Comment 12 for bug 208049

I'm experiencing the same thing on a Dell Inspiron 1501 running Kubuntu 8.04 beta. From a fresh install, lspci -v regarding chipsets with proprietary drivers:

01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RS485 [Radeon Xpress 1100 IGP] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01f5
    Flags: bus master, 66 MHz, medium devsel, latency 255, IRQ 20
    Memory at c8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
    I/O ports at 9000 [size=256]
    Memory at c0100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64k]
    [virtual] Expansion ROM at c0120000 [disabled] [size=128k]
    Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

05:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 01)
    Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 0007
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
    Memory at c0200000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16k]
    Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
    Capabilities: [58] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable-
    Capabilities: [d0] Express Legacy Endpoint IRQ 0

I apply all system updates and reboot. I start K -> System -> Hardware Drivers Manager, enter my password, and it indicates "No proprietary drivers are in use on this system." Under the "Device driver" tree I show 2 devices, "ATI accelerated graphics driver", unchecked, "Not in use", and "Broadcom B43 wireless driver", unchecked, "In use", although I have not yet installed any drivers for it. My wireless light next to the keyboard is off.

I check the "Enabled" box for the ATI entry, click "OK" on the help box that comes up ("This driver is required to fully etc etc"), and Adept opens and downloads/installs the driver with no (apparent) hitches. Adept quits after installing, and the ATI entry's status changes to "Needs computer restart" with the box checked. I close the hardware driver manager and reboot. I start the Hardware Drivers Manager again, and the Broadcom entry still indicates "In Use" although I still have not installed the drivers, and my wireless light is still off.

I check the "Enabled" box for Broadcom, and click "OK" on the box informing me that the hardware will not work without the firmware, and Adept downloads and installs b43-fwcutter. Broadcom entry now indicates "Needs computer restart". I click "Close" on the hardware drivers manager, and reboot.

At this point, the laptop screen goes blank and it appears to hang for a very long time, refusing to fully shut down. Eventually I feed it a ctrl+alt+delete, and it finishes its shutdown (mostfully gracefully) and reboots. After logging into KDE, wireless light is still off and the hardware drivers manager comes up on its own. Broadcom is still marked as "In Use" but the Enabled button is still unchecked. Just for kicks I remove my wired ethernet cable and reboot. It hangs again, I ctrl-alt-delete again, it finishes and reboots.

Hardware drivers manager does not come up on its own this time, WLAN light is still off. I go into KNetworkManager and it indicates my wireless is enabled, I try to connect to my router and it hangs at "Configuring device" (duh).

Hope the details help.