LMDE4 WiFi Adapter Not Working

[Windows2LinuxNoob]

OK, so decided to jump into the world of Linux for the very first time in my lifetime - watched enough tutorials that I said I'm just going to do this thing... So I have an old Dell Inspiron E1505 I installed LMDE4 on (the HDD) with the 32-bit version - as I do not believe this processor supports 64-bit installs (won't let me install Win7 64-bit). As I said, old machine here that came with XP installed on it years ago.

So my issue is that it apparently cannot get the WiFi adapter working. I need some assistance, because I have no idea what I just did here (below), haha! I tried to be resourceful by looking up things related to "can't get WiFi working on Linux Mint..." and here's what I came up with. Don't know what I'm looking at here really, but I'm sure someone knows much better then me.

chris@lmde42020:~$ sudo iwlist scan; lshw -c net
[sudo] password for chris:
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
*-network UNCLAIMED
description: Network controller
product: BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN
vendor: Broadcom Limited
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:0b:00.0
version: 01
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:efdfc000-efdfffff
*-network UNCLAIMED
description: Ethernet controller
product: BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX
vendor: Broadcom Limited
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=64
resources: memory:ef9fe000-ef9fffff
WARNING: output may be incomplete or inaccurate, you should run this program as super-user.


FWIW, I do not have a wired internet connection to this machine - and of course no wireless connectivity. As I said, I'm a total noob to all this Linux stuff, but I'm willing to tough it out and actually try to learn something here. I don't know if what I have posted actually helps, but I'm willing to put forth the effort to provide what others will need to assess my situation and help me move forward on my "journey" with LMDE4 (32-bit) on an old laptop. I can drop a line (Ethernet cable) to my workspace if necessary, but hoping I don't have to do this. I have another machine nearby that I can place files onto a USB drive to install something if necessary... Either way, I will do whatever is needed to achieve the results I'm looking for - a working WiFi adapter so I can simply browse the internet for starters.

Side note here, I am going into this Linux business understanding that it isn't just going to work - and not expecting it to be like Windows at all. I've watched enough tutorials as I said and they have prepared me for knowing that I'll run into many roadblocks until I get more familiar with what I am doing. I know that I have a long path ahead of me to get where I want to be in terms of proficiency with the Linux kernel, so please bear with me. I greatly appreciate being pointed in the right direction and have no issues watching a video, reading documentation, etc. that can warm me up to this wonderful new world of Linux.

Thank you in advance, I'm sure this will be fun for us all haha!

[HAWR]

Hello Windows2LinuxNoob,

maybe I can help you a little bit. If you have no internet connection by now, you can establish one by temporarily means with a mobile phone and USB tethering using the phone's wifi:

USB Tethering Android

1. connect your phone to your computer via USB (your phone charger hopefully has a usable, detachable USB cable)
2. go to Settings > Wireless & Networks in your mobile phone, there to ...More
3. go to tethering & mobile hotspot
4. activate USB tethering

USB Tethering Iphone

1. connect your phone to your computer via USB (your phone charger hopefully has a usable, detachable USB cable)
2. go to Settings > Personal Hotspot > Activate in your phone
3. activate USB only

For your Broadcom BCM4311 adapter you need an additional driver. With an active internet connection, you can install the driver as follows:

Code: Select all

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

If that driver doesn't work well, there is another one possible. Then please open the terminal and run the following command with plugged-in adapter:

Code: Select all

lsusb

[Windows2LinuxNoob]

Hi HAWR,

I tethered successfully, but I am unable to achieve success trying the following:

chris@lmde42020:~$ sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-source
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package bcmwl-kernel-source

I also tried the following command:

chris@lmde42020:~$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 05ac:12a8 Apple, Inc. iPhone5/5C/5S/6
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 045e:0047 Microsoft Corp. IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 413c:2003 Dell Computer Corp. Keyboard
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Not there yet... Anyhow, maybe this helps too?
chris@lmde42020:~$ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: lmde42020 Kernel: 4.19.0-8-686 i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.8
Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie base: Debian 10.2 buster
Machine: Type: Portable System: Dell product: MM061 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0KD882 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A17 date: 06/13/2007
Battery: ID-1: BAT0 charge: 60.3 Wh condition: 60.3/86.6 Wh (70%) model: SMP DELLRD8507 status: Full
CPU: Topology: Dual Core model: Intel T2400 bits: 32 type: MCP arch: M Yonah rev: 8 L2 cache: 2048 KiB
flags: nx pae sse sse2 sse3 vmx bogomips: 7315
Speed: 1088 MHz min/max: 1000/1833 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1301 2: 1259
Graphics: Device-1: Intel Mobile 945GM/GMS 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel
bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 945GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.3.6 direct render: Yes
Audio: Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-8-686
Network: Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell Inspiron 6400 driver: N/A port: 10c0 bus ID: 03:00.0
Device-2: Broadcom Limited BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN vendor: Dell Wireless 1390 driver: N/A port: 10c0 bus ID: 0b:00.0
IF-ID-1: enp0s29f7u3c4i2 state: up speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter>
Drives: Local Storage: total: 73.13 GiB used: 5.05 GiB (6.9%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Fujitsu model: MHV2080BH size: 73.13 GiB temp: 33 C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 68.56 GiB used: 5.05 GiB (7.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.96 GiB used: 2.0 MiB (0.1%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-1
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 48.0 C mobo: N/A sodimm: 41.0 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0
Info: Processes: 174 Uptime: 14m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 1.01 GiB (51.7%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0
Shell: bash v: 5.0.3 inxi: 3.0.32

Anyhow, thank you for the input - much appreciated!

EDIT: Perhaps someone could help me get my NIC working too... It appears that the driver isn't there for the Ethernet adapter. I suppose first things first. I don't have a line dropped in my basement workspace, but that's coming very soon now that I'm cooped up in my house, haha! Thanks again!

[HAWR]

Hello Windows2LinuxNoob,

when for ethernet and wifi no drivers are loaded/listed, it could be possible, that they are disabled in Setup/BIOS. According to the manual you can access the Setup with F2 when the Dell logo is displayed. The wifi can be enabled/disabled with Fn+F2.

Here you can see a probe of your laptop with Mint 19. For both network devices are drivers/modules in the kernel:

https://linux-hardware.org/index.php?probe=7634e74d09

[Windows2LinuxNoob]

Hi again HAWR,

Looked in the BIOS and everything is default pretty much. All the stuff with with wireless and NIC is enabled... I have scoured to find something that will work but whenever I try to do anything with that 'apt' whatever command it is, it gives me the E: message (error?). I know when I had Windows installed on this machine, the wireless stuff worked fine. Just because I am totally inexperienced here and have no clue what I'm doing, I am sorry I cannot help anymore with Linux related stuff. This system is completely foreign to me and I am spending a ton of time just trying to figure out how to get a WiFi adapter working for this dinosaur. I have pressed the 'Fn + F2' key to handle the enable/disable of the WiFi adapter and to no avail, same results all day long.

I may be completely new to Linux, but I am not incompetent when it comes to computers (pretty proficient when it comes to Windows for the most part). I am an electrical engineer (14 years in the automotive field) and I actually work at a firmware level at my job (as I am more of an embedded/software engineer). I'm not saying I'm a genius, but the simple things I should have covered - like BIOS and the whole Fn+F2 stuff. This whole Linux business is just the newest part for me, so the Linux lingo is like a new language to me. I'm very accustomed to the good ol' Microsoft approach to installing and updating - i.e. go to the web, download, install hoping it's right. I digress...

Either way, all the suggestions that I thankfully am receiving from you are very kind and at least taking some shots at this issue. I do appreciate that much, but we are just not there yet. I know this isn't going to be some sort of immediate satisfaction thing, and I do enjoy the challenge to some extent, but I have given this one a lot of time today where I haven't made really much progress from yesterday. I'll be back on this again later I suppose. Again, many thanks for the insight and look forward to hearing more inputs.

[HAWR]

Hello Windows2LinuxNoob,

do you have a driver manager in the menu (maybe it's named a little bit different, I'm not familiar with LMDE)? Go there and see, if a driver like bcmwl is offered for installation.

I'm a little bit confused by the thing, that you have installed LMDE4, so you had to have an internet connection for this. Have you tested both (ethernet and wifi) in the live session?

[JeremyB]

With LMDE you may have to enable non-free repos to install the broadcom firmware.

[HAWR]

Hello JeremyB,

I think, it's the right hint with the non-free repo at least for the wifi card.

Hello Windows2LinuxNoob,

see here:

https://wiki.debian.org/wl

The ethernet BCM4401-B0 is supported by the kernel, so maybe it doesn't work anymore.

[Windows2LinuxNoob]

The way I installed LMDE4 is I first took the SATA HDD out of this old laptop. I deleted the existing partition to get rid of all the Windows stuff on it. Next (on my main Windows PC), I downloaded the LMDE4 32-bit version that I ended up flashing to a 2GB USB drive via balena. I then placed the HDD (that had no partition on it) back in the dinosaur Dell laptop and booted from the USB drive which ran a live LMDE4 which I ended up going through installing to the HDD directly.

Now I am in this situation where for all I know, this laptop may not be able to work with what I am trying to do... I mean, it's an old laptop. Perhaps the HW doesn't support Linux... It's an experiment and I just wanted something installed that I could familiarize myself with Linux. I do not have a wealth of PC stuff laying around, and I didn't want to do any dual-boot stuff with my new laptop. I only have 2 machines to get this done with - my old Dinosaur Dell and my new laptop which I don't want to mess around with that has a legit Windows 10 Pro with all my programs I want installed. I've tortured myself for many, many hours installing versions of Windows from Windows ME (Major Errors) to Windows 10 - not willing to mess around with my new laptop as I need it to do actual work on.

Overall, definitely not discouraged from the Linux thing, just that it's going to take some time apparently that I'm willing to put in. It would be nice to get the whole internet thing working though. And I would just connect an Ethernet cable up, but that's easier said than done - requires somehow sending Ethernet cables from upstairs of my house to the basement from my inconveniently located router. Well that's neither here nor there, so I'm just going to try to do everything my small brain can to make this WiFi solution happen.

If there's anything else I can provide what about the internal WiFi adapter and internal NIC, let me know. Willing to try anything on this machine at this point as the tethering solution gives me the ability to connect this machine to the web to give this thing a shot at working. I don't even have a crossover Ethernet cable available to allow this machine to use my main PC's internet connection - i.e. hosted network. Ughh... Just want to find out if what I'm trying to do is even possible before spending an absorbent amount of time on this.

[Windows2LinuxNoob]

Well, update here... This just is not going to work on this machine. I have tried nearly everything I can find on the web. I have watched multiple videos, read multiple pages on various sites about Broadcom drivers in Debian... I do everything pound for pound that everyone has told to do, and this thing just doesn't allow me to use a wireless network.

I have been around long enough to believe that I may be missing something here. If I have, I have definitely ran into an issue that is on the deep end for a Linux beginner like me. I seemed to pick the distro that will give me headaches with this. Not going to let this sour my Linux experience as I understand this is not a Linux issue, rather that Broadcom doesn't have open source drivers or something of the sort like that - saying this correctly??? Either way, giving up on LMDE4 with this machine. Perhaps I will get something that actually works where I can get the machine to connect to the internet and not spend 2 days on this getting absolutely nowhere. Thanks for the help everyone... I really appreciate the quick responses. I will check on this thread for a little bit in case some advanced user can figure this out, but until then, not holding my breath regarding making this machine's network adapters comply with LMDE4.

EDIT:
I went to Mint v19.3

This post helped me out...
viewtopic.php?t=282669

Thanks Jeremy! Not sure what's up with LMDE4, but this post's directions do not get my Broadcom WiFi up and running. Oh well, I'm in! Thanks again fellas

[Sandro Cesar]

I am a basic Linux user.
Every time I install Debian or LMDE, to make Wi-Fi work, I need to follow these instructions in this text that I copied from somewhere on the internet:
---------------------------
After some searching I have found that this issue is due to the new privacy feature (MAC address randomization) in the new version of NetworkManager causing some wi-fi adaptors to stop working.

Both Debian 9 and Ubuntu 17.04/17.10 are badly affected with this bug, You can read more about this bug in Debian 9 here and Ubuntu 17.04/17.10 here .
Follow below steps to fix this issue in Debian 9 and Ubuntu 17.04/17.10

Edit NetworkManager config file:

sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

Now add below lines to the file:

[device]
wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no

Restart NetworkManager service:

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

Now you will be able connect to wi-fi network.
---------------------------
In the text editor, you must use the keyboard shortcuts to save the edit made.
Ubuntu is derived from Debian, but it already comes with this work done.

[HAWR]

Hello Windows2LinuxNoob,

I went to Mint v19.3

I think, it's a good decision, also for helping you with other problems in the future

[Windows2LinuxNoob]

Hello Windows2LinuxNoob,

I went to Mint v19.3

I think, it's a good decision, also for helping you with other problems in the future

Yeah, my laptop that's nearly a couple decades old works great with Mint v.19.3 32-bit. Now that the WiFi stuff works, I'm having fun! I'm usually a pretty resourceful guy, just that when I asked the question about the LMDE4 WiFi not working, I knew I needed some help with that one. Either way, it wasn't directly resolved - hence not marking this thread resolved until I actually try another approach when I decide - if I ever do - to go back to using LMDE4 and get the WiFi drivers installed for this old Dell machine.

Overall, nice that I have a community to interact with that can assist me when I do come across a stumper. Really digging the Mint build I have right now... It is nice to know that there are alternatives to MS that are very suitable and some. So you take care HAWR, thanks for the suggestions once again. Enjoy!

[melian]

After some searching I have found that this issue is due to the new privacy feature (MAC address randomization) in the new version of NetworkManager causing some wi-fi adaptors to stop working.

Both Debian 9 and Ubuntu 17.04/17.10 are badly affected with this bug, You can read more about this bug in Debian 9 here and Ubuntu 17.04/17.10 here .
Follow below steps to fix this issue in Debian 9 and Ubuntu 17.04/17.10

Edit NetworkManager config file:

sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

Now add below lines to the file:

[device]
wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no

Restart NetworkManager service:

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

Awesome - I searched forever for a solution to getting my RALINK RT5370 dongle working in recent Debian releases and this finally fixes it !
WiFi now is working in LMDE4 just as well as in regular Linux Mint now.

[Trapper]

I also ran into the same WiFi dilemma the OP experienced. I am using an Edimax EW-7711UTn USB WiFi adapter that uses the rt2800usb driver. At first I thought I had a driver issue but discarded that notion when I saw the correct driver was installed, the adapter was recognized, etc. When I saw the post regarding the mac randomization bug I tried the fix that was given and it worked immediately for me.

I will add .... this is a big bug problem and I am surprised a fix was not included in the final lmde4 iso. Someone that is solely reliant on wifi for their internet connection is going to be up the creek without a paddle because they aren't going to be able to easily find a fix without internet. Newbies, especially, are not going to be impressed with this problem. This is critical enough that there needs to be an updated lmde4 iso. JMO.