[SOLVED] Gateway Laptop WiFi

[Mr_Reed]

I have a officially converted my second laptop to LM! Happy to say everything seems to be working except for the WiFi. From what I could tell from the terminal the card is recognized, but not sure about the drivers. Interestingly enough I can toggle the switch, and turn the laptop wifi light on and off. I'm new to LM so any assistance is greatly appreciated.

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reed@LOFT-PC4 ~ $ inxi -F
System:    Host: LOFT-PC4 Kernel: 4.4.0-53-generic x86_64 (64 bit)
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: Linux Mint 18.1 Serena
Machine:   System: Gateway (portable) product: 4800 Series v: 67.08.00
           Mobo: Gateway model: 4800 Series v: Rev1.67.08.00
           Bios: Phoenix v: 67.08.00 date: 09/21/2005
CPU:       Single core AMD Turion 64 Mobile MT-32 (-UP-) cache: 512 KB
           speed/max: 800/1800 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RS480M [Mobility Radeon Xpress 200]
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1024x768@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on ATI RS480 GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 11.2.0
Audio:     Card Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] IXP SB400 AC'97 Audio Controller
           driver: snd_atiixp
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-53-generic
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom NetLink BCM5789 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express
           driver: tg3
           IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full
           mac: 00:03:25:1a:9f:de
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller
           driver: b43-pci-bridge
           IF: N/A state: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 80.0GB (9.9% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST980825A size: 80.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 72G used: 5.7G (9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.01GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 171 Uptime: 29 min Memory: 673.5/1873.1MB
           Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.35 
reed@LOFT-PC4 ~ $ inxi -N
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom NetLink BCM5789 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express
           driver: tg3
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller
           driver: b43-pci-bridge
reed@LOFT-PC4 ~ $ lspci -nn -d 14e4:
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5789 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express [14e4:169d] (rev 21)
03:09.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)
reed@LOFT-PC4 ~ $

[JeremyB]

Card is recognized and driver is present but it is missing firmware.

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sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

Reboot

[Mr_Reed]

With this laptop, it is quite serviceable on the bottom. I can take out the Broadcom Wifi if necessary.

I have an Intel WM3B2915ABG and one marked Lite-On WN2302A. Let me know if you think one of these would be better than the Broadcom.

[JeremyB]

The command in my other post will download and install the firmware if you can connect with ethernet. Broadcom's license on the firmware doesn't allow it to be included with the LM ISO and they also restrict their wifi cards to channels 1-11 in 2.4 Ghz in Linux

[Mr_Reed]

The command in my other post will download and install the firmware if you can connect with ethernet. Broadcom's license on the firmware doesn't allow it to be included with the LM ISO and they also restrict their wifi cards to channels 1-11 in 2.4 Ghz in Linux

So it certainly sounds like the easiest thing to do is just load the firmware like you've suggested. I appreciate everything you've done to help me sort out these minor Wireless issues with my hardware.

On a side note, did you have any comment on those other Wireless cards that I have. I know they are both older cards/chips as well. The one marked Lite-On was called Atheros in Windows. Just wondered about support and recognition of those other two cards within LM.

[JeremyB]

Both of the other cards may be plug and play as Intel and Atheros allow their firmware to be distributed with Linux OS's

[Mr_Reed]

Both of the other cards may be plug and play as Intel and Atheros allow their firmware to be distributed with Linux OS's

So far the command worked and the WiFi turned on and is usable now. However would you mind telling me how to uninstall or remove the Broadcom in case I want to use the Intel or Atheros in the future? Thank you!