Fresh Toutatis Install on Fujitsu Lifebook, Wireless Internet Not Working

7 replies [Last post]
strypey
Offline
Joined: 05/14/2015

Hi everyone, I just bought a second-hand Fujitsu Lifebook T Series (model T4215). They were designed for XP, but this one was running 7 when I bought it. I tried to install Belenos from a liveUSB (made with UNetbootin) which had worked fine installing on my Acer Aspire One, but I had a few teething problems. The graphical installer crashed a couple of times before completing, and the text installer left me with a command-line only system, and my liveUSB borked by the installer putting GRUB on that instead of the hard drive. A separate GRUB problem left my Aspire One booting into a GRUB shell that I don't yet know how to use.

Fortunately the Lifebook has a CD-ROM drive (unlike the Aspire One), and I had a Toutatis liveCD lying around from some experiments with an old desktop. I just installed Toutatis from the liveCD and installed all the available updates. However, my wireless internet is still not working. The network menu says "device not ready" which I'm assuming means a driver problem?

I can think of a number of things to try:
* upgrading to Belenos using the Update Manager
* making a new Belenos liveUSB and do a fresh install
* upgrading to a newer kernel

Does anyone have any other suggestions, or advice on which of the above is the best approach to this kind of problem?

strypey
Offline
Joined: 05/14/2015

One more thing, when I tried to Belenos install, I removed the Windows partition, and manually partitioned to create a 20GB EXT4 root partition, a 4GB swap partition, and the rest of the disk as an EXT4 /home partition (about 75GB). I then mounted these manually when I ran the Toutatis install. Don't know if that's relevant but...

moxalt
Offline
Joined: 06/19/2015

> I then mounted these manually when I ran the Toutatis install. Don't know if
> that's relevant but...

It shouldn't be, but you never know. You should have partitioned things again
with the Toutatis partman, instead of using old partitions from a failed
installation.

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Offline
Joined: 07/24/2010

You can try to update the kernel: https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/update-linux-libre-kernel

However, it is very likely that there is no free firmware for your Wifi card ('lspci' would tell). Even in the latest kernel. The solution therefore becomes to substitute the Wifi card or use a Wifi adapter.

To have the guarantee that it will work with Linux-libre (hence Trisquel), you can get it from http://libre.thinkpenguin.com or http://tehnoetic.com (other vendors may sell some supported hardware but they never provide the relevant information: the chipset).

strypey
Offline
Joined: 05/14/2015

Thanks for the info. I was afraid that lack of a free code driver for the wireless chipset might be the problem :(

Here is the output of lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SMBus Controller (rev 02)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 12)
05:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection (rev 02)
08:03.0 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711MP1/MS1 MemoryCardBus Controller (rev 20)
08:03.1 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711MP1/MS1 MemoryCardBus Controller (rev 20)
08:03.2 SD Host controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MMC/SD Controller
08:03.3 Bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MS/xD Controller

jxself
Offline
Joined: 09/13/2010

Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG

That is it. Your WiFi requires proprietary software. Trisquel, by its nature, doesn't include proprietary software so your WiFi doesn't work.

Your options are to replace the WiFi card or to use a USB port for WiFi or go without WiFi.

This USB WiFi thingy will work just fine without any proprietary bits:
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-usb-adapter-gnu-linux-tpe-n150usb

strypey
Offline
Joined: 05/14/2015

OK thanks. Good to know. For next time, is there are place I can look that up myself?

Toutatis is running fine for now, so I will leave upgrading to Belenos for now, and look into your other suggestions. Is it actually possible to replace the WiFi card in a laptop?

moxalt
Offline
Joined: 06/19/2015

> Is it actually possible to replace the WiFi card in a laptop?

That depends. Unless it's a sealed case, you should be able to open it up and
replace the wifi card with one that fits. However, a worryingly large number of
manufacturers implement hardware locks which prevent user-installed wifi cards
from working with the rest of the computer, denying you control over your own
hardware. I don't think that is the case with Toshiba, but Lenovo, IBM, Dell,
HP, and few others do engage in this nasty practice.

Your safer just using a USB wireless adapter from Tehnoetic or Thinkpenguin.