Unable to connect to my wireless network

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jnetzel77
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Joined: 10/06/2011

So i just installed trisquel and i really like the system. I still have a dual boot with windows 7 but im hoping that with time i will move completly away from that. However my main issue is that i am trying to connect to the internet on my Dell Inspiron 1764. I can't find any networks and upon looking some stuff up i found out about the lspci command which i ran. Here is what popped up

03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 01)
04.00.0 Ethernet Controller: Realtek Semicondictor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02)

I understand that these may not be compatible with Linux or something but seing as i am new to this i would love to get this resolved and start my libre experience with trisquel. Any solutions up to and including getting a new wireless card would be appreciated

lansburyslido
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Joined: 08/29/2011

You could have a look through the FSFs h-node hardware directory?

http://www.h-node.com/hardware/catalogue/en

Magic Banana

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Joined: 07/24/2010

There actually are three Linux drivers that support your card! One of them looks proprietary ( http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php ) and, unfortunately, the two free drivers ( http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43 and http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/brcm80211 ) still need a proprietary firmware: http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#firmware

jnetzel77
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Joined: 10/06/2011

Magic bannana thank you. since trisquel without internet connection wont work for me i will have to settle for the proprietary software. however my problem is that one i download the 64 bit driver i have no idea what to do with it since i am so new to linux. I unzipped the tar.gz file and within the directory i have a lib and src directory with a bunch of stuff in it. None of that helps me as i am not to big on code and all that since i am just learning. If you could (or anyone) could walk me through what to do so i can get connected to the internet and get the driver installed i would be very thankful as i can really start using linux and not rely on windows which, as we all know, is full of restrictions and proprietary software around every corner. Thank you

Magic Banana

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Joined: 07/24/2010

Again, none of the solution involves a Free firmware. Anyway, if you want to ignore this freedom issue, it is a matter of following the documentation of http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43 or http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/brcm80211 (remembering that Trisquel being based on Ubuntu, downloading a DEB package usually is the easiest way to go when the package manager is of no help). You will not receive any more help from the Trisquel community (but a list of USB dongles that works out of the box on Trisquel).

SirGrant

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Joined: 07/27/2010

Check the h-node link posted above. You can find a wireless card that works will all free software probably for a cheap price. I found one for $10 refurbished. I consider $10 a cheap price for my freedom. Good luck!

BinaryDigit
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Joined: 11/30/2010

I think this mini-PCI wireless card works with GNU/Linux, although it's a/b/g not n, so a bit slower, $18.48: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/z-com-ag-623c-100mw-802-11a-b-g-high-power-wireless-mini-pci-card-33934

jnetzel77
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Joined: 10/06/2011

I think ll look into getting a new wireless card, thank you for your help!