Wifi does not work on HP Pavillion dv7

[Acromarts]

Hello!

I have an HP Pavillion dv7 notebook that came with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit. it is about 3.5 years old.

I tried to use Linux Mint 14 using a boot-USB drive.
The problem is that my Wifi does not activate. When I use TAILS, the wifi does activate and I can select a network from the list, with Linux Mint and Ubuntu, this is not the case. I think that this is due to my wifi-switch being switched off, but I can't turn it on.

The Pavillion dv7 has a touchpad WiFi switch. I can only use that switch when Windows is fully booted. Windows automatically switches it off
(it turns from ON/blue to OFF/orange) when I shut down my computer or put it into sleep mode. Trying to push it when booted into Linux has no effect, it stays off.

I have tried the RfKill method ('sudo Rfkill unblock wifi' and 'sudo RfKill unblock all' But that doesn't seem to work.

I have tried to check my BIOS settings, but there are no power management options there that affect wifi. Could the 'Network Boot' be something I need? I tried to turn it on, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

I have tried to change the power management settings of the network adaptor through Windows (Properties, Power Management, uncheck 'allow windows to switch off this device to save energy')

I have not tried to connect my notebook to the router with a cable. I suspect that this would not cause problems?

Could it be that I need a driver?
If so, why does TAILS not make a problem of it and just work?
Could someone please help me to find the right driver? I find it difficult to find the right one.

The Network adaptors that are in my Device Management are:
- Broadcom 802.11g-netwerkadapter
- Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.0)

My router is a TP-Link router, it has a WPA2 Personal password.

I hope that I have supplied all the needed details :p. Does anyone know what the problem could be?

[kc1di]

Hello Acromarts and welcome to MINT,

Broadcom made two series of chips and they use different drivers;
Could you go to a terminal and type the following command and post the output here.

Code: Select all

lspci

in that list you should have the broadcom model number.
also in a terminal type this and post here

Code: Select all

rfkill list all 

[Acromarts]

Sorry for the late response. I had to resolve a disk mounting issue first.

The lspci command gives a huge list, and these are the model numbers for the internet modules:
02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02)


Rfkill list all shows this, and only this:

0: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

[kc1di]

Ok you have the same Broadcom Card i Have and it is not block by any switch. So here is how to get it working. You will need a temporary Lan hard wire connection until you download and install the correct Drivers for your card The Broadcom 4312 card uses Broadcom-STA or WL Drivers. Not the
b43xx driver.

Here's the procedure to try first in Mint 14:

Additional drivers
To install additional drivers, please run the "Software Sources" tool from "Menu->Preferences->Software Sources" and click on the "Additional Drivers" tab. The tool used in previous versions of Linux Mint (Jockey) was discontinued upstream in Ubuntu.

you should be offered Broadcom-Sta driver try that method first. and let me know if it works

[Acromarts]

I am sending you this reply from a fully working Linux Mint-booted computer . WiFi works like a charm!
The driver was easily found and installed using the method you described.

Many thanks!

[kc1di]

I am sending you this reply from a fully working Linux Mint-booted computer . WiFi works like a charm!
The driver was easily found and installed using the method you described.

Many thanks!

Your Welcome
Happy computing