Another wireless problem, firmware installed but won't turn on

English Network/Internet
1

I recently inherited a Dell Inspiron E1505 and decided to toss SUSE 11.3 on it to test it out. Unfortunately, like many others my wireless doesn’t work. I’ve installed the firmware and it seems to have installed correctly, but it doesn’t work. Most notably, the little wireless LED isn’t on, and hitting Fn+F2 does absolutely nothing. I’ve been pawing through Google, but nothing seems to help. I’m hoping the folks here might have a better idea. I went through the stickies, but they didn’t solve the problem. I’ve included all suggested commands and their outputs.

marcus@linux-ak43:/etc> /sbin/lspci
…]
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 01)

marcus@linux-ak43:/etc> /sbin/lspci -n
…]
0b:00.0 0280: 14e4:4311 (rev 01)

marcus@linux-ak43:/etc> dmesg | grep Broadcom
7.091699] b44 ssb1:0: eth0: Broadcom 44xx/47xx 10/100BaseT Ethernet 00:19:b9:61:71:c2
7.194314] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4311 WLAN found (core revision 10)
7.335759] Broadcom 43xx driver loaded Features: PMLS, Firmware-ID: FW13 ]

marcus@linux-ak43:/etc> dmesg | grep b43
6.979657] b43-pci-bridge 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
6.979671] b43-pci-bridge 0000:0b:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
7.194314] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4311 WLAN found (core revision 10)
7.335623] Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
7.335646] Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
7.335665] Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio
242.252124] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/ucode5.fw
242.297402] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/pcm5.fw
242.301848] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/b0g0initvals5.fw
242.353530] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
242.469111] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 478.104 (2008-07-01 00:50:23)
242.516426] b43-phy0: Radio hardware status changed to DISABLED
242.520347] b43-phy0: Radio turned on by software
242.520357] b43-phy0: The hardware RF-kill button still turns the radio physically off. Press the button to turn it on.

marcus@linux-ak43:/etc> /usr/sbin/iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=off
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off

marcus@linux-ak43:/etc> sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan
root’s password:
lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.

wlan0 Interface doesn’t support scanning : Network is down

I’m guessing the problem is the “The hardware RF-kill button still turns the radio physically off.” part, but I have no idea of how to turn it on again since the button flat out doesn’t work. Any ideas?

2

Installing the firmware is done with

  sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware

But I had issues with it and just decided for the ‘wl’ driver from Packman
If you want to give that a try, tell me the result of: uname -a

3

The OP needs the dell-wmi module. If that is already loaded, then it is
defective for his model. That is the software that handles the Fn radio on/off
switch.

4

I ran lsmod and got:

marcus@linux-ak43:/etc> lsmod | grep dell
dell_laptop 5825 0
rfkill 17298 2 cfg80211,dell_laptop
dell_wmi 3096 0
dcdbas 7929 1 dell_laptop
wmi 7467 1 dell_wmi

So I have dell_wmi but it’s apparently defective. What can I do to make it not defective? Google didn’t tell me much.

5

On 08/12/2010 03:36 AM, MarsDragon wrote:
>
> lwfinger;2205205 Wrote:
>> The OP needs the dell-wmi module. If that is already loaded, then it is
>> defective for his model. That is the software that handles the Fn radio
>> on/off
>> switch.
>
> I ran lsmod and got:
>
> marcus@linux-ak43:/etc> lsmod | grep dell
> dell_laptop 5825 0
> rfkill 17298 2 cfg80211,dell_laptop
> dell_wmi 3096 0
> dcdbas 7929 1 dell_laptop
> wmi 7467 1 dell_wmi
>
> So I have dell_wmi but it’s apparently defective. What can I do to make
> it not defective? Google didn’t tell me much.

You can always find a contact with the command ‘modinfo <name_of_module>’. For
dell_wmi, that command returns “Matthew Garrett <mjg@redhat.com>”. He should be
able to help you troubleshoot the problem.

If and when, please report the solution back here.

6

Well, I tossed in an Ubuntu LiveCD in hopes I could make it do something. After pounding Fn+F2 in there for a bit wireless turned on, and stayed on after booting back into SUSE. I have no idea why, but it magically works now, down to Fn+F2 toggling wireless.