[ubuntu-uk] Problems with a freezing machine: All kernels in 12.04 and 13.04

[J Fernyhough]

On 22 August 2013 14:30, James Morrissey <morrissey.james1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> If i uninstall bcmwl-kernel-source, which of the following packages
> do i need to install in order to get my wireless working:
> firmware-b43-installer, firmware-b43-lppy-installer, b43-fwcutter, and/or
> firmware-b43legacy-installer. I ask because i have had other problems
> installing the wrong packages in 13.04 after trying to the the upstream
> kernel to work (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2140655) -
> ironically part of a vain attempt to resolve the freezing issue.
>

This depends on the card. I'd start with firmware-b43-installer. IIRC
it will complain if it's the wrong one for the card (but according to
the saucy package it lists the BCM4322 as compatible; not sure if this
is the same family as the BCM43228).

>
> I have thought of this and would be happy to be rid of this broadcom issue
> altogether - the only reason i have this card is because Lenovo replaced my
> previous faulty machine (which had an intel card) with a newer model, which
> only had a broadcom option. That said, forums tell me that with a laptop i
> need to make sure the wireless card is compatible with the rest of the
> machine's components. How do i check this to determine which intel card to
> buy? Lenovo support is so useless as to make me loath to try contact them
> about it.
>

It appears from a quick search that the only Intel-based card that is
included in the whitelist is "60Y3253 - Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
802.11a/b/g/n card (Intel 6205 chipset)" [1]. There's a possibility
that there's a hacked BIOS out there which removes the whitelisting,
though (there certainly are for the X61 [2]); I'm not recommending
this but there are threads out there [3].

J

[1] http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/X131e-WLAN-BIOS-Whitelist/td-p/1103623
[2] http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/459591-t61-x61-sata-ii-1-5-gb-s-cap-willing-pay-solution-8.html#post6501443
[3] http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/5866-LENOVO-%28IBM%29-Bioses-especially-Thinkpad