# wireless and sound on dell latitude d600

## save_alkaline

i've installed gentoo / gnome on a d600 and everything so far has went fairly smooth. but i just can't get the wireless / sound to work on this thing. it's driving me crazy! i've tried just about everything to get the wireless setup and everything seems fine but i never get wlan0 to show up and it's never recognized by the system. iwconfig shows only lo and eth0. 

i've followed these instructions with no errors but wlan0 just never shows up anywhere! http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_HP_tx1000#Wireless

essentially the same thing with my sound. 

i'm hoping someone has some advice or info they can lend me as i'm getting stumped. i may be slow to respond as i think it's about time to step away from the computer and get a fresh outlook on it. so lt me know what you want to see or any questions you have to help me and thanks in advance!

----------

## paulbiz

What specific wireless card does it have? Dell has used different cards (intel, broadcom, etc). For audio you probably need ALSA with the intel-hda driver.

please paste the output of "lspci -v". Thanks!

----------

## save_alkaline

Thanks for the reply. Here's the output lspci -v.

```
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 03)

   Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0

   Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]

   Capabilities: [e4] Vendor Specific Information <?>

   Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 2.0

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])

   Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 32

   Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=32

   I/O behind bridge: 0000c000-0000cfff

   Memory behind bridge: fc000000-fdffffff

   Prefetchable memory behind bridge: e8000000-efffffff

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])

   Subsystem: Intel Corporation Latitude D400

   Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11

   I/O ports at bf80 [size=32]

   Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

   Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])

   Subsystem: Intel Corporation Latitude D400

   Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11

   I/O ports at bf40 [size=32]

   Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

   Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])

   Subsystem: Intel Corporation Latitude D400

   Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11

   I/O ports at bf20 [size=32]

   Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

   Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])

   Subsystem: Dell Latitude D600

   Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11

   Memory at f4fffc00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]

   Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

   Capabilities: [58] Debug port: BAR=1 offset=0080

   Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd

   Kernel modules: ehci-hcd

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])

   Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0

   Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=0a, sec-latency=32

   I/O behind bridge: 0000d000-0000efff

   Memory behind bridge: f6000000-fbffffff

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)

   Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])

   Subsystem: Intel Corporation Latitude D400

   Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11

   I/O ports at 01f0 [size=8]

   I/O ports at 03f4 [size=1]

   I/O ports at 0170 [size=8]

   I/O ports at 0374 [size=1]

   I/O ports at bfa0 [size=16]

   Memory at 50000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]

   Kernel driver in use: PIIX_IDE

   Kernel modules: ata_piix

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)

   Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 011d

   Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11

   I/O ports at b800 [size=256]

   I/O ports at bc40 [size=64]

   Memory at f4fff800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]

   Memory at f4fff400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]

   Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [Generic])

   Subsystem: Conexant Unknown device 5422

   Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 5

   I/O ports at b400 [size=256]

   I/O ports at b080 [size=128]

   Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon R250 [Mobility FireGL 9000] (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])

   Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 011d

   Flags: bus master, VGA palette snoop, stepping, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11

   Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]

   I/O ports at c000 [size=256]

   Memory at fcff0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]

   [virtual] Expansion ROM at fc000000 [disabled] [size=128K]

   Capabilities: [58] AGP version 2.0

   Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5705M Gigabit Ethernet (rev 01)

   Subsystem: Dell Latitude D400

   Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11

   Memory at faff0000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]

   Expansion ROM at <ignored> [disabled]

   Capabilities: [48] Power Management version 2

   Capabilities: [50] Vital Product Data <?>

   Capabilities: [58] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/3 Enable-

   Kernel driver in use: tg3

   Kernel modules: tg3

02:01.0 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711EC1 SmartCardBus Controller (rev 20)

   Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 011d

   Flags: bus master, stepping, slow devsel, latency 168, IRQ 11

   Memory at f6000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]

   Bus: primary=02, secondary=03, subordinate=06, sec-latency=176

   Memory window 0: 54000000-57fff000 (prefetchable)

   Memory window 1: 58000000-5bfff000

   I/O window 0: 0000d000-0000d0ff

   I/O window 1: 0000d400-0000d4ff

   16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

   Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus

   Kernel modules: yenta_socket

02:01.1 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711EC1 SmartCardBus Controller (rev 20)

   Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 011d

   Flags: bus master, stepping, slow devsel, latency 168, IRQ 11

   Memory at f6001000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]

   Bus: primary=02, secondary=07, subordinate=0a, sec-latency=176

   Memory window 0: 5c000000-5ffff000 (prefetchable)

   Memory window 1: 60000000-63fff000

   I/O window 0: 0000d800-0000d8ff

   I/O window 1: 0000dc00-0000dcff

   16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

   Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus

   Kernel modules: yenta_socket

02:03.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 03)

   Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1350 WLAN Mini-PCI Card

   Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 32, IRQ 5

   Memory at fafee000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]

   Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge

   Kernel modules: ssb
```

----------

## paulbiz

Hi,

Looks like you have the Dell 1350 wireless card which has the Broadcom BCM4306 chipset. Getting wireless working in Gentoo can sometimes be the most tricky part of the install, but it is possible!

Here a general wireless setup guide: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Wireless

And also this guide for your specific chipset stuff: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_BCM43xx

It is a bit complicated because of legal reasons, you must extract the firmware from the Windows drivers. The guide above goes through the steps on how to achieve that. I think this wifi chipset is in some of the more popular Apple laptops, so there should be plenty of discussion and info in the archives here about getting it to work if you run into any trouble.

An alternative would be to use ndiswrapper which lets you use the Windows drivers directly. I had the same BCM4306 on my old laptop and I used ndiswrapper without any problems. At that time there were no native drivers, so I haven't tried the bcm43xx setup for myself but I tried to pay some attention to its progress.  :Smile: 

Good luck!

----------

## save_alkaline

Thanks a ton for that info and the links! I think it helped me quite a bit and may have even helped me to realize a bigger part of my problem. Or maybe I'm still too much of a newb.

But you see in this kernel config how it has <M> for some of the option.. I can't set my config to that setting. I can only do an '*' to enable it. Am I doing something wrong?   :Embarassed: 

[img]http://gentoo-wiki.com/skins/monobook/headbg.jpg[/img]

edit: i guess image tags don't work but there's the link to the image i'm referring to anyway. lol.

----------

## PaulBredbury

 *save_alkaline wrote:*   

> I can only do an '*' to enable it.

 

Check the "M or *" status of the other kernel modules involved.

----------

## save_alkaline

There's nothing I can press <M> on and have it do anything. I can either do <Y> <N> or the space bar to add or remove '*'.   :Confused: 

----------

## PaulBredbury

Select [*] Enable loadable module support

```
────────────────────── Linux Kernel Configuration ───────────────────────┐

  │  Arrow keys navigate the menu.  <Enter> selects submenus --->.          │  

  │  Highlighted letters are hotkeys.  Pressing <Y> includes, <N> excludes, │  

  │  <M> modularizes features.  Press <Esc><Esc> to exit, <?> for Help, </> │  

  │  for Search.  Legend: [*] built-in  [ ] excluded  <M> module  < >       │  

  │ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │  

  │ │        General setup  --->                                          │ │  

  │ │    [*] Enable loadable module support  --->                         │ │  

  │ │    -*- Enable the block layer  --->                                 │ │  

  │ │        Processor type and features  --->                            │ │  

  │ │        Power management options  --->                               │ │  

  │ │        Bus options (PCI etc.)  --->                                 │ │  

  │ │        Executable file formats / Emulations  --->                   │ │  

  │ │        Networking  --->                                             │ │  

  │ │        Device Drivers  --->                                         │ │  

  │ │        Firmware Drivers  --->       
```

----------

## save_alkaline

ahhh.. that got it! thanks!   :Very Happy: 

----------

## save_alkaline

ugghh.. this is so frustrating! i would have never guessed that getting a stupid wireless card and sound card to work would be so difficult! what a PIA!

so, on the wireless, that link above takes me to this: http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#fw-bcm43xx

this seems to work just fine:

```
wget http://bu3sch.de/b43/fwcutter/bcm43xx-fwcutter-006.tar.bz2

tar xjf bcm43xx-fwcutter-006.tar.bz2

cd bcm43xx-fwcutter-006

make

cd ..

export FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR="/lib/firmware"

wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o

./bcm43xx-fwcutter-006/bcm43xx-fwcutter -w "$FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR" wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o
```

it appears to extract just fine. but then i go back to the original link and the next step doesn't work at all. 

```
 bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware /path/to/firmware/file
```

my result is simply:

```
bash: bcm43xx-fwcutter: command not found
```

----------

## paulbiz

Hi,

It looks like the fwcutter is in portage. You can do:

```
emerge net-wireless/bcm43xx-fwcutter
```

and it should install it in your system so you can run it. I just tried it and actually it points to a forum post for more info, which points to another:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-547687.html

----------

## save_alkaline

thanks. i've kind of given up on the wireless for now. i'm getting absolutely nowhere. i'm finding thousands of different ways of doing it and different things to try and none of them are doing anything. i've wasted so much time and litrally accomplished zip. even with that cutter, they are masked so i can't even get them. why do these apps get masked so much anyway if they are needed?

i'm still sort of trying to get the sound to work as that would at least give me some sense of accomplishment but it's going the same way. i'm finding thousands of things to try and do but no matter what it never sees the sound card. do you have any idea how frustrating it is to run 

```
lspci -v | grep -i audio
```

have it tell me what kind of card it is.. go through some steps as mentioned (in various forms) on several help sites, get to the point where it tells me to run 'alsaconf' only to have that tell me it can't find a sound card.

----------

## paulbiz

Hi, I'm home from work now so I can check out my own machine's config. I also use intel-hda so hopefully my settings will work for you, too. I don't know if mine are the "proper" settings, but they work for me!

In the kernel configuration, I've got this under Device Drivers -> Sound -> 

```
<*> Sound card support
```

and then under "Advanced Linux Sound Architecture" I have 

```
<M> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture

<M>   Sequencer support

< >     Sequencer dummy client

<M>   OSS Mixer API

<M>   OSS PCM (digital audio) API

[*]     OSS PCM (digital audio) API - Include plugin system

[*]   OSS Sequencer API

<M>   RTC Timer support

[*]     Use RTC as default sequencer timer

[ ]   Dynamic device file minor numbers

[*]   Support old ALSA API

[ ]   Verbose procfs contents

[ ]   Verbose printk

[ ]   Debug

Generic devices  --->

PCI devices  --->

USB devices  --->

System on Chip audio support  --->
```

Under "Generic devices" nothing is checked. Under "PCI Devices" nothing is checked except for "Intel HD Audio" and all of the options that appear under it. Nothing is checked under USB or System-on-Chip either.

Under "Open Sound System", nothing is checked.

That's it for the kernel. recompile, reboot, etc  :Smile: 

In /etc/make.conf you should make sure "alsa" is defined as one of the global USE flags. This will make apps compile with ALSA support so that you may get sound from them.

You may also need to emerge these packages (I have them emerged, but I don't remember what each was for, specifically): 

```
media-sound/alsa-tools

media-sound/alsa-utils

media-sound/alsa-firmware
```

Then, as root (or sudo) run alsaconf. If it works, it should detect intel-hda. After you choose it, it will ask if you want to modify /etc/modules.d/alsa. Say yes. Here are the contents of my /etc/modules.d/alsa just in case yours differs greatly:

```
# Alsa kernel modules' configuration file.

# ALSA portion

# OSS/Free portion

##

## IMPORTANT:

## You need to customise this section for your specific sound card(s)

## and then run `update-modules' command.

## Read alsa-driver's INSTALL file in /usr/share/doc for more info.

##

##  ALSA portion

## alias snd-card-0 snd-interwave

## alias snd-card-1 snd-ens1371

##  OSS/Free portion

## alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0

## alias sound-slot-1 snd-card-1

##

# OSS/Free portion - card #1

##  OSS/Free portion - card #2

## alias sound-service-1-0 snd-mixer-oss

## alias sound-service-1-3 snd-pcm-oss

## alias sound-service-1-12 snd-pcm-oss

alias /dev/mixer snd-mixer-oss

alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss

alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss

# Set this to the correct number of cards.

# --- BEGIN: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---

# --- ALSACONF version 1.0.15 ---

alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel

alias sound-slot-0 snd-hda-intel

# --- END: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---
```

The last bit, as it says, should be automatically generated.

Now be sure to do this as root, so that sound starts automatically when you reboot next time:

```
rc-update add alsasound boot
```

At this point you should have sound. You might need to run alsamixer to set the levels so you can actually hear the sound. You might have to play with the different levels until you find the one that actually controls the jack you have your speakers/headphones plugged into.

In KDE you can run KMix to get a graphical volume/mixer. I'm sure the same exists in other environments/WM's.

I hope that helps (and works). once you get the sound going then we can work on getting that wifi up and running  :Smile: 

----------

## save_alkaline

hey, thanks for the reply and all your help! 

In my kernel configuration, I don't have Intel HD Audio. The only Intel options I have are:

```
<M> Intel/SiS/nVidia/AMD/ALi AC97 Controller

<M> Intel/SiS/nVidia/AMD MC97 Modem 
```

which i've set as you can see.

Other than that I set my kernel as you showed and even now when I run alsaconf it doesn't find anything.

----------

## paulbiz

I'm using this kernel:

```
sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-2.6.24-r4
```

If you are using an older kernel version, maybe it doesn't include the same drivers. You can try to disable ALSA in the kernel (but keep the general "sound" enabled) and emerge the latest alsa drivers seperately:

```
emerge media-sound/alsa-driver
```

You'll have to emerge that after each time you recompile your kernel, because it builds kernel modules that depend on it being exactly the same as it was when you emerged it.Last edited by paulbiz on Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:26 pm; edited 1 time in total

----------

## paulbiz

Oh! You will also have to add this line to your /etc/make.conf 

```
ALSA_CARDS="hda-intel"
```

----------

## save_alkaline

I've got 2.6.24-r3. Is there a way to bump it up to r4? and for future reference did i do something wrong on the intitial setup? How did i end up with an older version?

----------

## paulbiz

 *save_alkaline wrote:*   

> I've got 2.6.24-r3. Is there a way to bump it up to r4? and for future reference did i do something wrong on the intitial setup? How did i end up with an older version?

 

Hmm, if you're using that version then you should have Intel HD Audio as an option. That is really weird... Are you sure you scrolled all the way down the list? (sorry if that's a stupid question)

----------

