Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

NYdell · 2023-08-26 18:48

I’m fairly new to Linux and this is my first time trying Q4os. I have a dell latitude d610 laptop that I’ve installed 32bit Q4os on and I’m unable to connect to wifi.

It has Broadcom 4318 [Airforce 54g] 802.11a/b/g PCI express with driver b43-pci-bridge installed. I connected through Ethernet and downloaded network manager from the software center.

I’m able to connect through Ethernet but this is a laptop and I need to connect wirelessly. My 5g network doesn’t even show up in activate a connection in nmtui. When I try to connect to my separate 2.4g network it doesn’t like my password. I will type it in correctly, it tries to connect, and then will ask me for the password again. It does this if I use WPA/WPA2 or WPA2 security. If I remove the password from the network completely. I receive an error stating “could not activate connection: activation failed: IP configuration could not be reserved (no available address, time-out, etc.)

Does anyone know what I’m missing to get wifi working here? Thanks in advance for the help!

Rademes · 2023-08-26 19:13

Please read carefully this topic: https://www.q4os.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4594
The topic starter has similar problem like you. Even the WiFi adapter is the same:
Device-2: Broadcom BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN
vendor: Dell driver: b43-pci-bridge v: N/A bus-ID: 02:03.0
This solution helped him: https://www.q4os.org/forum/viewtopic.ph … 143#p25143
Also, these topics may help you:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/339097/ … ot-connect
https://askubuntu.com/questions/55868/i … ss-drivers

Last edited by Rademes (2023-08-26 19:15)

NYdell · 2023-08-26 20:12

Thanks for the quick reply.

I've tried these two commands without success. I'll read through the other threads and report back.

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
sudo modprobe b43

NYdell · 2023-08-30 19:11

I went through all of those topics very carefully and I’m still getting the same errors connecting.

I specifically followed the details this thread https://askubuntu.com/questions/55868/i … ss-drivers

Confirming that I have model [14e4:4319] (rev 02) which requires both firmware-b43-installer and linux-firmware

When I try to install linux-firmware I receive and unable to locate package error. Is this my issue? I’m assuming the Linux firmware that’s installed is up to date…

firmware-b43-installer installs fine.

When I try to connect to my wifi (without a password) through the taskbar network manager icon or through terminal using the nmcli device wifi connect command I receive Connection activation failed: IP configuration could not be reserved attempt failed. IP configuration unavailable.

When I try to connect to my wifi (with a password) I receive Connection activation failed: Secrets were required but not provided. Even though I am providing the password in the shared key location on network manager or in the nmcli command line.

I’m using 3 TP-Link Deco AX3000 X55 mesh routers. Could this be a router issue? I’ve never had issues with any other devices and as mentioned before I have separate 5g and 2.4 SSIDs for better compatibility. This same PC connects fine when running windows XP or windows 8

Rademes · 2023-08-31 10:01

NYdell wrote:

When I try to install linux-firmware I receive and unable to locate package error. Is this my issue? I’m assuming the Linux firmware that’s installed is up to date…

I am sorry, I forgot to tell, that provided help topics are for Linux Ubuntu, but Q4OS is Linux Debian based distro, so the instructions in those topics may or may not work for you.
I have searched in Synaptic package manager, and yes, linux-firmware package is not available in Q4OS and Debian Bookworm repositories.

NYdell wrote:

I’m using 3 TP-Link Deco AX3000 X55 mesh routers. Could this be a router issue? I’ve never had issues with any other devices and as mentioned before I have separate 5g and 2.4 SSIDs for better compatibility. This same PC connects fine when running windows XP or windows 8

No, it is definitely not a router issue.

Unfortunately, I do not have a notebook with similar WiFi adapter as you, so I can not test it by myself, I can only point to the possible solutions in the Internet. I will try to search possible solution using model ID [14e4:4319], but I can not guarantee, that I will find the solution.

Update: OK, I have found another possible solution in Debian forum:
https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php … 09#p255234
The only thing, instead of sudo aptitude install b43-fwcutter, type sudo apt install b43-fwcutter.
And again, this solution may or may not work for you. The provided driver is very old (2009 or 2008 year) and it has been tested on very old 2.6.27 kernel, so it may not work with newest kernel version.

If none of solutions will work, I am afraid, the only way to get WiFi working will be to buy used Intel WiFi adapter for notebook, and change your existent Broadcom WiFi adapter to it. Intel WiFi adapters work better on Linux than another adapters.

Update2: There is a newer versions of drivers:
broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2 - http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/broa … 38.tar.bz2
b43-fwcutter-015.tar.bz2 - http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/b43- … 15.tar.bz2
It is better to use the newest versions instead of those in forum.

Last edited by Rademes (2023-08-31 12:10)

NYdell · 2023-09-01 20:15

Yes I tried using b43-fwcutter as well.

I just installed Lubuntu to see if I could get it working there and it does! I’m not sure what’s wrong with the Q4os version because I followed the exact same procedure? I think the computer runs quicker on Q4os so I would like it to get it working. There must be some kind of conflict that I’m not seeing.

NYdell · 2023-09-01 21:06

It’s funny. The wifi icon on the laptop is illuminated immediately on a fresh install of Q4os but not with lubuntu. After completing the modprobe -r b43, modprobe b43 and sudo reboot commands does the icon illuminate and find wifi signals with Lubuntu

Rademes · 2023-09-02 16:23

NYdell wrote:

Yes I tried using b43-fwcutter as well.
I just installed Lubuntu to see if I could get it working there and it does! I’m not sure what’s wrong with the Q4os version because I followed the exact same procedure?

I am not surprised at all. Lubuntu is based on Linux Ubuntu, but Q4OS is based on Linux Debian. They have different kernels, different package base, different apps preinstalled, so the driver installation procedure also may be different.
It is like trying to repair BMW X5 engine using the manual from BMW 530...and then wonder, why the "repaired" engine does not start.

Last edited by Rademes (2023-09-02 16:27)

GuestStar · 2023-09-18 18:42

I'm trying my best here to be diplomatic enough not to annoy anyone I have been struggling with Broadcom issues for a very long time, probably since when I first tried to get wifi working in Linux. Google for Broadcom issues on Linux and you'll see what it's about and for how long there have been issues in every distro.

Broadcom wireless cards are notorius for their support in Linux. The point is, these days they are mostly supported, but for some obscure and irrational reason they are often not identified correctly and a wrong driver is loaded. Poof, there is no wifi. You'll first have to identify your card (in my recent case, it's a (HP) Broadcom BCM43142 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4365] (rev 01) Wifi / Bluetooth combo card), then find out which one(s) of the several drivers support it (in my case, for reference see https://wiki.debian.org/wl, it's the wl driver, also known as the broadcom-sta driver). Then you'll have to modprobe -r the wrong driver(s, yes, there can be several of them loaded) loaded by default (forgot which one it was in this POS HP), blacklist it and the rest of the incompatible Broadcom driver bunch, download (how, there is no internet?) the right driver, compile it and load it. The funny part is that whenever the kernel is updated you might have to redo this part but you'll have it in your download folder already.

The download problem can be circumvented pretty easily (use the wired ethernet, tether internet from your phone via USB or Bluetooth or use a USB dongle with drivers baked in the kernel) and I have purchased a USB dongle for this. If you take the same approach, search for Raspberry Pi certified stuff, they might be slow but they work. Mine is Wi-Pi branded, FCC ID OYR-COMFAST88, and it Just Works.

It seems to me that almost all the other cards except the ones that are supported only by the wl driver (like in my case) have the right driver installed. If the wl driver is the only one supporting your card, some other Broadcom driver, dependind on which card you have, seems to be installed and it just won't work. The probable reason in my opinion is that the cards which are supported only by the wl driver need a non-free binary blob (firmware) and because reasons, the driver is not included by default. For some other distros, there seem to exist solutions like a script that does the trick. For example here is one for Kali: https://gist.github.com/torresashjian/7 … b0d686de0a

I'd suggest including something like this in the ISO. By doing that Q4OS would be the only distro supporting those suckers OOB. Or if not OOB, then at least have a fool-proof step-by-step instruction set to follow to make them work, including a script like the Kali one to run. Something like

1. See which Broadcom card you have by running the command sudo lspci -vvnn | grep -A 9 Network (Not needed if the script in step 4 is good enough.)
2. See which driver out of the several different ones support your particular card by checking out the page yyy at zzz. The Broadcom issues have made people create lists and they are all over the internet for your reference. (Not needed if the script in step 4 is good enough.)
3. Gain internet access by ethernet, by tethering from your phone via USB, by tethering from your phone via Bluetooth or via a USB dongle (and instructions for each)
4 Run the script xyz, sitting in your Downloads folder from CLI by performing these steps 1..2..3.. <- this script is what we are missing!
5 Shut down, remove the optional physical means to get the internet, boot and enjoy.

The currently nonexistant script should check which exact Broadcom card is installed, if it is soft/hard blocked and if so, unblock it, remove possibly installed wrong drivers and blacklist them, and then install the right driver out of the several ones floating around. My guess is that if the card is supported by a driver which is NOT the wl driver, it's just blocked, by a hardware switch or soft blocked and the right driver is already installed. If supported only by the wl driver, then it needs something else than just unblocking - the binary blob and blacklisting the falsely loaded wrong driver(s). My programming skills are not what they used to be so... anyone else? Maybe a fork of the Kali work here would do the trick. I perform these steps manually every time and I always swear never getting another computer with a Broadcom card and yet I keep finding them all over again in my to-do-pile.

Or maybe this could be a program installable and runnable from the software installer? Dunno, all I have is half-baked ideas.

bin · 2023-09-19 07:11

b43 and b43-legacy are blacklisted in /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-dkms

It's worth editing and # the lines.

Last edited by bin (2023-09-19 07:15)

BonusBrain · 2023-10-15 07:46

This is an issue I encounter too on a regular basis since I need to work with a range of different hardware. Ultimately I keep a D-Link DWA-123 Wi-Fi adapter and use that since it works with everything I've used bar just one. Yes it's not ideal and it does take up a USB port but it is a solution. Not all adapters are equal though. Some tp-link and anatel adapters popular in my part of the world also require additional drivers for Debian.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2023-08-26 18:48

Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#2 2023-08-26 19:13

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#3 2023-08-26 20:12

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#4 2023-08-30 19:11

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#5 2023-08-31 10:01

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#6 2023-09-01 20:15

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#7 2023-09-01 21:06

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#8 2023-09-02 16:23

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#9 2023-09-18 18:42

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#10 2023-09-19 07:11

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

#11 2023-10-15 07:46

Re: Can’t connect to wifi dell D610

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