HowTo: Ubuntu Linux on HP Pavilion series laptops
5 Wireless
A) Intel Wireless (3945ABG, 4965ABGN)
On Ubuntu Linux Jaunty 9.04 and Karmic 9.10 the wireless subsystem is supported (all ABGN modes).
On Ubuntu Linux Intrepid 8.10 the wireless subsystem is supported. However I strongly suggest to install the backport modules which fix a severe bug with N mode which may lead to a kernel panic (system crash).
Drivers are now slipstremed into the Linux kernel (since 2.6.24). Developers site: http://intellinuxwireless.org
To install the linux backports modules open a terminal and type
sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-jaunty
or for intrepid
sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-intrepid
Note for Ubuntu Hardy 8.04:
with an Intel PRO/Wireless adapters some users have noticed, that after killing the wireless adapter with the kill switch or resume from standby/suspension, it won’t come up again, when I re-enable it. Until a reboot. However, reloading the iwlagn kernel module (the wireless adapter driver), it works again! To achieve this either untick and tick again the ‘enable wireless’ on the right-click menu of network-manager or use this command. (thanks Nicolas!)
sudo modprobe -r iwlagn && sudo modprobe iwlagn
B) Broadcom wireless
On Ubuntu Linux Jaunty 9.04 and Karmic 9.10 Broadcom wireless drivers are supported through System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers
With previous Ubuntu versions there was no native support, they worked through two workarounds: ndiswrapper and b43-fwcutter. Nowadays b43 driver has merged into linuxwireless.org project and you should first try simply installing kernel backports, then manually installing modules form latest linuxwireless stable package.
Further reading about supported devices here: http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43
Blacklist your existing not working drivers by editing blacklist file and inserting the affecting modules names
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
append to the file:
blacklist b43legacy blacklist b43
I strongly suggest at first to try installing the backport modules since many drivers are often backported to stable OS versions:
sudo aptitude install linux-backports-modules-jaunty
or
sudo aptitude install linux-backports-modules-intrepid
you need to reboot before being able to test your device.
If those drivers haven’t been backported yet you have to download and manually install b43 drivers.
Download latest stable drivers and install them:
wget http://wireless.kernel.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2 sudo tar -jxvf compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2 cd compat-wireless-[DRIVERS DATE] make sudo make install sudo make unload sudo make load
Remember you also need the firmware for your device to work.
This provided with package linux-firmware
sudo apt-get install linux-firmware
however if your device still doesn’t work (since the required firmware is not shipped in this package yet) you may follow these steps in order to download and load it:
Use version 011 of b43-fwcutter.
Download, extract the b43-fwcutter tarball and build it:
wget http://bu3sch.de/b43/fwcutter/b43-fwcutter-011.tar.bz2 tar xjf b43-fwcutter-011.tar.bz2 cd b43-fwcutter-011 make cd ..
Use version 4.150.10.5 of Broadcom’s proprietary driver.
Download and extract the firmware from this driver tarball:
export FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR="/lib/firmware" wget http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2 tar xjf broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2 cd broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5/driver sudo ../../b43-fwcutter-011/b43-fwcutter -w "$FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR" wl_apsta_mimo.o
Reboot your computer.
If you have internet access install b43-fwcutter
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter
You can download the windows drivers here (these are for a Broadcom BCM 4328 but should work for all the series) then extract the archive in folder bcm4328 in your home directory.
Locate into bcm4328 folder file bcmwl5.sys and do
sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware bcm4328/bcmwl5.sys
sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware/`uname -r` bcm4328/bcmwl5.sys
reboot
Install ndiswrapper and follow the procedure:
sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-utils
sudo ndiswrapper -i $HOME/broadcom/DRIVER_EN/bcmwl5.inf
sudo ndiswrapper -l
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
To make ndiswrapper automatically run at each startup:
sudo ndiswrapper -m
OR we can add ndiswrapper module to boot modprobed drivers
gksu cat ndiswrapper >> /etc/modules
At next bootup your Broadcom wireless card will be recognized!
Jlandaw has written a comprehensive guide on this issue here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4808350 also worth reading is http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=185174
NOTE: a serious issue has been reported by users and acknowledged by HP concerning not only the wireless card but also the motherboard. This affects model versions
HP Pavilion series with model numbers between dv60xx and dv63xx; between dv90xx and dv93xx; Compaq Presario series between V60xx and V63xx, also some dv2000 like dv2312us.
The core issue is that the wireless card can often lose the signal and display an orange led light. More on the technical issues can be found here where you can also find a link for the RMA procedure, even though your warranty has expired (being a technical design flaw).
Despite that being a win only technical support forum it’s not difficult to implement the workarounds in linux too: you should first update the BIOS (from a windows partition possibly) and the try updating also the wireless driver (downloading them from your HP model support page).
Not being supported by any linux driver, ndiswrapper enables you to use the latest up-to-date windows drivers. You can remove previous drivers from ndiswrapper and install the new ones.
C) Atheros wireless
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter and others
On Ubuntu Linux Jaunty 9.04 and Karmic 9.10 Atheros wireless drivers are supported through System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers.
On Ubuntu Linux Intrepid 8.10 and Hardy 7.04 this wireless card is not supported, to make latest Atheros wireless cards work in Ubuntu linux:
Blacklist your existing not working drivers by editing blacklist file and inserting the affecting modules names
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
append to the file:
blacklist ath_pci blacklist ath_hal
I strongly suggest at first to try installing the backport modules since many drivers are often backported to stable OS versions:
sudo aptitude install linux-backports-modules-jaunty
or
sudo aptitude install linux-backports-modules-intrepid
you need to reboot before being able to test your device.
If those drivers haven’t been backported yet you have to download and manually install madwifi drivers.
Download latest stable drivers and install them:
wget http://wireless.kernel.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2 sudo tar -jxvf compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2 cd compat-wireless-[DRIVERS DATE] make sudo make install sudo make unload sudo make load
Reboot your computer.