[earpop]

Today I upgraded my computer via synaptic using a wireless connection to the internet. One of the packages identified for upgrade was dkms-broadcom-wi version 5_100_82_112-1pclos2012. This is a kernel upgrade for broadcom wireless modems. Later I restarted my computer and on restart I am no longer able to make a wireless connection. I had to reboot into Windows to get onto the net to write this.

The net applet in the lower right corner shows "Connecting" on the fly-out message when I place the cursor over it. Also, I am unable to even open the applet, and when I try to close the applet and it asks for the root password nothing happens after entering the root password.

Not really sure where to go from here. I have some reservations about trying things on my own since this appears to have been a slight modification to the kernel.

Is there a way to return to the original configuration? Thanks.

[ongoto]

I'm no wireless guru for sure but here's a couple things you can do.

Logout and login as root user.

Open PCLinuxOS Control Center (PCC) and select Network & Internet->Setup a new network interface. Select Wireless. Next Next. Check the drivers list for bcmXXX drivers. Choose the one you use and complete the setup. If one doesn't work try the other.

While still in PCC go to System->Manage system services and check wlan and ndiswrapper to Start on Boot.

Close PCC. One other file to check would be /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist. Make sure your chosen driver module is not blacklisted.

Do a cold boot. (System->Shutdown->Shutdown button) You want the computer to power off. Then make sure the router is turned on so it gets detected when you start back up.

Let us know what happens.

[earpop]

Thanks for the suggestions. Although, they didn't fix the problem they did reveal the depth of the issue. I found everything I checked that had to do with networking could be best described as “locked” up.

WHAT I FOUND

1. I logged in as root as you suggested and opened PCC. I then selected 'Network & Internet', 'Setup a new network'.
2. It opened, but came up with message 'Loading...Please wait'. I waited for a full five minutes and nothing more happened.
3. I canceled this and on a whim decided to check on some of the other options in 'Network & Internet'. I got the same results (Loading... Please wait message) for Network Center and Remove a Connection, etc.
4. I then went to System->Manage System to see what I could find and I found that 'wlan' was not set to Start on Boot. Also, I don't have ndiswrapper.
A. On a side note, I clicked on the start button for wlan and I got the following output message. I don't know if it's related to the problem, but providing since it is more information.

/etc/wlan/shared: line 71:[: too many arguments
/etc/wlan/shared: line 71:[: too many arguments
Shutting Down WLAN Devices: Shutting Down WLAN Devices: wlanctl-ng: No such device
wlan0: unknown interface: No such device
FATAL: Module wlan0 not found.
FATAL: Module p82011 not found.
[ OK ]
/etc/wlan/shared: line 71: [: too many arguments
Starting WLAN Devices: FATAL: Module p80211 not found.
Failed to load p80211.0.[/i]

5. Finally, I discovered I was unable to quit PCC. I couldn't 'x' out, ctrl-q, or anything else. I had to log out of root with PCC still running. (I didn't think at the time to try to kill the operation in a terminal window.)
6. Since the Network Applet was still showing 'Connecting' I surmised the system was locked up in this operation.
7. With this suspicion I removed the dkms-broadcom-wl 5_100_82_112_1 driver installation using Synaptic and everything began working as normal, with the exception of my Wireless since I had removed my driver. When I say working as normal, what I mean is all of the issues I detailed above were no longer a problem; no 'Loading... Please wait' messages, I could quit PCC, etc.
8. I think locked up is an apt description of system behavior although it may not be completely accurate as to what is happening.

The only thing I didn't try was to see if a cable connection to the internet would also be locked up with the updated broadcom wireless driver installed. I might try that later, but I suspect that it would be.

In summary, it appears at this point that, while booted into Linux, my wireless is virtually inoperative since I don't have a functioning driver. Internet access using Linux is now via a cable connection or by booting Windows if I need a wireless connection.

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

1. While tooling around on my system I found I have an old Broadcom driver tar package (broadcom-wl-5-100-138.tar.bz2) I downloaded about a year ago while updating my wireless firmware . I might try to install this driver. Not sure how to do it since I'm pretty rusty installing source files, but don't have anything to lose.
2. There is a Linux site dedicated to Linux wireless (http://www.linuxwireless.org) and I will pose the issue to them. Since they are dedicated to Linux wireless issues they might have a better idea of what's going on.
3. I've decided to also contact Broadcom about the issue. I don't know if they will help, but will at least advise them of the problem.

If anyone else has any suggestions, I'm open to giving them a try.

[ongoto]

Before you look for outside help, try the PCLOS main forum.
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=vcj5v29dftm5nst5j5d07mjb71&action=recent

Search around a little there for broadcom wifi and such. You might find some related posts and solutions.

[ka9yhd]

broadcom-wl-5-100-138.tar.bz2 is a linux module and ndiswrapper is not needed. ndiswrapper is only used with Windows drivers .dll files.

[earpop]

I visited the main PCLOS forum as suggested and found that a number of people were having the same problem that I was having. In that forum the solution was to do a "Force Installation' to the previous broadcom-wl driver, essentially, a down grade from the most recent version to the previous. I didn't even know it could be in done in Synaptic. A nice revelation. Everyone on the main forum found that after downgrading their wireless problems went away... problem solved.

I logged onto the internet via a cable connection, updated the repository list, and found that the repository no longer listed the latest broadcom driver and had already replaced it with the earlier version. Yahoo! Something easy and quick. I selected the driver for installation, installed it and I'm back in the world of wireless Linux.

Thanks to everyone who helped and especially the repository caretakers and their quick response to updating the repositories once a problem became apparent.

[ka9yhd]

Earpop:

I am glad that you got this resolved.