A couple of months ago, we posted an ongoing saga of getting the Broadcom wireless to work–again–after updating to Ubuntu 9.10 on our Compaq C714NR laptop. It was one of those trial-and-error issues we’ve gone through since we got the machine back in ’07 and first loaded Ubuntu 7.10. But, with 9.10, not only did we get the wireless to work again, but the whole process of connecting with hot spots was simplified. What used to be a grueling test of endurance and exercise in command-line prestidigitation was suddenly as simple as using an Apple, with the new Network Manager applet installed.
Well, all good things must come to an end. Last night, I started Update Manager, which included a kernel upgrade. This morning, the reboot came up with the little antenna icon on the laptop red, and the Network Manager icon showing no signal, wired connection only. Yow!
So, dust off the memory cells and google up the Ubuntu forums. Um, need to reload the bcmwl-kernel-sources. Nope, that causes the machine to freeze on boot. Boot to rescue mode, remove the package (dpkg -r, at a root prompt), then reboot and regroup. Ah, last time, we got the source package directly from Broadcom, compiled it and installed. As usual with any open source product, we ignore the package we already have on the machine and download a fresh one from Broadcom. Sure enough, it had been updated, shortly after we downloaded it last time. Following the README.txt file, we are soon rewarded with the spinning icon, a “connected” splash, and the welcome antenna-with-four-bars. Back online, then a few tweaks to make sure it boots with wireless enabled (copying the driver to the current kernel driver directory).
Lessons learned, or, in my case, relearned, since I’ve known this practically forever (Linux user since 1996, Unix user since 1989):
- If you have compiled drivers not included in the distribution, you must recompile and reinstall them each and every time you update the kernel.
- When you install any open source package, always check for updates, especially if you have updated your system since you last downloaded it.
- Do the above before you reboot your machine after a kernel update, else you may be scrambling for a rescue disk when the machine doesn’t come back up.
Meanwhile. we’re waiting a while before grabbing the new 10.04 Ubuntu upgrade–patch downloads were very slow on Release Day. I hear it is worth the wait. Linux is almost ready for your grandmother’s desktop. Grandma already has hers at Chaos Central, and has since RedHat Linux 7 (she’s running Ubuntu 9.04 x86_64 now), but only because she has a full-time system adminstrator (Grandpa, aka The Unix Curmudgeon).
Ciao, and happy computing with Linux…