How to Get Wireless Working with Ubuntu 9.04 Again

The latest release of Ubuntu Linux has made a variety of improvements over the previous version 8.10, release six months ago. Although 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope has improved its hardware support overall, many users are reporting problems with getting their wireless adapters to work correctly after a clean install of 9.04 despite wireless working out of the box on previous releases of Ubuntu. In most cases the adapter is detected and can be seen in the NetworkManager Applet in GNOME, but no wireless networks appear.

I had this problem while installing Ubuntu on my Evo N610c. The wireless PCMCIA card I am using is a WPC54G (revision 1). I also tried a Netgear MA401 and a 3COM 3CRWE73796B wireless B cards as well. All had the same problems, and all worked when I previously have used 8.04 or 8.10 of Ubuntu or Xubuntu. I also found I had the same problem with my work laptop, a Dell C600.

After a little bit of research online I noticed that this was a common problem, and many people were having trouble getting their wireless to work with 9.04. It seemed to be a common problem, esecially with people using Broadcom wireless adapters.

What was needed is to use the proprietary drivers for the Broadcom wireless cards. This can be done by going under System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers and enabling the Broadcom B43 Legacy Driver. When I first went here after a clean installation, there were no drivers listed however.

I ended up getting the driver to appear under Hardware Drivers by updating the system, updating APT, and updating Synaptic. Whether doing all of this may not be necessary, once completed the Broadcom B43 Legacy Driver appeared under Hardware Drivers. To do all of these, do the following bellow. you will likely need to connect your computer to the internet using ethernet unless you have another wireless card that is working.

Update the System:

Open System -> Administration -> Update Manager

Update Apt:

Open the terminal then type in: sudo apt-get update

Update Synaptic:

Open System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager then click "Reload" in the upper-right coner.

With any luck you should be able to see your proprietary drivers listed. In the case of the WPC54G, the Boadcom B43 Legacy Driver.

If you do not see your driver listed then there are few other things you can try. Keep in mind that what I did is assuming that your Wireless card worked in a previous release of Ubuntu.

The first thing to do is look up and see if anyone else has had the same problem that you do. Good places to search are the Ubuntu Forums and Google.

If you can not find any information there it is also a good idea to go to your card manufacture's website to see if they have any official Linux drivers. If your card is onboard then try your PC manufacture's website.

If no official drivers exist then try and see if your card is supported by the MadWifi drivers.

If MadWifi doesn't support your card, the final option you can try to get your card working is by using Ndiswrapper. Ndiswrapper interfaces your card's Windows drivers with Linux. To use Ndiswrapper be sure to download your Windows drivers or have your driver CD and copy the drivers to a safe place on your hard drive. A tutorial for using Ndiswrapper in Ubuntu can be found here: [link] Another possibly easier way to install Ndiswrapper drivers is to go under Add/Remove programs, search for Ndiswrapper, and install Windows Wireless Drivers. With this program you can easily select and install your Windows drivers through a Graphical User Interface.