[Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

remn · 2015-10-02 02:50:22

I've gotten the live system to launch but I'm having trouble getting connected to wifi. When I type "ip link" I get 2 device names listed, but I think they are wired devices. When I use them as interface name it just says "operation not supported." When I type "iw dev" nothing happens. I don't get an error message but it just goes back to the command line with no output. I'm trying to install on a dell latitude e6410. Any tips on how to get interface name so I can get wifi working for installation?

Last edited by remn (2015-10-03 03:33:30)

jasonwryan · 2015-10-02 02:52:16

What is the chip in that machine and does it require additonal drivers?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … ver_status

remn · 2015-10-02 03:06:54

I ran lspci -k and it says the wifi chip is a Broadcom BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 1). Then it says: "Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge" How do I check to see if it requires additional drivers? I'm coming to Arch from Ubuntu so I'm totally clueless about this stuff.

jasonwryan · 2015-10-02 03:12:14

The wiki has all the answers: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Broadcom

Looks like you need broadcom-wl from AUR.

remn · 2015-10-02 05:10:09

I'm assuming I'll need internet to install the driver. That's difficult since what I'm trying to do is get the wifi working in order to install arch to the hard drive. I see in the wiki there's a way to download them on another computer or use android tethering. But I think it might be easier to try installing arch on my main laptop (hopefully it doesn't have a broadcom adapter). I already have a Windows/Ubuntu dual boot on that computer, so if I install arch it will be a triple boot. That shouldn't be an issue right? I'll try it that way tomorrow and if that doesn't work I'll see if I can get the broadcom driver onto the old Dell.

GloW_on_dub · 2015-10-02 09:03:22

You can also download the broadcom-wl package (and dependencies ) on another arch computer with a connection and install it directly using pacman.
Would be simpler to use tethered connection though.

Last edited by GloW_on_dub (2015-10-02 09:07:40)

ayekat · 2015-10-02 09:06:08

You could perform the installation via an ethernet cable and install the wifi drivers afterwards...

Otherwise (if you've got one of those new and modern and trendy laptops that don't provide an ethernet port), you could download the source manually from another machine, put it on a USB drive together with the package from the AUR, and attach and mount that drive during the installation (according to the PKGBUILD, the source is located at http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/ … 48.tar.gz). You might want to have a look at the makepkg article in the wiki.

EDIT

remn wrote:

dell latitude e6410

It's fine, it's got an ethernet port.

Last edited by ayekat (2015-10-02 09:08:07)

remn · 2015-10-02 15:12:03

Thanks for all the tips! That gives me a lot of options to try. My phone has tethering, so I think I'll try that first. If that doesn't work I'll install arch on my other laptop (It has an intel wifi chip and when I ran the live system from USB it detected it) and try to build the package from AUR and then install it on the Dell from a mounted usb drive. I'm sure one of those options will work!

remn · 2015-10-03 03:11:30

I got tethering to work and am close to finishing installation. However I'm stuck at the part where I'm supposed to set a hostname. According to the wiki there should be a /etc/hostname, but there is no such file in my /etc directory. When I run the command "hostnamectl set-hostname (myhostname)" I get this message: "Failed to create bus connection: No such file or directory."

headkase · 2015-10-03 03:14:59

/etc/hostname is a text file that just contains your hostname. See:

Hostname

Last edited by headkase (2015-10-03 03:16:14)

remn · 2015-10-03 03:23:43

My bad, I hadn't configured the persistent installation. After I did that I was able to set hostname, thanks!

jasonwryan · 2015-10-03 03:27:48

Please remember to mark your thread as [Solved] by editing your first post and prepending it to the title.

remn · 2015-10-03 03:35:28

jasonwryan wrote:

Please remember to mark your thread as [Solved] by editing your first post and prepending it to the title.

Done! I have arch running on the Dell, using tethering. Now I just have to follow the leads you guys posted to get the wifi driver installed. Again, thanks to you all for your incredibly speedy and helpful help!!

remn · 2015-10-03 17:33:08

For some reason the driver isn't working. I downloaded broadcom-wl from the AUR, extracted it and installed it with this command: "makepkg -sri".
But when I type "wl" I get a "command not found" error message. I also get "command not found" when I type "iw dev". Since I didn't used to get that message, I'm assuming that module got removed when I installed broadcom-wl. Anything I can do at this point?

jasonwryan · 2015-10-03 17:45:16

Go back to the wiki page and determine what modules are loaded and whether you need to blacklist any of them.

If in doubt, post details of loaded modules here.

remn · 2015-10-04 01:20:46

I ran "mkinitcpio -M" to get a list of modules. The b43 and ssb modules were on the list, so I thought I should blacklist those 2 (there were a bunch of other ones but I have no idea if I should blacklist any of those. Here's the weird part. I created a .conf file and added 2 "blacklist" lines, one for each of those 2 modules. Then I added the .conf file to the "files" section of /etc/mkinitcpio.conf. After rebooting and running "mkinitcpio -M", the b43 module had disappeared from the list but ssb was still there. But the wl module is still not on the list and I can't find a wireless interface.

I think I'm in over my head, I feel like my brain is melting. I still want to get this broadcom card working though! If I'm not able to I have a usb wifi adapter, I might just try going with that.

byte · 2015-10-04 03:08:37

Installing 'broadcom-wl' also installs /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl.conf which contains all relevant blacklist entries. The default mkinitcpio.conf contains "modconf" which makes sure that file will also be copied into the initramfs. You shouldn't have done anything, except maybe rebooting and watching it simply work.

remn · 2015-10-04 04:36:17

byte wrote:

Installing 'broadcom-wl' also installs /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl.conf which contains all relevant blacklist entries. The default mkinitcpio.conf contains "modconf" which makes sure that file will also be copied into the initramfs. You shouldn't have done anything, except maybe rebooting and watching it simply work.

I tried rebooting and watching it simply work, but it didn't work. I guess I'll just install arch on another computer.

byte · 2015-10-04 05:11:56

Referring to your earlier post:

> But when I type "wl" I get a "command not found" error message.
It's a kernel module and not a command, what did you expect?

> I also get "command not found" when I type "iw dev".
Then install 'iw'. It's not part of the base group and therefore not part of a default installation.

remn · 2015-10-04 14:39:28

byte wrote:

Referring to your earlier post:
> But when I type "wl" I get a "command not found" error message.
It's a kernel module and not a command, what did you expect?
> I also get "command not found" when I type "iw dev".
Then install 'iw'. It's not part of the base group and therefore not part of a default installation.

Well when I type "modprobe wl" I get "FATAL: Module wl not found."

As for iw, it seemed to be installed before I tried installing broadcom-wl, because when I typed "iw dev" I didn't get a "command not found message". It just went to a new terminal prompt with no output. That's why I assumed it wasn't detecting the broadcom chip. Anyway the wiki doesn't say you have to install iw:

"Interfaces are prefixed with en (ethernet), wl (WLAN), or ww (WWAN), resulting in entries such as enp0s25. Current names can be found with ip link, or iw dev for wireless devices."

Last edited by remn (2015-10-04 14:40:33)

remn · 2015-10-04 15:05:47

I tried the usb wifi adapter and it worked right away, super-easy. So I'll just go with that solution and forget about broadcom. Thanks again everybody, even a failed attempt at getting the broadcom to work taught me a ton about arch!

Arch Linux

#1 2015-10-02 02:50:22

[Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#2 2015-10-02 02:52:16

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#3 2015-10-02 03:06:54

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#4 2015-10-02 03:12:14

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#5 2015-10-02 05:10:09

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#6 2015-10-02 09:03:22

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#7 2015-10-02 09:06:08

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#8 2015-10-02 15:12:03

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#9 2015-10-03 03:11:30

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#10 2015-10-03 03:14:59

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#11 2015-10-03 03:23:43

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#12 2015-10-03 03:27:48

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#13 2015-10-03 03:35:28

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#14 2015-10-03 17:33:08

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#15 2015-10-03 17:45:16

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#16 2015-10-04 01:20:46

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#17 2015-10-04 03:08:37

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#18 2015-10-04 04:36:17

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#19 2015-10-04 05:11:56

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#20 2015-10-04 14:39:28

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

#21 2015-10-04 15:05:47

Re: [Solved] Installing arch from usb drive, cannot find wifi interface

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