Member Avatar for Freaky_Chris

Hey guys, i recently installed Xubuntu 8.04 on my pc. And have been having issues getting my Belking wireless adaptor to work.

I followed an online guide and it now appears that my wireless adaptor is being recognised. However i am unable to "find" and connect to my netowrk... im guessing i have to configure it somehow only im stuck on that.


Thanks,
Chris

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Dani AI

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Short, practical diagnosis and fix notes that build on the troubleshooting started by and the prompt from . The modern approach is: identify the exact adapter (PCI or USB ID), pick the kernel driver that matches that ID, install the matching firmware package if required, then remove any conflicting modules. Official Ubuntu/Debian docs list supported drivers and the correct packages to install. (help.ubuntu.com)

Identify the hardware and the kernel driver in use:

lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 network
# for USB adapters:
lsusb

Look for the vendor/device ID (example 14e4:xxxx) and the "Kernel driver in use" line — that tells which driver to try. (help.ubuntu.com)

Install the appropriate package (examples for Debian/Ubuntu-family systems):

sudo apt update

# Broadcom STA (wl) proprietary driver (supports some PCI IDs)
sudo apt install bcmwl-kernel-source

# b43 devices (need firmware extracted)
sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer b43-fwcutter

# brcmfmac/brcmsmac devices (firmware package on Debian)
sudo apt install firmware-brcm80211

Some drivers require linux-headers/DKMS to build; if the computer has no Internet, the distro install media or offline .deb transfer can be used. (help.ubuntu.com)

Switch drivers, reload modules and troubleshoot:

# unload conflicts and load the chosen driver (replace driver names as needed)
sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb wl brcmfmac brcmsmac bcma
sudo modprobe <drivername>

# check kernel log and firmware loading
dmesg | grep -i firmware

# check and unblock radio
rfkill list
sudo rfkill unblock all

# to permanently stop an unwanted module:
echo "blacklist drivername" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-broadcom-wireless.conf
sudo update-initramfs -u

If firmware is missing the kernel log will say so; use the distro firmware-installer packages or follow the distro wiki instructions to extract firmware. For rfkill usage and radio blocking, see the rfkill manual. (help.ubuntu.com)

Checklist: confirm PCI/USB ID, choose the driver that lists that ID, install firmware package (if needed), remove conflicting modules, check dmesg and rfkill, then reboot. If the kernel in your Xubuntu is very old, try a current live USB first — many Broadcom devices gained native support in later kernels and firmware packages. (help.ubuntu.com)

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Member Avatar for sam1948

can u see available wireless networks?
if u can please gather all the info u can and post it here
DO NOT post key or user if there is one
just network type encryption and so on

Member Avatar for Freaky_Chris

Thanks,

You managed to resurrect my 5 month old thread.
By the way, I managed to work out that it was the broadcom chip set, which is unsupported by Ubuntu Distro's, and requires ndiswrappers to be installed, once this has been done it fine to connect to wireless networks.

PS. Don't bring old threads up thanks,
Chris

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