Member Avatar for HoneyBadger

Guys I just installed Ubuntu 10.4 and it wont detect my wireless networks.


Here is my progress so far:

1.) I uninstalled Windows 7
2.) I installed Ubuntu 11.10....but didnt' like the new lay-out.
3.) So I installed Ubuntu 10.04

Ubuntu 11.10 recognized all wireless networks...no probelm. I just didn't like the new layout.

But when I installed Ubuntu 10.04 it wont even detect those same wireless networks Ubuntu 11.10 had no problem finding.

Edited by HoneyBadger because: n/a
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  • Latest Post Latest Post by mike_2000_17

Dani AI

Generated

Since the adapter worked under Ubuntu 11.10 but not under Lucid (10.04), this is almost always a driver/kernel/firmware mismatch rather than a hardware fault. ’s suggestion to try drivers from the 11.10 media is reasonable; the safer workflow is to identify the chipset and then install the proper driver or firmware (preferably while connected by Ethernet).

Start by identifying the card and looking for missing firmware or blocked radios:

lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net
lsusb
sudo lshw -C network
iwconfig
rfkill list all
sudo dmesg | egrep -i 'firmware|wlan|b43|brcm|ath|rtl' | tail -n 50

Look for vendor strings (Broadcom, Atheros, Realtek) and whether a “Kernel driver in use” is shown. If rfkill shows “Hard blocked” check the laptop’s wireless switch or Fn key. If dmesg reports “firmware” load failures, firmware needs installing.

Common, safe fixes for Lucid:

  • If Broadcom is detected, install the correct package for that model. Two common Lucid-era options are the STA driver (bcmwl-kernel-source) or the b43 firmware (firmware-b43-installer + b43-fwcutter). Only one is appropriate per model; installing the wrong one can be removed with sudo apt-get remove --purge.
  • If the module is present but not active, load it: sudo modprobe <module-name> and check lsmod.
  • If soft-blocked: sudo rfkill unblock all.
  • Restart NetworkManager: sudo service network-manager restart.

If no Internet is available on the Lucid install, boot the 11.10 live session (which showed working Wi‑Fi), locate the .deb for the working driver on that media, and install it on Lucid with sudo dpkg -i /path/to/package.deb. Be aware some drivers require kernel headers (linux-headers-generic) to build.

’s driver-copy idea and ’s suggestion of a different flavor (Kubuntu) are useful context: switching desktops won’t fix missing kernel modules, but using a newer kernel/distribution that shipped working support (or moving the specific .deb from 11.10) will.

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Member Avatar for skilly

hmm...perhaps you should try updating the driver for your wi-fi adapter from the drivers on the 11.10 disc?

Member Avatar for mike_2000_17

I understand what you mean, the Unity desktop is weird to say the least.

Have you considered a sister distro. I recommend Kubuntu 11.10 (which has KDE as a desktop environment). I always liked it better than Ubuntu, maybe you will too. The plasma desktop is very customizable (you can layout the menus and task-bars and all in any way you like).

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