Broadcom BCM4318 Not always starting at Boot

Internet Connectivity
21

LXLE Which I believe is built on Lubuntu, and I chose 12.04 to get the 1.11.3 sis Driver, otherwise graphics are all bad. Yes, the b43 Driver is not included in most distro’s even 12.04’s, that is one reason why I choose this one, because it has it. I also re-edited the /etc/modules to include all 17 “lp’s” in the list just to see if that would fix it lol, but did not help.

-Aspire-3000:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: pcpunk-Aspire-3000 Kernel: 3.2.0-98-generic i686 (32 bit gcc: 4.6.3)
           Desktop: LXDE (Openbox 3.5.2) Distro: Ubuntu 12.04 precise
Machine:   System: Acer (portable) product: Aspire 3000
           Mobo: Acer model: Lugano M Bios: Acer v: 3A32 date: 02/20/06
CPU:       Single core Mobile AMD Sempron 3100+ (-UP-) cache: 256 KB
           flags: (nx pae sse sse2 sse3) bmips: 1600 speed/max: 800/1800 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter
           bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.11.3 drivers: sis (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1280x800@60.0hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 0x300)
           GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.4 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS7012 AC'97 Sound Controller
           driver: snd_intel8x0 ports: 1400 1c80 bus-ID: 00:02.7
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: 1.0.24
Network:   Card-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet
           driver: sis900 port: 1800 bus-ID: 00:04.0
           IF: eth0 state: unknown speed: 10 Mbps duplex: half
           mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller
           driver: b43-pci-bridge bus-ID: 00:0b.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 80.0GB (16.1% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD800BEVE size: 80.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 15G used: 4.8G (34%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-2: /home size: 17G used: 4.7G (29%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 3.04GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 51.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 134 Uptime: 12 min Memory: 221.7/1380.0MB
           Init: Upstart runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.6.3
           Client: Shell (bash 4.2.251) inxi: 2.2.28 
-Aspire-3000:~$

Here is the output when wireless did not start at boot, had to press the wireless button after waiting to see if it would start.

lsmod no wireless

-Aspire-3000:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
nvram                  14029  0 
msr                    12772  0 
ip6t_LOG               16846  4 
joydev                 17393  0 
xt_hl                  12465  6 
ip6t_rt                12473  3 
nf_conntrack_ipv6      13581  7 
nf_defrag_ipv6         13175  1 nf_conntrack_ipv6
snd_intel8x0           33455  2 
ipt_REJECT             12512  1 
snd_ac97_codec        110213  1 snd_intel8x0
ipt_LOG                12783  5 
ac97_bus               12642  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm                80916  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
xt_limit               12541  12 
xt_tcpudp              12531  18 
xt_addrtype            12596  4 
snd_seq_midi           13132  0 
xt_state               12514  14 
parport_pc             32114  0 
bnep                   17830  2 
ppdev                  12849  0 
psmouse                97340  0 
bluetooth             158447  7 bnep
snd_rawmidi            25424  1 snd_seq_midi
ip6table_filter        12711  1 
binfmt_misc            17292  1 
serio_raw              13027  0 
ip6_tables             22528  3 ip6t_LOG,ip6t_rt,ip6table_filter
dm_multipath           22747  0 
k8temp                 12905  0 
snd_seq_midi_event     14475  1 snd_seq_midi
nf_conntrack_netbios_ns    12585  0 
nf_conntrack_broadcast    12541  1 nf_conntrack_netbios_ns
snd_seq                51592  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
pcmcia                 39826  0 
nf_nat_ftp             12595  0 
nf_nat                 24959  1 nf_nat_ftp
snd_timer              28931  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device         14172  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
nf_conntrack_ipv4      19084  9 nf_nat
nf_defrag_ipv4         12649  1 nf_conntrack_ipv4
nf_conntrack_ftp       13183  1 nf_nat_ftp
nf_conntrack           73847  8 nf_conntrack_ipv6,xt_state,nf_conntrack_netbios_ns,nf_conntrack_broadcast,nf_nat_ftp,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack_ftp
iptable_filter         12706  1 
arc4                   12473  2 
ip_tables              18106  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               22011  13 ip6t_LOG,xt_hl,ip6t_rt,ipt_REJECT,ipt_LOG,xt_limit,xt_tcpudp,xt_addrtype,xt_state,ip6table_filter,ip6_tables,iptable_filter,ip_tables
yenta_socket           27428  0 
pcmcia_rsrc            18367  1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core            21511  3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,pcmcia_rsrc
mac_hid                13077  0 
b43                   342801  0 
snd                    62250  11 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
mac80211              436544  1 b43
cfg80211              178877  2 b43,mac80211
bcma                   25651  1 b43
shpchp                 32265  0 
soundcore              14635  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         14115  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
i2c_sis96x             12743  0 
lp                     17455  0 
parport                40930  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
dm_raid45              76451  0 
xor                    25987  1 dm_raid45
dm_mirror              21822  0 
dm_region_hash         16100  1 dm_mirror
dm_log                 18193  3 dm_raid45,dm_mirror,dm_region_hash
btrfs                 638545  0 
zlib_deflate           26622  1 btrfs
libcrc32c              12543  1 btrfs
vesafb                 13516  1 
ssb                    50691  1 b43
sis900                 22729  0 
pcpunk@pcpunk-Aspire-3000:~$

I guess I can Copy Paste right from Terminal also?

22

Next time it boots without wireless copy the output from the following to a text file:

nmcli nm status

and

iwconfig

and

iwlist scan

and

rfkill list

then reboot to get wireless working agian … then post the contents of that text file back here

[edit

In fact can you post the output from those commands from both a working, and a non-working session

.

23

Sorry, bad Post. Did not see a way to Abort.

24

Hope I got all you wanted. The first is Without Wireless as labeled. In my editing/creating these files, I got the order messed up, hope it’s okay. It all seems readable so will leave it.

Without Wireless

Aspire-3000:~$ iwconfig
lo        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
          
eth0      no wireless extensions.

Aspire-3000:~$ iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0     Failed to read scan data : Network is down

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

Aspire-3000:~$ nmcli nm status
RUNNING         STATE           WIFI-HARDWARE   WIFI       WWAN-HARDWARE   WWAN      
running         disconnected    disabled        disabled   enabled         disabled  
Aspire-3000:~$ 

Aspire-3000:~$ rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: yes

With Wireless

With Wireless

Aspire-3000:~$ nmcli nm status
RUNNING         STATE           WIFI-HARDWARE   WIFI       WWAN-HARDWARE   WWAN      
running         connected       enabled         enabled    enabled         disabled  

Aspire-3000:~$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"CMAFREEINT2"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 58:6D:8F:AF:37:57   
          Bit Rate=18 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=67/70  Signal level=-43 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:1  Invalid misc:33   Missed beacon:0

eth0      no wireless extensions.

Aspire-3000:~$ iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 58:6D:8F:AF:37:57
                    Channel:1
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Quality=65/70  Signal level=-45 dBm  
                    Encryption key:off
                    ESSID:"CMAFREEINT2"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=00000074a4385104
                    Extra: Last beacon: 3180ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: 000B434D4146524545494E5432
                    IE: Unknown: 010882848B962430486C
                    IE: Unknown: 030101
                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                    IE: Unknown: 2F0100
                    IE: Unknown: 32040C121860
                    IE: Unknown: 2D1AFC181BFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 3D1601001300000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 4A0E14000A002C01C800140005001900
                    IE: Unknown: 7F0101
                    IE: Unknown: DD7F0050F204104A00011010440001021041000100103B00010310470010AF1C89F718713297A7BB03CCAF93A4A410210005436973636F1023000D4C696E6B7379732045323530301024000776312E302E30321042000234321054000800060050F20400011011000D4C696E6B737973204532353030100800020084103C000103
                    IE: Unknown: DD090010180208F0040000
                    IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

Aspire-3000:~$ rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

After thinking about this, I could have posted With and Without one after the other to make it easier to compare, would that have been better?
Thanks NastyCodes

25

No that’s fine like it is.

it seems the wireless is switch off in hardware (hardblocked)…

Is this a dual boot machine (windows + Linux) ?

Is there a pattern to this … ie. from a cold boot (power off) it boots without wireless, but a warm reboot (no power off) and wireless works ?

And:-

a) are you sure just hitting the key combo that toggles wireless doesn’t just enable wireless ?
and/or
b) is there a BIOS setting to start with wireless enabled ?

26

Answers in Blue above.

Un-commenting that one Line that I posted won’t help? Once this is how I like it I will create a Custom iso along with the notes to do it again of course. Then will test the custom iso.

Thanks, NastyCodes