Broadcom Wireless Cards On Ubuntu 9.10 – How to do it offline!

 

First things first, I am not the guy who first suggested it, nor am I attempting to take credit for popularizing it. I only thing that a lot of Ubuntu newbies are a bit apprehensive of the whole Linux experience and tend to avoid it after the first snag in of using it. So here is the most painless way to get the Broadcom wireless card working in 9.10 without resorting to wired connections to the nearest Internet point to get the new one or fooling around with the various system folders in /etc . So here’s what you have to do, on a sheet of paper(low tech,eh?) write down the following module names – dkms, fakeroot, patch,(found in CD(USB) install source\pool'\ main each in a folder denoted by the first letter of the package) and b43-fwcutter (should be either in main or restricted).

Now,after the Great Leap Linuxward, you’ll notice that the WLAN card that used to work great in LiveCD mode suddenly is not even showing as “connected”. Now, you could try to activate the Driver from Hardware (Also useful for getting ATI or NVIDIA cards to start dishing out the eyecandy) and press activate. If it works,you should get a confirmation for a restart . Do it! If you’re one of the few lucky Ubuntu users who get their WLAN back by doing this, CONGRATS! If you’re one of the 99% of people who are experiencing problems, just start your ubuntu, navigate to the installation media and navigate to the previously mentioned .deb packages. Do a right click each of them and select the GDEBI option (should be second or third from the top) and install the first group in whatever order you wish, but the b43-fwcutter should be installed last! Now, restart the computer and you should be able to quickly check if the wireless card works just by A) pressing the on/off switch for the card , which should change its state ONLY if you did a successful installation or B) do a left click on the network icon in the upper right part of the the desktop and it should give you the list of detected wireless networks, enjoy!

On the plus side, Ubuntu 9.10 doesn’t have the same graphics problems as its predecessor! Also of note is that the audio for all those DELL’s, HP’s et all using the IDT sound card should work straight out of the installation as opposed to the 9.04 mega-tweak experience.

bk109 out helping the Linux newbies avoid the mistakes a certain someone did the last time Ubuntu, Fatigue and Whiskey came together ! :D