Jockey Not Detecting Broadcom Wireless Card, When It Should & Provide Use of B43 or STA Driver

[CrYpTiC_MauleR]

Description: Ubuntu 9.04 x64
Kernel: 2.6.28-15-generic

Package Version: 0.5-0ubuntu10

[Version Info Last Updated : 2009-08-13]
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I just freshly installed Xubuntu Intrepid 8.10 and jockey does not properly detect my wireless card. It detects my Nvidia card so it is functioning. Before this fresh install I was testing out Intrepid and my wireless card was being detected. Hardware Drivers was giving me the option to choose B43 or STA drivers. This is no longer the case. Even after enabling all repos, and doing all updates it still does not work. Need anymore info from me please post. Thanks!

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

Can anyone confirm this happening to them too?

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

Yes, in fact, I've been posting to Bug #289360, but this report is more applicable. I cannot always get jockey to detect my wireless (Broadcom 4313 Rev.2). It detects my ATI drivers without error, but after several clean installs using both x64 and x86 install CDs, the drivers are detected intermittently. Some times the drivers are detected after a clean install, sometimes they aren't.

And on the occasions that jockey detected the wireless card, I lost driver functionality as soon as I suspended and then unsuspended the machine.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

We both seem to have similar setups, I use x64 and use the Nvidia driver too. It may be the Nvidia driver, because as I recall when testing out Intrepid my Nvidia driver stopped working around the time I began to use STA driver.

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

The video driver is definitely involved with the wireless setup. Each time I upgrade the video driver, it cycles the network connection.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

Previously when I used Xubuntu LiveCD it would detect video and wireless devices and provide me the option to choose the drivers. But when using Intrepid LiveCD only the Nvidia driver is being offered. So I don't even need to have the nvidia driver installed for the problem to occur. This occurs on both 32/64 bit LiveCDs. I'd rather have wireless working than accelerated graphics =oP.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

I just updated Nvidia driver and I can confirm that network manager does indeed restart.

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

Cryptic, try updating your blacklist file as follows:

1, sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

2. Find the following section and add the three blacklist items:

# replaced by b43 and ssb.
blacklist bcm43xx

#add these three items
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist ssb

3. Reboot.
4. Open jockey-gtk (System->Administration->Hardware Drivers). You should now see the STA driver.

Let me know if this works for you.

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

I just installed updates for jockey and nividia, and now my solution doesn't work.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

I tried that and it still only lists the Nvidia drivers.
I am now currently using Jockey 0.5~beta3-0ubuntu6

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

Here is my Jockey log. By the looks of it Jockey knows I have Broadcom wireless but can't seem to find if the driver is available.

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

My version of the log doesn't look all that much different...

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

Now all we need is a developer to look at this and see whats wrong =o( I'll keep you posted on any progress on my end.

[Rafael (rafaeljaquestudojunto)]

Same problem in Ubuntu...

Does not recognize my card (Broadcom), in my laptop HP Pavilion dv9000.

I used Kubuntu and formated.. Then installed again.. Nothing..
So installed Ubuntu.. Same problem..

What should we do?

[Rafael (rafaeljaquestudojunto)]

Also the device is not listed in ifconfig and iwconfig.. Neither in lshw...

How sad...

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

Same on my end, none of those list the device. My new kernel in use is:
Linux 2.6.27-8-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 6 17:38:14 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

Today, after running apt-get upgrade, I received the "Restricted Drivers Available" tray notification. I clicked it, enabled the STA driver, rebooted, and I've been happily enjoying wireless since.

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

Scratch that. After shutting down and rebooting, I lost wireless again...ugh.

[Mr.Pirate (cake-2go)]

True. I'm running Ubuntu 8.10 (the most recent release) on a HP dv6000. Same issue with the Nvidia and Broadcom issue. At first I had Nvidia working, but not the Broadcom STA. Then I got it vice-versa. For the most part I didn't have either working. I finally got the wireless back up, but I'm afraid to restart, because I'll probably lose it.

In attempts to activate the Nvidia (177) in System>Admin>Hardware Drivers, it's loaded but not activated. I'm not sure if that's a Nvidia issue, or a Hardware Driver program issue. I'm willing to give other info to help with this.

I noticed jockey, but never thought of attempting that. I'll give it a try and respond.

[Mr.Pirate (cake-2go)]

Nope. Lost the internet though :(

[Rafael (rafaeljaquestudojunto)]

Well... I heard that this issue is only present on Kubuntu, not in Ubuntu... So I did a fresh install of Ubuntu but didn't work...
The answer? Broadcom is toasted out...

I called HP and they that it's normal (normal?!?!?!)...

So I suggest you to try Ubuntu or another distro.. Or even Windows (I tried windows and just no good)...
If not works... I'm truly sorry, my friend...

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

>>So I suggest you to try Ubuntu or another distro.. Or even Windows (I tried windows and just no good).
>>Well... I heard that this issue is only present on Kubuntu, not in Ubuntu.

Well from what everyone has posted so far in this thread, Xubuntu, Kubuntu and Ubuntu are all effected by this bug. As for Windows the Broadcom card works fine under it, but who uses Windows anymore? =oP

>>The answer? Broadcom is toasted out.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that since everyone who so far has posted about the issue have similar problems and everyone has an Nvidia card showing up which seems to be conflicting with the Broadcom.

[Rafael (rafaeljaquestudojunto)]

Well... At this point I have to sadly say that HP was very stupid on building a laptop with hardware conflict...

Please... Someone tell me that I'm wrong...

I will do more tests with another windows flavours and see if I can make broadcom alive again...

I'll keep you up-to-date...

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

You are absolutely right about HP, they put crappy cards which they also don't allow to be changed http://www.aigarius.com/blog/2008/02/07/sneaky-blacklisting-of-wifi-in-hp-laptops/ because their custom BIOS will blacklist any non-HP card and will not let computer boot up. One reason why I will never spend a penny on any HP product. So we are stuck with these Broadcom cards =o(

Keep us posted for sure, I am using the following kernel now: Linux 2.6.27-10-generic #1 SMP Fri Nov 21 19:19:18 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux and still no such luck. I am going to try out the nightly Jaunty and see if the problem persists there too, will post back afterward. Btw what windows version are you using and what is the chipset in use?

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

Linux 2.6.27-10-generic #1 SMP Fri Nov 21 19:19:18 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Description: Xubuntu 9.04 x64 (Jaunty)
Package Version: 0.5~beta3-0ubuntu9

Problem still in Jaunty, broadcom still is not detected, but Nvidia is.

[Rafael (rafaeljaquestudojunto)]

I bring good and bad news.

The good news are that my broadcom are not finished. I've installed Windows XP SP2 and everything is OK. My brother is using it and after a bunch of reboots, still working...

The bad news are that Ubuntu still not finding the broadcom.

I'll try the installation of Wubi!
Maybe we can get better luck!

[bw44 (bweeks44)]

I have an old HP ("Compaq") Presario laptop which I ineherited. (Based on my experience I would not buy another HP, for the reasons that CrYpTiC_MauleR mentioned.) I am running Ubuntu 8.04 (up-to-date), dual-booted with Windows XP SP2 (up-to-date). My system does NOT have a Nvidia graphics card.

Wireless works fine under XP (using the bcmwl5.sys driver). Wireless worked fine under Ubuntu 7.10 with ndiswrapper and the bcm43xx restricted driver (though it took me a while to get that working).

Wireless does not work for me with Ubuntu 8.04, although the Hardware Drivers applet shows the Broadcom STA wireless driver is "enabled" and its status is "in use". I tried blacklisting the modules as per pstucke's earlier suggestion, but this didn't help.

I doubt this helps anyone very much, except to point out the problem can occur without there being a conflict with a Nvidia card.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

This is likely 3 separate bugs:
1. Broadcom is not being detected.
2. Broadcom is being detected but driver is not working.
3. Broadcom is being detected and driver is working, but breaks when system is rebooted.

If you haven't already could everyone please attach your jockey debug logs to this thread? Thanks. The more info we get from each user the easier it will be for a developer to zero out the problem.

[bw44 (bweeks44)]

After posting my previous comment, I worked through the instructions posted at:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=896713

and now my wireless connections are working fine. I guess that means the problem other people are having MAY be a conflict with a Nvidia card.

 I don't know exactly what step in the instructions corrected my problem, but maybe it will help someone else. Hope so! It seems to be working OK after a re-boot, but I have not run with a wireless connection for long periods. Maybe it will break at some point. If and when it does I'll try to post more information.

What is a "jockey debug log" and how do you capture it? Is "jockey" just the name of the System>Administration>Hardware Driver applet?

Thanks.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

sudo killall jockey-backend
sudo /usr/share/jockey/jockey-backend --debug -l /tmp/jockey.log

run that in a terminal and THEN open up Hardware Drivers and then close Hardware Drivers, it should have created a file called jockey.log in the /tmp directory. Attach that file to this post once you confirm data was written to the file of course. Yes, jockey is the hardware drivers app.

[Rafael (rafaeljaquestudojunto)]

Even in Windows the broadcom keeps working and not working depending on reboot...

Maybe it's a problem regarding any malfunction of the hardware...

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

No, I don' think its the hardware because I used it on Windows with no problems whatsoever for a year before I chose to switch to Xubuntu. Where are you getting the Windows driver, what windows version are you using, also is it 64 or 32 bit? Try one of these:

Vista 64-bit
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-60592-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=2100&product=3439722

Vista 32-bit
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-60592-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=2093&product=3439722

XP 64-bit
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&swItem=ob-45655-1

XP 32-bit
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-60549-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=228&product=3439722

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

After a couple of fresh installs, Ubuntu finally began detecting the wireless card again. But each time this happened, I would select the B44 driver, which typically disappeared after shutting down and restarting.

Once again (and after another fresh install), the system detected the wireless card. This time, I selected the b43, which seems to be working as expected. I am attaching the results of lsmod and dmesg pre- and post-installation in the hopes that it will help developers.

[Pete Stucke (pstucke)]

Update: I restarted the machine and lost wireless...here is the before and after for dmesg and lsmod.

[bw44 (bweeks44)]

pstucke,

Why are you getting these messages?

[ 36.983564] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode13.fw" not found
[ 36.983571] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the latest firmware (version 4).
[ 37.095219] input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input13
[ 37.185224] firmware: requesting b43/ucode13.fw
[ 37.187570] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode13.fw" not found
[ 37.187580] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the latest firmware (version 4).

Are you sure you have the latest firmware for your Broadcom card? I don't think it can be distributed with Ubuntu. I couldn't get my wirless (bcm94311) card to work with ndiswrapper under Ubuntu 7.10 until I upgraded the broadcom firmware. Once I did that it worked fine. When I upgraded to 8.04, I had a different problem (had to compile the wl.ko module from the Broadcom driver distribution and include it in the kernel -- see links in CrypticMaulR's and my earlier post).

My understanding is that for a number (a lot?) of the Broadcom cards, that if the latest firmware is installed they should work with the STA driver. If you link to the http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43 there are instructions for updating the firmware.

I reviewed your posts to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/289360 as well, and from what I saw there I'm sure you're more proficient at this stuff than I am, so I'm sorry if I'm only pointing out something obvious that you've already dealt with.

Good luck.

[Rafael (rafaeljaquestudojunto)]

It's very sad to say that the problem was in the hardware...

The connector was released and sometimes when the laptop was shaking, the plug connected again.. And then disconnected! =P

Very weird...

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

I've updated the bug description to reflect the newest packages I am using which still present the same issue. So far the latest jockey and kernel version do not detect Broadcom card. Mine is not a hardware issue btw since all works perfectly fine under Windows and Hardy detects the Broadcom card.

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

hanks for reporting this bug and any supporting documentation. Since this bug has enough information provided for a developer to begin work, I'm going to mark it as confirmed and let them handle it from here.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

Ok weird thing, my girlfriend's laptop and mine are IDENTICAL in hardware, except she uses Hardy and I use Jaunty. When I run the Jaunty LiveCD on her laptop it detects the broadcom card and gives option to install drivers. When I run the Jaunty LiveCD on my laptop it does not detect it. How can this be when both laptops are identical models and same in every way? I ran lspci when running off Jaunty installation and it shows the card being listed, but still Jockey does not give me option to install drivers.

[Wiplash4 (ranjeet-kuruvilla)]

Jep.. have the same problem... no howto works.

[Wiplash4 (ranjeet-kuruvilla)]

How big is the propabiltiy to get the fix before June?

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

I am still experiencing this issue with a fresh install of Jaunty. My blacklist.conf has the following:

# replaced by b43 and ssb.
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist ssb

yet still all jockey shows is Nvidia and my 56k modem.

[nutinshell7 (mlherlihy78)]

This problem is on my HP as well. Presario F500. The card never wakes up anymore. The switch on the front of the machine was never useful with ubuntu, but the indicator light would switch from orange to blue when correct firmware initiated the card. lspci | grep Broadcom returns nothing, and my jockey debug output makes a vain attempt but returns 'Instantiated'. I have included the debug output of jockey. This is very frustrating as the card worked before, with Hardy, and for a while with Intrepid. That was using either 'wl' or 'b43' (but not both).

Has anyone tried winding back their Nvidia driver to an earlier version to check for conflicts with newer drivers only. If your like me you update, without too much concern unless something goes wrong

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

I do no believe Nvidia to be the issue as I was able to have it working correctly with latest Nvidia drivers, then it mysteriously stopped working. Even fresh format and install does not get it to work.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

So today I while unplugging my ethernet cable I came to realize that my wireless is now working. I checked jockey and sure enough the STA driver is appearing, and its installed and activated. This was not the case last week. I have no idea what could have been changed to make it work since I have only had about a handful of updates since then, one being openoffice, one being for gvfs, and cron. I would really like to know how it installed itself, since this is a fresh install of Xubuntu and at no time did the STA driver or any wireless driver appear in jockey for me to install during this formatted install period. So it installed itself and activated itself mysteriously. Nonetheless I sure am happy about it =o), just hope it doesn't die again.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

It died =o(, rebooted comp and now it no longer works. jockey does not show STA or any wireless driver. I'm am officially confused.

[Peter Ivanov (emzak)]

Hi,

I have HP Pavillion dv6000 series and having the same issue. From the observation I could tell my wifi woke up two times after 2 kernel updates. However, next day (and reboot) it was dead again. The card is not detected at all.

I was quite looking forward to next kernel update to check if it wakes up again, but in the last time it remained dead.

This bug indeed exists and should be sorted out :-/ As I'm no guru into kernel, I plugged wire at the moment and will watch this bug-thread for some further ideas..

Good luck.

Peter

[Efrain Valles (effie-jayx)]

I can confirm this still happens in karmic, Specifically in Kubuntu Netbook Remix Alpha 3.

Steps to reproduce remain the same.

on a fresh Install Karmic Alpha 3

1) Click on Hardware Drivers

2) Note it does not display posible installable drivers for my broadcom card.

what should happen:

1) it should display b43 and allow me to install it.

I am currently doing upgrades on the fresh install to see if it fixes the issue

as a side note

linux-restricted-mod is not installed upon a fresh install. This should add the binary blob necesary to run any propietary drivers for my card. I am updating and shall report later

[Efrain Valles (effie-jayx)]

I have installed all updates on my Karmic Alpha and jockey-kde shows all possible installable versions of drivers for my broadcom card.

[Alan Goldblatt (alan-b-goldblatt)]

I'm having the identical problem with a Compaq Presario F700. My Broadcom wireless is not detected. Does not appear in lspci. This in Jaunty with all updates including proposed. At one point it was detected, and selecting the b43 driver worked well. After waking from sleep it was gone -- no longer detected. This hardware worked fine until the 2.6.28-15 kernel. Does anyone have a fix or workaround for this?

[Rory Keogh (rorykeogh)]

I have the same problem with Ubuntu 9.04 and my HP 9000 Broadcom 4311 wireless. This only started happening with the upgrade to 2.6.28-15. If I boot into 2.6.28.14 the STA driver appears in Jockey and it works as it should. But not in 2.6.218-15. This appears to be some change in the build. Could a developer check the changes made between the 2 versions and let us know what they might be to get us on track for a fix?

Many thanks.

[supergiraffe (muzmail)]

I'm having the same problem on my sister's dv9000 (dv9201ca). the previous installation of Jaunty allowed me to select the Broadcom STA wireless driver to but my sister did complain occasional network slowdown.
Now i've done a fresh install from the same DVD and I do not have a choice of a wireless driver in the hardware drivers list.

I've attached a text file containing the output of the "lspci -v" command showing that the broadcom wireless card 4311 is not visible.

Linux Loopy 2.6.28-15-generic #49-Ubuntu SMP Tue Aug 18 19:25:34 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

I'm beginning to think this is a hardware issue http://www.asifism.com/hp-quickplay-windows-vista/trouble-with-hp-laptops-wireless-broadcom-cards/

You guys can try these steps:
Here's a tip to get it working. It has to do with the battery and some setting maintained on the motherboard about the status of the battery.

START SEQUENCE:

Remove the battery.

Remove the power tip for maybe 15 secs.

Re-apply power (but no battery).

Fire up and the wireless will work.

Power-down when you have finished and put the battery back. It may work now for a few re-starts but when it stops working go back to START OF SEQUENCE.

Taken From : http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-829847.html

Hope it helps out, didnt work for me but hear it works for a lot of people.

[Alan Goldblatt (alan-b-goldblatt)]

That workaround doesn't work for me. Still no detection of my wireless (4311) hardware. Now running Karmic Alpha 6, so it's not fixed in the newest Kernel. I do think this is a kernel bug -- it's the kernel that should be detecting the hardware correctly and passing it along to the rest of the system. Will check with the kernel folks, again...

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

I thought it would be too but I have two laptops EXACT same models and hardware. When I load the Karmic Alpha 6 LiveCD one laptop at once detects Broadcom card, the other does not. If it was a software issue that would not be the case. The same issue has been tested out using previous releases, and my laptop does not detect it but the other one does. I know my hardware works though since after such tests Broadcom mas magically detected at some point but was later lost on reboot, so I am thinking its had to do with posts at above link about HP laptop motherboards not turning on power to card when booted.

[Alan Goldblatt (alan-b-goldblatt)]

Well, it seems you're right. HP is extending the warranty and replacing faulty wireless components in quite a few laptop models. (Not mine, though,.. at least not yet.) Here's the link -- http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=ca&docname=c01087277#c01087277_identify

It seems this is a hardware failure related to overheating. They have a new bios to run the fan more to try to prevent the failure if yours is still working. (I actually installed a bios update last year that runs the fan continuously, but it doesn't seem to have protected mine.)

[Tony Espy (awe)]

I just tested this on both a Dell Mini 9 and an HP Mini proto-type, both running a Karmic UNR daily build from two days ago. I'd previously had trouble with both of these systems intermittently ( ie. sometimes Jockey would present the right options, sometimes not.

I made sure the system was online via Ethernet before running the System::Administration::Hardware Drivers. On both machines, the Broadcom STA driver was offered as an option and installed cleanly.

Could folks that have run into this issue in the past please re-test with Karmic Beta + the latest updates?

[Nicolò Chieffo (yelo3)]

I've just tested with RC and b43 card.
Ether b43fwcutter or STA drivers are NOT offered to be installed.
Manual install is needed

[ushi (ushi-gmx)]

Same Problem.

I've installed the drivers, but my Wlan-Card was not detected by Ubuntu 9.10.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR (crypticmauler)]

Does the wireless card show up when you run lspci?

[ushi (ushi-gmx)]

Yes, the latest version of kamirc detect it after reboot.

[Nicolò Chieffo (yelo3)]

in my lspci it is present as
02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 02)

and I needed to manually install b43fwcutter.

[dino99 (9d9)]

eol reached since a while https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases