Misssing broadcom/sta drivers and wireless card not detected

[pgonzalm]

Hello all,

I hope you are fine.

After moving from Ubuntu to LM I have since the beginning use and stabilise with LM Julia 10 (current kernel Linux 2.6.35-32-generic (i686)) in a HP pavillion dv2000. It works so nicely and stable. Few days ago wireless connection stopped working. I checked and Broadcom STA drivers were missing in the "Additional drivers" (Administration > Additional drivers). Only NVIDIA drivers were there. I thought the reason could be this and I tried few things that did not worked. Then I thought that the wireless card may be broken and in fact it seems like this but I am not completely sure. I connected an external wireless card (TP-LINK TL-WN322G+) from a friend and wireless connection started to work out of the box as soon as it get connected in the usb. I wonder, how can it work without the Broadcom STA drivers?

The reason I think the computer wireless card is broken is because I can not detect it.

If you have any idea of what could have happened it will be nice to hear it. Thanks a lot!

Best,

Pablo

I paste below the output for "lspci -vq", "iwconfig" and "inxi -N":

pablo@pablo-laptop ~ $ lspci -vq
00:00.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

00:00.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 1 (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

00:00.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 5 (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

00:00.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 4 (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0

00:00.5 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:00.6 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 3 (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

00:00.7 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 2 (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

00:02.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:03.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=03, subordinate=04, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00004000-00004fff
Memory behind bridge: b4000000-b7ffffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000d0000000-00000000d01fffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:05.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation C51 [Geforce Go 6150] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Presario V3242AU
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21
Memory at b2000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
Memory at b1000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at a0000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: nvidia
Kernel modules: nvidia-current, nouveau, nvidiafb

00:09.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:0a.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 LPC Bridge (rev a3)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0

00:0a.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation MCP51 SMBus (rev a3)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel, IRQ 10
I/O ports at 3040 [size=64]
I/O ports at 3000 [size=64]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: nForce2_smbus
Kernel modules: i2c-nforce2

00:0a.3 Co-processor: nVidia Corporation MCP51 PMU (rev a3)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Presario V3242AU
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
Memory at b0040000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]

00:0b.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
Memory at b0004000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd

00:0b.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
Memory at b0005000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd

00:0d.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP51 IDE (rev f1) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
[virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
[virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
[virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
[virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
I/O ports at 3080 [size=16]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pata_amd
Kernel modules: pata_amd

00:0e.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev f1) (prog-if 85 [Master SecO PriO])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
I/O ports at 30b0 [size=8]
I/O ports at 30a4 [size=4]
I/O ports at 30a8 [size=8]
I/O ports at 30a0 [size=4]
I/O ports at 3090 [size=16]
Memory at b0006000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: sata_nv
Kernel modules: sata_nv

00:10.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 PCI Bridge (rev a2) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=05, subordinate=05, sec-latency=64
Memory behind bridge: b8000000-b80fffff
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:10.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP51 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Presario V3242AU
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
Memory at b0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

00:14.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
Memory at b0007000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
I/O ports at 30b8 [size=8]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: forcedeth
Kernel modules: forcedeth

00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Flags: fast devsel
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
Flags: fast devsel

00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
Flags: fast devsel

00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
Flags: fast devsel
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: k8temp
Kernel modules: k8temp

05:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Presario V3242AU
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 23
Memory at b8000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
Kernel modules: firewire-ohci, ohci1394

05:09.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30b5
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 16
Memory at b8000800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci

05:09.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 0a)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Presario V3242AU
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 10
Memory at b8000c00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>

05:09.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 05)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Presario V3242AU
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 16
Memory at b8001000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: r852
Kernel modules: r852

pablo@pablo-laptop ~ $ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

vboxnet0 no wireless extensions.

tun0 no wireless extensions.


pablo@pablo-laptop ~ $ inxi -N
Network: Card nVidia MCP51 Ethernet Controller driver forcedeth
pablo@pablo-laptop ~ $

[remoulder]

TP-LINK TL-WN322G+ started to work as soon as it get connected in the usb. how can it work without the Broadcom STA drivers?

The Broadcom drivers are only required for Broadcom chipsets, the TL-WN322G uses an Atheros chipset I believe.

[pgonzalm]

Thanks remoulder!

Yes, I later thought that some other drivers must be installed for the external wireless card to work.

"lsmod |grep ath9k" returns nothing when the TP-LINK is not plugged to the USB, but when plugged and working returns:

pablo@pablo-laptop ~ $ lsmod |grep ath9k
ath9k_htc 40706 0
ath9k_common 5982 1 ath9k_htc
ath9k_hw 292329 2 ath9k_htc,ath9k_common
mac80211 231959 2 ath9k_htc,ath9k_common
ath 8153 2 ath9k_htc,ath9k_hw
cfg80211 144758 4 ath9k_htc,ath9k_common,mac80211,ath
led_class 2633 2 ath9k_htc,sdhci

I guess then that the drivers are in the wireless card itself?

In relation to whether the internal wireless card of my computer is fine or has definitely broken, do you know any command I could use to check it? After I have made sure the internal wireless does not work I will then purchase an external wireless.

Thanks a lot in advance!

By the way, I like the signature you use. Very inspiring.

Best,

Pablo

[remoulder]

the internal wireless card of my computer is fine or has definitely broken, do you know any command

The internal adapter isn't being seen at all so therefore it is likely broken, though check in the BIOS for anything relevant. Other than that the only way you are going to be able to test it is with hardware diagnostics, perhaps your laptop has some built in or available to d/l from the HP support site?

[pgonzalm]

Hi remoulder,

Thanks a lot! I will check all that you suggest and come back. I am not sure how to see it in the BIOS but will google it a little. About the HP support I will check it too. Although my computer is 6 years old and I do not know if there will be any support for "old" machines. That is one of the main reason I am a Linux supporter and user, despite the 6 years old my machine fly like a bird with Linux Mint! and have a plan to use it at least for ten years.

Thanks again.

Best,

Pablo

[900i]

Hi, you could try googling for the service manual for your machine. Then you could see if the wireless card is user replaceable, they usually are.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[pgonzalm]

Hello remoulder,

Thanks.

I check in the BIOS (I think in all different sections and subsections) and could not see anything that mentioned the wireless card. But neither could see anything related to the webcam or the sound card for example. I checked on the BIOS of my colleague laptop, a more recent model, and I could see all the hardware with an option to enable or disable it, and includes wireless but also webcam and so on... I wonder if in my laptop the BIOS does not let me see the hardware installed.

Best,

Pablo

[pgonzalm]

Hello Again,

Sorry to take some time to reply and thank you for the help.

Instead of purchasing a wireless card to install into the computer I bought a USB wireless card ... unfortunately it does not work.

lsusb brings:
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0411:01a2 MelCo., Inc.

So it seems it recognise it but can not make it to work.

I think I will start a new post with this issue. I search in forums but can not find anything useful.

Thanks again.