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 6:03 PM, Peng Yu <pengyu.ut at gmail.com

Post by Peng Yu
Hi,
I installed ubuntu 11.10 on Dell Vostro 1520. When I click on the up
and down arrows on the top bar, I see "Enable Wireless" menu item is
gray. Is it because the wireless network card is not properly
recognized by ubuntu? Does anybody know how to fix the problem?

I have the following output of these commands.
~$ sudo lshw -C network
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci at 0000:08:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 03
serial: 00:24:e8:9c:24:44
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list
rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt
1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169
driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=full firmware=rtl_nic/rtl8168d-1.fw
ip=192.168.1.116 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=MII
speed=100Mbit/s
resources: irq:47 ioport:4000(size=256)
memory:fe004000-fe004fff memory:fe000000-fe003fff
memory:fe020000-fe03ffff
*-network DISABLED
description: Wireless interface
product: BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci at 0000:0e:00.0
logical name: eth2
version: 01
serial: 00:24:2c:a1:1a:30
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet
physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=wl0
driverversion=5.100.82.38 latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE
802.11bg
resources: irq:18 memory:f6000000-f6003fff
~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
eth2 IEEE 802.11 Access Point: Not-Associated
Link Quality:5 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 invalid crypt:0 invalid misc:0
--
Regards,
Peng
--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com <mailto:ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com>
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

Hi,

At the risk of stating the obvious (it's happened to me!) check there is
no hardware switch to disable wireless (usually on laptops and a very
small switch)

grandmother sucking eggs springs to mind but if you don?t ask......

Regards

Pete

[Peng Yu]

At the risk of stating the obvious (it's happened to me!) check there is no
hardware switch to disable wireless (usually on laptops and a very small
switch)

I have made sure that the switch is on.

[Mark Paskal]

On my old dell I almost always had to install the driver through synaptic
after hooking up the laptop to a wired connection. A package you might try
is bcmwl-kernel-source.

Post by Peng Yu

Post by Pete
At the risk of stating the obvious (it's happened to me!) check there is

no

Post by Pete
hardware switch to disable wireless (usually on laptops and a very small
switch)

I have made sure that the switch is on.
--
Regards,
Peng
--
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ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

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[Peng Yu]

Post by Mark Paskal
On my old dell I almost always had to install the driver through synaptic
after hooking up the laptop to a wired connection. A package you might try
is bcmwl-kernel-source.

I have installed bcmwl-kernel-source. "Enable Wireless" is still gray.
What did you do last time to resolve the issue?

[Mark Paskal]

If it doesn't work after a restart of the machine, you should open System
Settings via the cog menu on the top right and select 'Additional Drivers.'
Assuming we have similar dells you should have an option in there for the
broadcom-sta driver, which you can select and click 'Activate.'

Post by Peng Yu

Post by Mark Paskal
On my old dell I almost always had to install the driver through synaptic
after hooking up the laptop to a wired connection. A package you might

try

Post by Mark Paskal
is bcmwl-kernel-source.

I have installed bcmwl-kernel-source. "Enable Wireless" is still gray.
What did you do last time to resolve the issue?
--
Regards,
Peng
--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

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[Peng Yu]

Post by Mark Paskal
If it doesn't work after a restart of the machine, you should open System
Settings via the cog menu on the top right and select 'Additional Drivers.'
Assuming we have similar dells you should have an option in there for the
broadcom-sta driver, which you can select and click 'Activate.'

It was already enabled.

The problem must be due to some other factors.

[James Tappin]

On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:10:18 -0600
Peng Yu <pengyu.ut at gmail.com> wrote:

PY> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 10:09 AM, Mark Paskal <markpaskal at gmail.com>
PY> wrote:
PY> > If it doesn't work after a restart of the machine, you should open
PY> > System Settings via the cog menu on the top right and select
PY> > 'Additional Drivers.' Assuming we have similar dells you should
PY> > have an option in there for the broadcom-sta driver, which you can
PY> > select and click 'Activate.'
PY>
PY> It was already enabled.
PY>
PY> The problem must be due to some other factors.
PY>

It sounds like the card is hard blocked. To check this, run:
rfkill list

The Hard blocked state ought to be toggled by the hardware switch (or
Fn-<key> combination). I've not seen this fail in *buntu, but I do see
the same issue with an Intel wifi card when running Pardus.
Unfortunately I don't know of a way to fix the problem if the switch
doesn't do the job. (Possibly with Broadcom you need to change to the
legacy driver or from it).

[Peng Yu]

Post by James Tappin
On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:10:18 -0600
PY> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 10:09 AM, Mark Paskal <markpaskal at gmail.com>
PY> > If it doesn't work after a restart of the machine, you should open
PY> > System Settings via the cog menu on the top right and select
PY> > 'Additional Drivers.' Assuming we have similar dells you should
PY> > have an option in there for the broadcom-sta driver, which you can
PY> > select and click 'Activate.'
PY>
PY> It was already enabled.
PY>
PY> The problem must be due to some other factors.
PY>
rfkill list
The Hard blocked state ought to be toggled by the hardware switch (or
Fn-<key> combination). I've not seen this fail in *buntu, but I do see
the same issue with an Intel wifi card when running Pardus.
Unfortunately I don't know of a way to fix the problem if the switch
doesn't do the job. (Possibly with Broadcom you need to change to the
legacy driver or from it).

Here is the output before and after hard block of the wireless by the
switch on the laptop. So the hardware switch is on when it is gray.
This must have been caused by other problems.

pengy at hydrogen:~$ rfkill list
0: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: dell-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
3: dell-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no



pengy at hydrogen:~$ rfkill list
0: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes
2: dell-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
3: dell-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no