HP dv6000 wireless won't work

[ttx336]

As I said above my wireless won't work in my HP dv6000 laptop; I get an error that says:

system-config-network
Cannot activate network device wlan0!
SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory failed

I ran lspci but I can't find where I wrote down the output from it and currently FC9 is not on the machine, I must reinstall it once I get the Vista intallation backed up. Vista only reports:

Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN

but that doesn't tell me much; there must be a better description but I don't have it right now. I had tried installing FC5 and later FC7 on this machine but I could not even get this far with the wireless so at least this is progress! I will reinstall FC9 in the next few days but if someone can tell me something about the error and what I might do about it I would sure appreciate it. I have been trying to use Fedora on my laptops for almost two years but I keep running into this wireless issue.

Thanks,

Gary

[sanjay_ankur]

hi,

cant exactly pin point the problem.. have you tried ndiswrapper with the windows driver for this??

regards,

Ankur

[bbfuller]

Hello ttx336

Those particular messages only appear if you are trying to control your card through "Gnome System Menu - Administration - Network", identified as 'Network Configuration' on its title bar.

In Fedora 9 the default for controlling wireless cards is NetworkManager, a completely different program. It lines on the top Gnome Panel in the Notification Area to the left of the clock.

If you left click on it, it shows available wireless networks, left clicking on one of those prompts for your encryption key.

Because NetworkManager is the default, it actively prevents Network Configuration working with the card leading to the error messages you see.

Having got as far as you did with the card, I presume you were using either the built in b43 driver or ndiswrapper.

b43 is the best choice for cards it supports, 4303, 4306, 4309, 4311, 4312 and 4318. ndiswrapper will be necessary for the rest.

b43 comes in two variants each of which require you to cut different firmware.

You can find just what broadcom card you have by running:

/sbin/lspci

from a terminal. If you want to talk about this further please post back with that information.

Incidentally, I've got a 4306 and a 4318 running here with the b43 driver and they work well.

[ttx336]

Hello bbfuller,

I repartitioned the hard drive tonight and will reload FC9 on the machine tomorrow night and I will try what you suggested. I had a similar problem for a while when I was using Linksys' utilities to configure my wireless card, it was a real pain if I was able to get it to work at all. Once Linksys told me to stop using their stuff and use Windows to configure them I have had no more problems. I am excited about the prospect of getting this working on my laptop since as I said above I have been trying for 2 years.

I will report back what I find once the reinstall is done.

Thanks,
Gary

[ttx336]

bbfuller,

I reinstalled FC9 and I had some major issues getting Vista to dual boot using NeoSmart but I got it got late tonight. I still cannot get the wireless working. I disabled the Network Manager but I still get the same error message. Here is the output from lspci:

00:00.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP65 Memory Controller (rev a3)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP65 LPC Bridge (rev a3)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation MCP65 SMBus (rev a1)
00:01.3 Co-processor: nVidia Corporation MCP65 SMU (rev a1)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP65 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP65 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:06.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation MCP65 Ethernet (rev a3)
00:07.0 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP65 High Definition Audio (rev a1)
00:08.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP65 PCI bridge (rev a1)
00:09.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP65 IDE (rev a1)
00:0a.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP65 SATA Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 045b (rev a1)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP65 PCI Express bridge (rev a1)
00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP65 PCI Express bridge (rev a1)
00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP65 PCI Express bridge (rev a1)
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
03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 02)
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8400M GS (rev a1)
07:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)
07:05.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)
07:05.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 12)
07:05.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)
07:05.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev ff)

Gary

[wvn]

see my last post

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forum/...d.php?t=198455

[bbfuller]

Hello wvn

I'm not sure if the link you posted above means that you've installed ndiswrapper again?

The output from your lspci command indicates that you have the Broadcom 4311 card in your computer and the usual recommendation for that would be to download just one file for the firmware, use a program included in Fedora to cut the firmware and then use NetworkManager to control the card.

It's the easier method as it doesn't need updating each time the Fedora kernel changes.

If you would like the notes for doing that post back.

You would have to either uninstall ndiswrapper or blacklist it and reinstate NetworkManager for the best chance of success though.

[wvn]

Originally Posted by bbfuller

Hello wvn

I'm not sure if the link you posted above means that you've installed ndiswrapper again?

The output from your lspci command indicates that you have the Broadcom 4311 card in your computer and the usual recommendation for that would be to download just one file for the firmware, use a program included in Fedora to cut the firmware and then use NetworkManager to control the card.

It's the easier method as it doesn't need updating each time the Fedora kernel changes.

If you would like the notes for doing that post back.

You would have to either uninstall ndiswrapper or blacklist it and reinstate NetworkManager for the best chance of success though.

Hi. I too own Dv6000 and thats how i got my system up and running in 5mins. The bwfcutter (i think its called like this) can only transmit at a speed of 11mb (wlan & wifi) so i choose ndiswrapper

[bbfuller]

Hello wvn

I think you are guilty of purveying out of date and incomplete information here.

There used to be a bcm43xx driver and it used bcm43xx-fwcutter. That was unreliable and may have only connected at 11Mbs.

Fedora has used the new and reliable b43 driver since Fedora 8 at least. b43 uses the b43-fwcutter and in the connection dialogues reckons that it has connected at 54Mbs. That said data transfer is never anwhere near headline figures either for wired or wireless networks but my b43 driven cards regularly transfer at greater speeds than is possible with 11Mbs networking.

[ttx336]

My goal in all of this is to find a viable alternative to Windows, if I have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this working then I will wait a while longer to see if Fedora can ever get the wireless issue sorted. I have searched forums and bought books on Linux/Fedora but it is proving to be quite a lot of time and effort (see my other recent posts). Some things work so much better than Windows but others are tough to figure out.

I did notice last night that SELinux was getting involved in some way when I was connecting the wired network to the laptop, is it possible that it is interfering?

Thanks,
Gary

[bbfuller]

Hello ttx336

I think you need to look at it this way.

If you buy a machine with Windows preinstalled you get a false impression of how easy things are. The manufacturer has done all the hard work for you.

Consider the case of a machine where the wireless card has died and you need to install a new one. There you are going to have to jump through hoops. If you bought the wireless card off e-bay say, then you might have to download a wireless driver off the manufacturers website.

With Linux, we install it on the machine, we have to make the hardware work with Linux. Some of the time, take a lot of printers for instance, installing one of those will be easier than in Windows.

Some wireless cards are easy, some are difficult. Your 4311 wireless should be easy though Fedora sometimes throws in a few obstacles of its own.

My two broadcom cards that I use with the method I recommend for you, I download one file, do the Linux equivalent of unzip it, run one command in a terminal against it and away it goes. Easier than windows as most of the control software (NetworkManager) is built into Linux and you don't end up having to decide if you want - or need - to install the manufacturers own control software.

If you specifically want wireless that works without intervention then you have to do research before you buy. The criteria for including all of the bits to make it work in Fedora is that there should be no licence restrictions. That means the file you need to download for a broadcom card will never be included. Intel 3945 and 4965 cards and some others place no restrictions on their software. It's included and their cards just work.

I really do think though that if you are not prepared for a few hoops then Fedora, and possibly Linux, are not for you. Linux is still a niche market and until manufacturers take it seriously the way they do Windows and develop software for their products, then we shall always be hoop jumping.

As you still haven't said just how you are trying to drive your card I can't comment on what SELinux might be saying.

[ttx336]

Hi bbfuller,

I followed a set of instructions that I believe you gave to a guy named majdi, they were were step-by-step and very clear and it is working, in fact I am using it right now so thank you. What I liked and what made me comfortable with the instructions was that each step gave a reason for what was being done, that helps me learn. And yes, you are right after going through it, it was no more than downloading a file unzipping it and installing it. I was getting confused by all of the ndiswrapper stuff, I couldn't tell what I was supposed to do and I have resisted using the ndiswrapper, I wanted to use the native Linux drivers if at all possible.

I am not looking for something that does not need some intervention, I actually enjoy working with computers and cars and machines, always have. I just feel so "in the dark" most of the time. I have bought a couple of books to help me learn Fedora but they have not helped as much as I had hoped. Back in the late 80s when I learned DOS I bought books and was able to get up to speed pretty quick. But I can't seem to find what I am looking for, for instance I cannot find a listing of the most basic commands like how to do a directory listing or make and remove directories, I figure them out eventually but some kind of a reference guide would help. Stoat ( a member of this forum ) recommended one tonight that I am going to look for.

BTW I am getting an error from the package updater: org.freedesktop.packagekit.update-system auth_admin_keep_always I Googled it and searched on here for it but so far I have not found anyone that has solved it. I have never gotten this error before and I want to get the system updated.

Thank you so much for your help getting the wireless working, I have been trying to get this going for almost two years.

Gary

Edit: I found the answer by doing a little more complete search, the problem was that I was still looged in as root.

[bbfuller]

Hello Gary,

Glad you've got it working.

I know what you mean about easy access to information though, it sometimes feels like you are swimming through pea soup!!

I used to buy quite a lot of computer books - still do I suppose. Problem is, if you only have one it's never going to have everything in it, if you have more you can never remember which has what you want in it, and I suppose most of us who don't do this professionally don't use various commands often enough to remember them or their syntax.

I was going to recommend the o'Reilly book "Linux in a Nutshell" as a command reference. It's certainly one of my more used books. But looking online I found a large part of it here:

http://www.oreillynet.com/linux/cmd/

They also do three other books that I refer to quite often.

Running Linux
Linux in a Windows World
Linux Cookbook

Might be worth looking at the synopsis on their site to see if they appeal to you.

Bernard

[ttx336]

Bernard,

It's much like having a clock, then you always know what time it is; but when you have more than one clock, you never know what time it is! he he he

I will check out the website before I rush out and buy another book.

Thanks,
Gary

[wvn]

Originally Posted by bbfuller

Hello wvn

I think you are guilty of purveying out of date and incomplete information here.

There used to be a bcm43xx driver and it used bcm43xx-fwcutter. That was unreliable and may have only connected at 11Mbs.

Fedora has used the new and reliable b43 driver since Fedora 8 at least. b43 uses the b43-fwcutter and in the connection dialogues reckons that it has connected at 54Mbs. That said data transfer is never anwhere near headline figures either for wired or wireless networks but my b43 driven cards regularly transfer at greater speeds than is possible with 11Mbs networking.

Thanks so much for the update. I really didn't know that the b43 has reached the 54Mb. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks again