upgrade from Lubuntu 12 LTS to Lubuntu 14 LTS on old desktop?

[Aere Greenway]

Richard:

The fact that it notifies you that wireless networks are available 
indicates the hardware is now working.

I have never used any automated configuration, or the button on the 
wireless dongle to configure.  I don't know how to make it work that way.

But I have always (once it gets to where it says wireless networks are 
available), been able to manually configure the wireless.

to do that, you first click on the wireless icon at the right of the 
task-bar (it's a left-click).

It then shows you a bunch of wireless routers within range of the 
receiver it has detected.  The wireless router you use (its SSID name, 
which you can get if you look at the configuration you set up for your 
wireless router).  Click (left) on that one.

If it is already configured, it will just connect to it.  But where it 
is not yet configured, a window appears, where you enter your wireless 
(WPA/WPA2) pass-phrase for connecting to the network.  If your wireless 
network uses WEP, that's where you enter your WEP code as well.  By the 
length and content of the pass-phrase, it can distinguish between 
WPA/WPA2 and WEP.

If nobody is looking over your shoulder to discover the pass-phrase, 
click the check-box for it to show you what you're typing, so you get it 
right (you then have to click on the text-box where you type the 
pass-phrase).

Type in your pass-phrase, and click the button to process the data and 
connect (I forgot what it's called - possibly "Connect").  You might be 
able to just press the enter-key to do the same thing.

It will 'churn' for awhile, and it should then connect, assuming you 
typed the pass-phrase correctly.  It should thereafter connect 
automatically when you reboot, and are within range of that wireless 
router.

You can edit existing wireless network configurations using 
Menu...Preferences...Network Connections, if necessary.  I had to do 
that when I changed long ago from WEP to WPA.

I have a number of machines where I have to install b43-fwcutter and 
firmware-b43-installer, and once I reboot after having done so, It works 
fine for me.

The way I get around the problem of needing to install the two packages 
without Internet access, is I plug-in a wireless dongle not needing 
those packages, and use that for Internet access installing the 
packages.  But you could always move the machine to within-reach of an 
Ethernet cable from the wireless router.

I hope that helps.

- Aere


On 08/09/2015 09:20 AM, Richard H. McCullough wrote:
> I installed b43-fwcutter yesterday.
> I installed firmware-b43-installer just now.
>
> Output of lsusb is attached.
> Output of usb-devices is attached.
>
> When I uplug Ethernet cable, I get internet disconnected message.
> When I look at Interfaces, I see
>       Bytes Received        0
>       Bytes Sent                0
>       Network Name (SSID)      blank -- should be 2WIRE155
>       Bit Rate                     0 Mb/s
>       Transmission Power    Unknown
>       Mode                        Managed
>       Status                        0
>       Link Quality              0
>       Signal / Noise           0/46166446
>
> When I reboot
> 1) I get upper right corner message saying
>     WiFi networks available, use network menu
> 2) I push autoconnect button on Netgear WNA3100M
> 3) I have my Lenovo laptop logged on 192.168.1.254
>     Netgear WNA3100M shows as device e4:f4:c6:4c:5e:ce, IP 
> 192.168.1.68, status OFF
>     I enable WiFI Protected Setup, then Push WPS Button Remotely, and get
>        "Errors" or "Successful Configuration"
>        but in either case Netgear WNA3100M is not connected
> 4) back on my Dell desktop
>     Network Settings show no DNS Servers and no Search Domains
>     because of weird display problem with Ubuntu 14.04, I not sure
>     if settings are really blank, or if my settings of
>            DNS      192.168.1.254
>            search  attlocal.net
>     are still there
>     Maybe manual setup would work (it did on Windows 8.1)
>     but I don't know how to do manual setup on Ubuntu 14.04


-- 
Sincerely,
Aere