Help with Gateway MX6030 WIFI Not Working

[lovenhim]

Hello everyone. I am not a Linux pro, but have used Linux in the past and preferred Mint to other offerings. That being said, I am trying to help my wife's friend with her 7-8 year old laptop. The laptop would be for basic web surfing and for her teenage son to type paper for school. I have installed Linux Mint 17 with the XFCE desktop. The computer is old and I was thinking this would be the best option. The system installed fine and the network card works if I plug the computer in to my router. The wifi however does not work. I believe this computer is using a Broadcom setup. How do I get this to work correctly? Here are some basic specs on the laptop. Thank you for the help.

http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-mx ... hdd/specs/

[PatH57]

Hi,

let's have a look. open terminal and enter

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lspci

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lsusb

paste back the result.

[lovenhim]

Here is what I get when I run what you ask me to run.


jennifer@jennifer-MX6030 ~ $ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:00.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:00.3 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 83)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 03)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
02:02.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx21/x515 Cardbus Controller
02:02.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
02:02.3 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated FlashMedia Controller
02:02.4 SD Host controller: Texas Instruments PCI6411/6421/6611/6621/7411/7421/7611/7621 Secure Digital Controller
02:04.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)


jennifer@jennifer-MX6030 ~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

[PatH57]

ok,

it is a broadcom. Let's install the b43 driver for it. you need an internet connection.

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sudo apt-get update

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sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

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sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb

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sudo modprobe b43

Allow several seconds for the network manager to scan for available networks before attempting a connection.

[lovenhim]

I do want to say thank you for the help with this issue. Alright, I did the steps you listed above. Still no sign of working wifi. The little blue wifi light is lite on the laptop....as it was before this issue. No sign of an indicator in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. I only see the wired connection. What is my next step? Should the wifi be working now...all I have to di is connect to my network? Sorry for the newbie questions.

Also, maybe this will help with some background. The laptop came to me with WinXP Home 32bit on it. Well the sound would not work on it. I fought with WinXP and drivers and never could get sound to work. Wifi worked fine on XP. Well now on Linux wifi is not working. I put Linux on her laptop because XP is no longer supported and Linux has software all included such as an office suite.

[PatH57]

ok so let's force the install

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

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

reboot.

[lovenhim]

Hello again. Alright, I performed the forced install using what was posted above. Did the reboot. Still no change that I see. In the lower right I still only see the battery icon, check mark showing the system is up to date, volume, and the wired icon showing the network cable is plugged in. The blue light is lit on the laptop below the touchpad showing that wireless is turned on. Can I be missing something? Is it working but no icon or no indication? I unplugged the network cable hoping it might default to wireless but that did not work. What other things can I check? What is my next move? Thank you for this great help.

[PatH57]

hum we are probably missing something real simple.
we have a script that does all the checking at once, let's use it.

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wget -N -t 5 -T 10 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/57264241/wireless_script && \chmod +x wireless_script && \./wireless_script

It will download a script and create a file named wireless-info.txt or wireless-info.tar.gz in your home folder with wireless information so we can see the condition of your wireless at the time. The MAC address, WPA key and WEP key are removed for your security. Paste contents of the wireless-info.txt or wireless-info.tar.gz file at http://pastebin.ubuntu.com or alternatively http://pastebin.com/ then post the link here in your question.

[lovenhim]

Thank you for the help. Here is the contents of that file.


########## wireless info START ##########

Report from: 26 Aug 2014 09:38 EDT -0400

Script from: 17 Aug 2014 02:46 UTC +0000

##### release #####

Distributor ID: LinuxMint
Description: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Release: 17
Codename: qiana

##### kernel #####

Linux 3.13.0-24-generic #47-Ubuntu SMP Fri May 2 23:31:42 UTC 2014 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux

Parameters: ro, quiet, splash, vt.handoff=7

##### desktop #####

default

##### lspci #####

02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX [14e4:170c] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Gateway, Inc. Device [107b:0360]
Kernel driver in use: b44

02:04.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Broadcom Corporation Gateway 7510GX [14e4:0449]
Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge

##### lsusb #####

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

##### PCMCIA card info #####

PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255

##### rfkill #####

##### lsmod #####

b43 356470 0
bcma 42043 1 b43
mac80211 545990 1 b43
cfg80211 409394 2 b43,mac80211
ssb 51854 2 b43,b44

##### interfaces #####

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

##### ifconfig #####

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr <MAC addr eth0>
inet addr:10.33.219.110 Bcast:10.33.219.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::2e0:b8ff:fe93:7b28/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:6624 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:4312 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:7339747 (7.3 MB) TX bytes:428007 (428.0 KB)
Interrupt:11

##### iwconfig #####

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

##### route #####

Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
0.0.0.0 10.33.219.23 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
10.33.219.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 1 0 0 eth0

##### resolv.conf #####

nameserver 127.0.1.1
search home

##### nm-tool #####

NetworkManager Tool

State: connected (global)

- Device: eth0 [Wired connection 1] -------------------------------------------
Type: Wired
Driver: b44
State: connected
Default: yes
HW Address: <MAC addr eth0>

Capabilities:
Carrier Detect: yes
Speed: 100 Mb/s

Wired Properties
Carrier: on

IPv4 Settings:
Address: 10.33.219.110
Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 10.33.219.23

DNS: 10.33.219.23

##### NetworkManager.state #####

[main]
NetworkingEnabled=true
WirelessEnabled=true
WWANEnabled=true
WimaxEnabled=true

##### NetworkManager.conf #####

[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile,ofono
dns=dnsmasq

[ifupdown]
managed=false

##### iw reg get #####

country 00:
(2402 - 2472 @ 40), (3, 20)
(2457 - 2482 @ 40), (3, 20), PASSIVE-SCAN, NO-IBSS
(2474 - 2494 @ 20), (3, 20), NO-OFDM, PASSIVE-SCAN, NO-IBSS
(5170 - 5250 @ 40), (3, 20), PASSIVE-SCAN, NO-IBSS
(5735 - 5835 @ 40), (3, 20), PASSIVE-SCAN, NO-IBSS

##### iwlist channels #####

lo no frequency information.

eth0 no frequency information.

##### iwlist scan #####

Sorry, try again.
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

##### module infos #####

[b43]
filename: /lib/modules/3.13.0-24-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/b43/b43.ko
firmware: b43/ucode9.fw
firmware: b43/ucode5.fw
firmware: b43/ucode16_mimo.fw
firmware: b43/ucode15.fw
firmware: b43/ucode14.fw
firmware: b43/ucode13.fw
firmware: b43/ucode11.fw
license: GPL
author: Rafał Miłecki
author: Gábor Stefanik
author: Michael Buesch
author: Stefano Brivio
author: Martin Langer
description: Broadcom B43 wireless driver
srcversion: BED87D210887FFC71A4BDE0
depends: bcma,ssb,mac80211,cfg80211
intree: Y
vermagic: 3.13.0-24-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 686
signer: Magrathea: Glacier signing key
sig_key: 56:82:F3:37:B8:A0:A1:7E:EF:58:C6:AC:5E:9A:85:71:2C:92:08:DF
sig_hashalgo: sha512
parm: bad_frames_preempt:enable(1) / disable(0) Bad Frames Preemption (int)
parm: fwpostfix:Postfix for the .fw files to load. (string)
parm: hwpctl:Enable hardware-side power control (default off) (int)
parm: nohwcrypt:Disable hardware encryption. (int)
parm: hwtkip:Enable hardware tkip. (int)
parm: qos:Enable QOS support (default on) (int)
parm: btcoex:Enable Bluetooth coexistence (default on) (int)
parm: verbose:Log message verbosity: 0=error, 1=warn, 2=info(default), 3=debug (int)
parm: pio:Use PIO accesses by default: 0=DMA, 1=PIO (int)
parm: allhwsupport:Enable support for all hardware (even it if overlaps with the brcmsmac driver) (int)

[bcma]
filename: /lib/modules/3.13.0-24-generic/kernel/drivers/bcma/bcma.ko
license: GPL
description: Broadcom's specific AMBA driver
srcversion: E41B811D88783DD5BC38565
depends:
intree: Y
vermagic: 3.13.0-24-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 686
signer: Magrathea: Glacier signing key
sig_key: 56:82:F3:37:B8:A0:A1:7E:EF:58:C6:AC:5E:9A:85:71:2C:92:08:DF
sig_hashalgo: sha512

[ssb]
filename: /lib/modules/3.13.0-24-generic/kernel/drivers/ssb/ssb.ko
license: GPL
description: Sonics Silicon Backplane driver
srcversion: 3DE188310F77C566C2E8CB3
depends:
intree: Y
vermagic: 3.13.0-24-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 686
signer: Magrathea: Glacier signing key
sig_key: 56:82:F3:37:B8:A0:A1:7E:EF:58:C6:AC:5E:9A:85:71:2C:92:08:DF
sig_hashalgo: sha512

##### module parameters #####

[b43]
allhwsupport: 0
bad_frames_preempt: 0
btcoex: 1
hwpctl: 0
hwtkip: 0
nohwcrypt: 0
pio: 0
qos: 1
verbose: 2

##### /etc/modules #####

lp

##### blacklists #####

[/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ath_pci.conf]
blacklist ath_pci

[/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf]
blacklist evbug
blacklist usbmouse
blacklist usbkbd
blacklist eepro100
blacklist de4x5
blacklist eth1394
blacklist snd_intel8x0m
blacklist snd_aw2
blacklist i2c_i801
blacklist prism54
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist garmin_gps
blacklist asus_acpi
blacklist snd_pcsp
blacklist pcspkr
blacklist amd76x_edac

[/etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf]
blacklist brcm80211

##### udev rules #####

[/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules]
# PCI device 0x14e4:0x170c (b44)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="<MAC addr eth0>", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth0"

##### dmesg #####

[ 2.059062] ssb: Found chip with id 0x4318, rev 0x02 and package 0x02
[ 2.059074] ssb: Core 0 found: ChipCommon (cc 0x800, rev 0x0D, vendor 0x4243)
[ 2.059080] ssb: Core 1 found: IEEE 802.11 (cc 0x812, rev 0x09, vendor 0x4243)
[ 2.059087] ssb: Core 2 found: PCI (cc 0x804, rev 0x0C, vendor 0x4243)
[ 2.059093] ssb: Core 3 found: PCMCIA (cc 0x80D, rev 0x07, vendor 0x4243)
[ 2.104321] ssb: Sonics Silicon Backplane found on PCI device 0000:02:04.0
[ 2.252341] ssb: Found chip with id 0x4401, rev 0x02 and package 0x00
[ 2.252353] ssb: Core 0 found: Fast Ethernet (cc 0x806, rev 0x07, vendor 0x4243)
[ 2.252359] ssb: Core 1 found: V90 (cc 0x807, rev 0x03, vendor 0x4243)
[ 2.252365] ssb: Core 2 found: PCI (cc 0x804, rev 0x0A, vendor 0x4243)
[ 2.298534] ssb: Sonics Silicon Backplane found on PCI device 0000:02:00.0
[ 2.320734] b44 ssb1:0 eth0: Broadcom 44xx/47xx 10/100 PCI ethernet driver <MAC addr eth0>
[ 23.524453] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4318 WLAN found (core revision 9)
[ 23.580086] b43-phy0: Found PHY: Analog 3, Type 2 (G), Revision 7
[ 23.664547] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[ 23.664556] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper
[ 24.179815] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[ 24.179824] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper
[ 24.189996] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[ 24.190005] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper
[ 24.197797] b43 ssb0:0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[ 24.197806] b43 ssb0:0: Falling back to user helper
[ 24.205127] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode5.fw" not found
[ 24.205137] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43-open/ucode5.fw" not found
[ 24.205142] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Dri ... cefirmware and download the correct firmware for this driver version. Please carefully read all instructions on this website.
[ 31.816218] b44 ssb1:0 eth0: Link is up at 100 Mbps, full duplex
[ 31.816229] b44 ssb1:0 eth0: Flow control is off for TX and off for RX
[ 2923.000125] b44 ssb1:0 eth0: Link is down
[ 6179.000210] b44 ssb1:0 eth0: Link is up at 100 Mbps, full duplex
[ 6179.000220] b44 ssb1:0 eth0: Flow control is off for TX and off for RX

########## wireless info END ############

[PatH57]

it's still not loading the correct driver.
do this one line a the time

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sudo modprobe -r b43 bcma
sudo modprobe -r brcmsmac bcma
sudo modprobe -r wl

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sudo modprobe b43

[lovenhim]

Hello again.

When I ran this:
sudo modprobe -r wl

I got back:
modprobe FATAL module wl not found

[PatH57]

that's ok, just means this one is not loaded so it can't remove it.

run the last one

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sudo modprobe b43

[lovenhim]

Alright, everything has been done as you listed. Now, after I did that I noticed at the bottom right the computer is telling me that I need 1096 updates, so I am letting the computer update itself. This might simply be nothing at all, but it is funny that no more than an hour a go the computer was shown as up to date. As of right now there is still no sign of a wireless option or connect to let me connect to my wireless network. This is becoming a fun little puzzle. Thank you for this help. Once the updates install, just for giggles I will reboot and see if things are different.

[PatH57]

never have seen this before and god knows I did install a couple of Mint17 over the last couple of month
1096 updates?
how long ago did you install this thing (joking)

[lovenhim]

I even get a message about a broken package when it updates and am sapose to do something or other with a filter to fix it. This was a fresh install from a download from the Linux Mint site burned to DVD on my iMac. This whole thing is a fun little project. LOL

[PatH57]

something went wrong, this is just not right.
reinstall and wipe what you had.
The make all the updates again and we will look after the wifi (you already have the steps, normally my first post should work)
Don't add any extra packages before we fixed the wifi.

[lovenhim]

Alright, this is a fresh install. I have nothing to lose by starting over. I will wipe the laptop and try again. I will report back once the system is installed again and I used your first step. Thanks for the help.

[lovenhim]

The computer was wiped and Linux Mint 17 was installed fresh. I did the install from a DVD that I made on my iMac. The wired network connection was plugged in. I did the updates after the system was installed. I then did what you listed above and did a reboot. The wireless is now working. Thank you very much for the great help. The computer will play a cd and a DVD. It will surf the web now both wired and wireless. Can you think of anything else that I should do before I give this computer to my wife's friend for her son? The purpose of this computer is for her teenage son to type papers and have internet access.

[PatH57]

internet seems to work now, just install libreoffice and create a user name for him .

[lovenhim]

I want to personally thank you for all of your great help. I have never had such great step by step help on any forum. I am not a computer scientist, yet you took the time to walk me through my newbie issues. Thank you very much for all of the help. The computer came pre loaded from the install with LibreOffice, Firefox, VLC, etc. I did not see anything that I needed to add. My wife and I are going to visit her friend Saturday and will give her the computer then and show her how to use it. Thanks again for your help.