dell inspiron 1721 wireless not working...HELP I'm a n00b

[StuRuckus]

00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (Internal gfx)
00:05.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 1)
00:07.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 3)
00:12.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI0)
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI1)
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI2)
00:13.3 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI3)
00:13.4 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI4)
00:13.5 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB Controller (EHCI)
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 14)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 IDE
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RS690M [Radeon X1200 Series]
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)
03:01.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)
03:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 12)
03:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)
03:01.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev ff)
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 01)
Could someone take a look at this and tell me what's up.

[stoat]

Hello StuRuckus,

That BCM94311MCG is a very commonly discussed card. I have seen threads where it worked with either ndiswrapper (http://fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=174265) or the b43 native driver (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=199678).

Just in case, ndiswrapper is software that acts like an adapter between Linux and the Windows driver for the card. The b43 native driver is a relatively new driver (since Fedora 7) that is included with Fedora kernels nowadays. It uses firmware "extracted" from an appropriate Broadcom driver to operate the card. Both methods work well. I have a Broadcom card also (4306) and occasionally switch back and forth between these two methods. Currently, and for the longest time now, I have been using b43. But that's just me.

If you read through those two links above or/and search for BCM94311MCG here, you will have plenty to read and lots of details and step-by-steps. If you get bogged down after trying to teach it to yourself or following what others did in those links, return here to tell what you have tried or gotten done and what is wrong.

P.S.: And I almost forgot this... Dangermouse's autonine script (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=171660) is reported to work (and simplify driver installation) for this card. I'm fairly certain of that (check it out).

[StuRuckus]

Thanks, i'll let you know what happens.

[StuRuckus]

Awesome, ok, check this out. I followed the instructions to the letter had it all working and gave my buddies laptop back, somehow he managed to get the wired network not to work, and I have no idea how. So if there is a quick fix other than reinstall could you let me know?