Manually Install windows based .exe drivers in Mint. No Internet

[Seebs]

Hello to all. I'm a newbie. I resurrected an old HP Compaq 6710b laptop (circa 2008) with 3gb ram. Installed Mint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit. It did not detect and auto install drivers for the 'Broadcom' Win81_64 network, consequently I have no ethernet or wireless internet access. The old drivers I found for the 6710b are windows based (.exe) installations. I understand 'Wine' is used to cope with these. I cannot install Wine using the internet. I downloaded the 'wine-5.0.taz.xz' file. How do I manually install this into Cinnamon? Any help is gratefully appreciated.. Thanks

 

[BoringZombie]

We don't even know the name of your broadcom driver...

 

[Brickwizard]

Probably a Broadcom 43**
When you installed, did you tick the box to install non-free/propriotry drivers?

Try...
Open menu, go to all applications, scroll down to driver manager, open and let it run, it should find the Broadcom drivers, [you may need to be internet connected]

 

[Seebs]

The only driver info I have is WLAN_Broadcom_Win81_64_VER630223228 network adapter. I opened the laptop to look at the card and all I see is the hp part#. No identification as to what broadcom version. I'll do a fresh install ensuring I tick the non-free/proprietary drivers and the driver manager. Hopefully I'll gain internet access and can go from there. Thanks for your quick reply. Cheers...

 

[Condobloke]

@Seebs ^^^^....good move !!

 

[PedroM]

I had same problem years ago, and this help me. https://wiki.debian.org/NdisWrapper

 

[kc1di]

In Mint open a terminal and enter this code

inxi -Nn

post the results back here.

 

[Brickwizard]

@PedroM when you let us know the answer to @kc1di question, I may have a way for you to fix it, if so you will need a clean usb pendrive and any other computer with usb and internet

we only need the details on device 2 if you could re write it to this forum

 

[Seebs]

Still unable to connect to the internet. 'Driver Manager' finds the following;

Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries: BCM4311 802.11 b/g/ WLAN
this device is using an alternative driver

bcmwl-kernel-source
Version 6.30.223.271+bdcom-0unbuntu8
broadcom 802.11 Linux STA wireless driver source

When I run it, it freezes and on the bottom it says '1 proprietary driver in use'

As suggested, I ran inxi -Nu and received the following result.

Device-1: Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN
driver: b43-pci-bridge
Device-2: Broadcom and subsidiaries Netlink BCM5787M Gigabit Ethernet PCI
Express
driver: tg3
If: ensl state: down mac: 00:1f:29:8a:3e:4b

I have access to usb's and another computer.

 

[Brickwizard]

You do not need the pen drive, you already have the correct driver installed,
I suspect you have a hard block, this can normally be released by pushing the Wi-Fi button [if you have one] or a combination of FN [winkey] together with one of the F keys, trial and error I am afraid as I don't know which F key is set on your laptop

 

[Seebs]

With all the tinkering I did I've elected to stop chasing the rabbit down the hole and start again from scratch. Once the clean install is complete I'll report back here with the result. Most likely be tomorrow as it is getting late here. Thanks for your valuable help. Cheers to all..

 

[Brickwizard]

OK but remember to tick the box to install non-free/propriotry drivers when asked

 

[kc1di]

@Seebs Good luck wiih the new install. Remember that you will have to install B43 driver for that Broadcom wireless card.
The Ethernet connection should be automatic and you should not have to install a separate driver for that.

 

[Lord Boltar]

You can download the deb package from here - https://packages.ubuntu.com/focal/firmware-b43-installer
or if you have a smart phone use it to download the deb file and transfer it to your laptop and then install the deb file with Gdebi

 

[Seebs]

Hello.. I did a fresh install and the problem persists. An issue was staring me in the face before I noticed it after brickwizard mentioned it. (Doh!!).. The wireless on/off switch is controlled by 'sensory touch' pad along with volume etc. Under windows this works. Not Linux. Obviously a software driver issue. The only 'fix' I can think will work is by installing 'wine' and loading the OEM Win Vista drivers accordingly. I downloaded the 'wine-5.0.taz.xz' file. With no internet access how do I manually install 'wine-5.0.taz.xz' file from C: drive?.. Cheers to all

 

[Brickwizard]

This from the HP workshop manual

First, verify that the Wireless Button is not disabled in the BIOS.

1. Press F10 at the power-on bios screen
2. Navigate to the Security menu
3. Choose Device Security
4. Verify that "Wireless Network Button" is set to enable. If set to disable, change this to enable and press F10 to confirm settings.
5. Exit the bios from the File menu, Choose Save Changes and Exit.

If the Wireless Button was enabled or changing the setting did not solve the problem, follow the next solution.

1. Press F10 at the power-on bios screen
2. From the file menu, Choose "Set Defaults"
3. Press F10 to confirm when prompted
4. Exit the bios from the File menu, Choose Save Changes and Exit.

 

[kc1di]

Broadcom requires a propritory driver that is not included in the install you have to install it after the fact. You do not install windows driver via wine that will not work. Mount the Live Install usb and open nemo and navigate to the usb. Then go to Pool Then main Then contrib then b there you will find the folder b43-fwcutter open it and you will find the driver you need. install it by
right clicking the mouse on the .deb file and select open with gedbi. You may have to install other dependencies which are also on the live usb. once finished reboot your wifi should be working. Good luck.

 

[Seebs]

Thoroughly searched the bios. Regrettably a "Wireless Network Button" feature is not available. For a moment there, I thought my woes had gone ..haha.. .Grrr.. Thanks for your efforts. It's greatly appreciated.. Once I learn how I'll try through 'Wine' and see if that resolves the issue..

 

[Seebs]

Hey Kc1di.. Thanks for letting me know the 'wine' route won't work. Saved me lots of 'hair pulling'. I'm yet to learn how to create a live usb. Once googled and learned I'll try your suggestion and report the result accordingly.. Cheers to all..

 

[kc1di]

Hey Kc1di.. Thanks for letting me know the 'wine' route won't work. Saved me lots of 'hair pulling'. I'm yet to learn how to create a live usb. Once googled and learned I'll try your suggestion and report the result accordingly.. Cheers to all..

what did you use to install mint in the first place?
Or are you running it in a VM?
Most burn the mint ISO to a usb stick and run it live and install that way. If you did that, that is the live usb I'm talking about.
Maybe should have used the term install usb.