Dell Latitude D630 wireless not working

I have a D610 using a similar chipset, and just recently got wireless to work. During the pre-release / RC releases of 8.04 I could not get wireless to work at all, but automagically on Thursday after applying the latest updates, my wireless does works now.
I have only the b43-fwcutter, ndiswrapper-common, ndiswrapper-utils and packages installed.

can you post the output of lsmod to see what modules you currently have loaded?

Thanks for your response. my lsmod output is:

Module Size Used by
ipv6 267780 10
i915 32512 2
drm 82580 3 i915
vmnet 38204 13
vmblock 16800 3
vmmon 1824812 0
rfcomm 41744 2
l2cap 25728 13 rfcomm
bluetooth 61156 4 rfcomm,l2cap
ppdev 10372 0
acpi_cpufreq 10796 2
cpufreq_ondemand 9740 1
cpufreq_stats 7104 0
freq_table 5536 3 acpi_cpufreq,cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_userspace 5284 0
cpufreq_powersave 2688 0
cpufreq_conservative 8712 0
sbs 15112 0
container 5632 0
sbshc 7680 1 sbs
bay 6912 0
dock 11280 1 bay
iptable_filter 3840 0
ip_tables 14820 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 16132 1 ip_tables
af_packet 23812 4
sbp2 24072 0
parport_pc 36260 0
lp 12324 0
parport 37832 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
loop 18948 0
joydev 13120 0
rfkill_input 5504 0
pcmcia 40876 0
arc4 2944 2
ecb 4480 2
blkcipher 8324 1 ecb
dcdbas 9504 0
b43 115104 0
evdev 13056 15
rfkill 8592 9 rfkill_input,b43
mac80211 165652 1 b43
pcspkr 4224 0
cfg80211 15112 1 mac80211
psmouse 40336 0
serio_raw 7940 0
led_class 6020 1 b43
input_polldev 5896 1 b43
snd_hda_intel 344728 3
snd_pcm_oss 42144 0
snd_mixer_oss 17920 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 78596 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_page_alloc 11400 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep 10500 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy 4868 0
snd_seq_oss 35584 0
snd_seq_midi 9376 0
snd_rawmidi 25760 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8320 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 54224 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 24836 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 9612 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
video 19856 0
yenta_socket 27276 1
rsrc_nonstatic 13696 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 40596 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
output 4736 1 video
battery 14212 0
snd 56996 17 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_hwdep,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
wmi_acer 9644 0
button 9232 0
shpchp 34452 0
pci_hotplug 30880 1 shpchp
soundcore 8800 1 snd
ac 6916 0
intel_agp 25492 1
agpgart 34760 3 drm,intel_agp
iTCO_wdt 13092 0
iTCO_vendor_support 4868 1 iTCO_wdt
ext3 136712 1
jbd 48404 1 ext3
mbcache 9600 1 ext3
sg 36880 0
sd_mod 30720 3
sr_mod 17956 0
cdrom 37408 1 sr_mod
pata_acpi 8320 0
ata_piix 19588 2
ohci1394 33584 0
ieee1394 93752 2 sbp2,ohci1394
ata_generic 8324 0
libata 159344 3 pata_acpi,ata_piix,ata_generic
scsi_mod 151436 5 sbp2,sg,sd_mod,sr_mod,libata
tg3 116228 0
ssb 32260 1 b43
ehci_hcd 37900 0
uhci_hcd 27024 0
usbcore 146028 3 ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
thermal 16796 0
processor 36872 4 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
fan 5636 0
fbcon 42912 0
tileblit 3456 1 fbcon
font 9472 1 fbcon
bitblit 6784 1 fbcon
softcursor 3072 1 bitblit
fuse 50580 3
tufte@dellbuntu:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
ipv6 267780 10
i915 32512 2
drm 82580 3 i915
vmnet 38204 13
vmblock 16800 3
vmmon 1824812 0
rfcomm 41744 2
l2cap 25728 13 rfcomm
bluetooth 61156 4 rfcomm,l2cap
ppdev 10372 0
acpi_cpufreq 10796 2
cpufreq_ondemand 9740 1
cpufreq_stats 7104 0
freq_table 5536 3 acpi_cpufreq,cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_userspace 5284 0
cpufreq_powersave 2688 0
cpufreq_conservative 8712 0
sbs 15112 0
container 5632 0
sbshc 7680 1 sbs
bay 6912 0
dock 11280 1 bay
iptable_filter 3840 0
ip_tables 14820 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 16132 1 ip_tables
af_packet 23812 4
sbp2 24072 0
parport_pc 36260 0
lp 12324 0
parport 37832 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
loop 18948 0
joydev 13120 0
rfkill_input 5504 0
pcmcia 40876 0
arc4 2944 2
ecb 4480 2
blkcipher 8324 1 ecb
dcdbas 9504 0
b43 115104 0
evdev 13056 15
rfkill 8592 9 rfkill_input,b43
mac80211 165652 1 b43
pcspkr 4224 0
cfg80211 15112 1 mac80211
psmouse 40336 0
serio_raw 7940 0
led_class 6020 1 b43
input_polldev 5896 1 b43
snd_hda_intel 344728 3
snd_pcm_oss 42144 0
snd_mixer_oss 17920 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 78596 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_page_alloc 11400 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep 10500 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy 4868 0
snd_seq_oss 35584 0
snd_seq_midi 9376 0
snd_rawmidi 25760 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8320 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 54224 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 24836 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 9612 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
video 19856 0
yenta_socket 27276 1
rsrc_nonstatic 13696 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 40596 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
output 4736 1 video
battery 14212 0
snd 56996 17 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_hwdep,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
wmi_acer 9644 0
button 9232 0
shpchp 34452 0
pci_hotplug 30880 1 shpchp
soundcore 8800 1 snd
ac 6916 0
intel_agp 25492 1
agpgart 34760 3 drm,intel_agp
iTCO_wdt 13092 0
iTCO_vendor_support 4868 1 iTCO_wdt
ext3 136712 1
jbd 48404 1 ext3
mbcache 9600 1 ext3
sg 36880 0
sd_mod 30720 3
sr_mod 17956 0
cdrom 37408 1 sr_mod
pata_acpi 8320 0
ata_piix 19588 2
ohci1394 33584 0
ieee1394 93752 2 sbp2,ohci1394
ata_generic 8324 0
libata 159344 3 pata_acpi,ata_piix,ata_generic
scsi_mod 151436 5 sbp2,sg,sd_mod,sr_mod,libata
tg3 116228 0
ssb 32260 1 b43
ehci_hcd 37900 0
uhci_hcd 27024 0
usbcore 146028 3 ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
thermal 16796 0
processor 36872 4 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
fan 5636 0
fbcon 42912 0
tileblit 3456 1 fbcon
font 9472 1 fbcon
bitblit 6784 1 fbcon
softcursor 3072 1 bitblit
fuse 50580 3

well, I do see the broadcom module loaded. (b43 module)
does ifconfig show the wireless nic? I have a network icon on one of my gnome panels that I can right click on to enable wireless, when I do I see a wlan0 entry in ifconfig. This happened even before I got my wireless to work.

I solved the issue. When I first tried the beta 8.04 my wireless did not work. I retried to enable the restricted driver for the wifi and what do you know, it now works. I guess I should put more trust in the final release over the beta versions.

I am having the problem you described with my latitude d630. Can you describe the steps to "enable the restricted driver for wifi"?

Thanks!

The menu is located under System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers. Then you should see Broadcom B43 wireless driver listed in the box. Make sure the enabled box is checked. When i did this, it prompted me to download stuff and I had to accept some other thing. Don't remember what it said though. You may have to restart. Then just make sure your switch on the left side is enabled and your wireless light should appear.

I have Dell Latitude D630 but with Intel PRO 3945ABG wirelles card and it works in Hardy by default (iwl3945 driver).

I installed "Jaunty" (9.04) 64bit on my Dell Latitude D630. Before that I had 8.04 "Hardy" 32bit running with ndiswrapper.

The process of getting WiFi to work was a PAIN IN THE ASS - each time. Broadcom sucks. They sucked in the past, they suck presently and it's safe to assume they will probably suck in the future.

lspci says I have the following WiFi adapter:

0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03)

When I installed "Jaunty", I first tried to activate the restricted driver. Activating it didn't work. There was no feedback from the dialog. I had no idea what to do. So I thought - "of course, it's Broadcom, why would it work out of the box?!".

I googled and couldn't find anything "Jaunty" specific and ended up following howtos describing the ndiswrapper setup. I failed at getting it to work, I assume with 64bit, the Windows drivers won't work? Anyway...

After a long time of using Google I found the main reason the Broadcom restricted driver wouldn't work: the binary firmware was missing?

Without being to pedantic - but the way Ubuntu handles this is not at all convenient or satisfying. It's not enough to include the restricted driver if it cannot be enabled with a mouse click. Some hint on how to proceed should have been available.

cheers,

Tobias W.