(Solved) LMDE doesn't connect to ehternet network

[MrShorty]

I have been using Mint for about a year and a half. The first install on this computer everything worked fine. Then I repartitioned the drive and reinstalled an Ubuntu Linux distro and Linux Mint Debian. Interestingly, from day one configured this way, the Ubuntu installation would use the wired network but seemed unwilling to use the wireless card. LMDE was just the opposite. It would only use the wireless card, but would not use the wired network. I tolerated it for a while, but, suddenly something has happened to the wireless and now I have no networking in LMDE. It still seems willing to use the wireless card, but it cannot seem to see any wireless networks (but I'm not sure if the wireless card has died or not).

At this point, I would be content to just get LMDE to use the wired network card like Ubuntu does, but I am clueless as far as working Mint's/Debian's internals. The "Reports" utility gives this output for networking:

Network: Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: N/A port: ee00
bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 14e4:170c
Device-2: Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY
vendor: Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN Mini-Card driver: wl v: kernel port: ee00
bus ID: 0b:00.0 chip ID: 14e4:4315
IF: wlp11s0 state: dormant mac: <filter>

ifconfig in a terminal window gives this output:
lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host>
loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 39480 bytes 3196736 (3.0 MiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 39480 bytes 3196736 (3.0 MiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

wlp11s0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
ether 00:1f:e1:07:7f:3e txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
device interrupt 17 base 0xc000

I see both cards listed, but I don't know enough at this point to know how to convince Mint to use the ethernet adaptor.

[Moonstone Man]

... Ubuntu installation would use the wired network but seemed unwilling to use the wireless card. LMDE was just the opposite. It would only use the wireless card, but would not use the wired network. I tolerated it for a while, but, suddenly something has happened to the wireless and now I have no networking in LMDE

Post the output of inxi -Fxz from a terminal and enclose it in code tags [code]output.here[/code]. You'll see the code tags icon </> when you reply.

[jwiz]

For the Broadcom 43xx install 'broadcom-sta-dkms' from the non-free repository to have the wl kernel module built, see:
https://packages.debian.org/buster/broadcom-sta-dkms

P.S.
you'll probably need to install the dkms package first, if it isn't already installed.

[MrShorty]

Thanks for the responses.
@Kadaitcha Man, output of inxi -Fxz

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System:
  Host: dad Kernel: 4.19.0-8-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 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: Inspiron 1721 v: N/A serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Dell model: 0UK441 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A07 
  date: 04/21/2008 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 0% condition: 79.9/79.9 Wh (100%) model: DELL TM9877 
  status: Unknown 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: K8 rev.F+ rev: 2 L2 cache: 512 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 svm bogomips: 3192 
  Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/1900 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD RS690M [Radeon Xpress 1200/1250/1270] vendor: Dell 
  driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: ati,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1440x900~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: ATI RS690 v: 2.1 Mesa 18.3.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:14.2 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-8-amd64 
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: N/A 
  port: ee00 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  Device-2: Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY 
  vendor: Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN Mini-Card driver: wl v: kernel port: ee00 
  bus ID: 0b:00.0 
  IF: wlp11s0 state: dormant mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 232.89 GiB used: 5.27 GiB (2.3%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST9250827AS size: 232.89 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 48.77 GiB used: 5.27 GiB (10.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0 C mobo: N/A sodimm: 39.0 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 
Info:
  Processes: 191 Uptime: 1m Memory: 2.81 GiB used: 612.8 MiB (21.3%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3 
  inxi: 3.0.32  

[MrShorty]

@jwiz. I downloaded and atempted to install the broadcom-sta-dkms package from the link you provided and it gave me an error message "does not include dkms" and would not let me install. I followed the link to dkms and attempted to install the package on that page. It gave me a message that it was already installed, but it allowed me to reinstall. No change in the system.

[jwiz]

Do not download and install packages from a website, unless you know what you are into.
Run 'sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms' to get it installed from the Debian non-free repository.

[Moonstone Man]

Do not download and install packages from a website, unless you know what you are into.

Erm... "@jwiz I downloaded ... from the link you provided ..."

[jwiz]

Oh well, Windows users.
Sigh.

[SMG]

Maybe Dr. Octagon's post in this thread MAC-address of wifi-adapters changed during installation of LMDE4 will help. It's the fourth post (final one in the thread as of the time I am typing this). Reboot after you make the change to have it take effect.

Edited to add: That link addresses the wireless issue. It does not address your Ethernet question.

[MrShorty]

@jwiz: I apologize for my ignorance. However, sudo apt install... gives the same message as the package manager that opened with the download file -- already installed.

@SMG: adding those two lines to NetworkManager.conf did not change anything. It still will not connect through either network adapter.

[jwiz]

Do a 'sudo apt reinstall dkms' and hopefully it pulls the build-essential package with it.
Otherwise you will have to ' sudo apt install build-essential' to get it and any further required packages.
Without these packages the wl kernel module can't be built.

[MrShorty]

sudo apt install build-essential says that it is already installed.

sudo apt reinstall dkms gives the following output -- suggesting that it cannot resolve debian.org (not surprising since there is no network connection):

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The following packages will be REINSTALLED:
  dkms 
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 74.4 kB of archives. After unpacking 0 B will be used.
Ign https://deb.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 dkms all 2.6.1-4
Err https://deb.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 dkms all 2.6.1-4
  Could not resolve 'deb.debian.org'
0% [Working]E: Failed to fetch https://deb.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/dkms/dkms_2.6.1-4_all.deb: Could not resolve 'deb.debian.org'
E: Unable to fetch some packages; try '-o APT::Get::Fix-Missing=true' to continue with missing packages

I didn't understand what the -o APT... would do nor how to use the suggestion.

[sleeper12]

Does this do anything:

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 sudo ifconfig wlp11s0 up 

[MrShorty]

@sleeper12: doesn't seem to do anything different.

[sleeper12]

Try a different driver:

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 sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-source && sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer 

Reboot

[MrShorty]

@sleeper12. The result of that command is

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Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package bcmwl-kernel-source

[Moonstone Man]

@sleeper12. The result of that command is

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Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package bcmwl-kernel-source

Not wishing to redirect your attention from getting assistance, your machine is at least 12 years old. A lot of work has gone in to the kernel over the last 18 months to remove an awful lot of support for old hardware, but since you don't tell us what version of Ubuntu kernel you've got working, not much more can be said about that. I really do think that if you want this machine running with wifi, you may have to consider forking out some hard-earned for a suitable and compatible USB adapter, especially since you're not sure if the card has gone toes up in some way. It's been a full week since you made the first post so at some point I think you're going to have to decide if it's worth getting an adapter or cutting and running. The only other way of getting the drivers on to the machine is to identify the correct package and all its dependencies then download them and install them in the correct order, which will be a nightmare.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but on hardware that old, getting anything working is pot luck, and it's the main reason I don't offer my time to help sort things out for people with old equipment. Some people have got Linux Mint and LMDE working on equipment up to 14 years old from what I've seen, but as I said, it's outright pot luck. The point here is that the age of the machine means that while it works on one distribution, it doesn't follow at all that it will or even should work on another. I just think it's time for a pragmatic decision, that's all.

Good luck.

[sleeper12]

@sleeper12. The result of that command is

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Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package bcmwl-kernel-source

Hmmm, not sure which driver you have now, if any. Let's see:

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 lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net 

[MrShorty]

@sleeper12 result of lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 netlspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net

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03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX [14e4:170c] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Dell BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX [1028:01fd]
	Kernel modules: b44
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832] (rev 05)
--
0b:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN Mini-Card [1028:000b]
	Kernel driver in use: wl
	Kernel modules: ssb, wl

[MrShorty]

@ Kadaitcha Man I appreciate that this is an old machine and that OS's tend to move beyond old hardware. You're right that at some point, it becomes too difficult to coax old hardware with new OS. As this is not a critical machine, I can have some patience with it to see if there is a way to get it to network. I'm not worried about whether it chooses to use the wifi or the ethernet, but would like it to be able to use at least on of them. Since neither distro likes the wireless, and I know the ethernet hardware works because Ubuntu will connect through the cable, I suggested in the OP to work on the wired network.

What do you think of trying older versions? My first install on this machine was Mint Tessa, and that worked pretty well for most of a year. I could try installing that version again or a similar vintage.

Worst case right now seems to be to give up on Mint (for this machine anyway) and just use the other Ubuntu installation (It calls itself 18.0 and has recently started offering to upgrade to 20, is that the kernel version?). Then revisit Mint on the next plaything I come across.