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Dee avatar Ubuntu

Xbuntu 18.04.5 install need to add wireless capabilitiy

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Dee

I have an old eMachines desktop that was running Vista. I installed Xbuntu 18.04.5 after trying Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS and 21.10 neither would boot from the cd which I believe the machine does not have 64bit. The Xbuntu fired right up and the install was easy.

I then tried to access Network Manager which was not available so I am now trying to establish a wireless connection manually. I have a Dell Wireless 1450 Dual-band adapter that hopefully I can use. I see it listed after completing the command: lsusb

Bus 002 Device 007: ID 413c:8104 Dell Computer Corp. Wireless 1450 Dual-band (802.11a/b/g) Adapter) Intersil ISL3887

I found the following instructions (see below) and downloaded what was suggested for the 2nd gen device lm87.arm - https://daemonizer.de/prism54/prism54-fw/fw-usb/2.13.25.0.lm87.arm

I completed the steps the best I could but have yet to receive the desired results. I am not sure of the line: /lib/firmware/"YOUR_KERNEL_VER_HERE"/"YOUR DOWNLOADED FIRMWARE HERE"

After browsing through the file system I do not know if this should be present or if I need to create a folder titled 5.4.0-42-generic (found after completing the command uname -r)?

Here is the link to the instructions I found under ubuntu forums: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1477646&p=9304551#post9304551

May 15th, 2010#4Sintar Sintar is offline First Cup of Ubuntu Join Date Feb 2010 Beans 1 Red face Re: Dell Wireless 1450 Wireless USB Adapter so i'm assuming that you want the native drivers not a ndis wrapper. that you have a usb wifi adapter 1450. not a 1450 studio laptop. first off go to this web site http://daemonizer.de/prism54/prism54-fw/ download a firmware for your device i would suggest one from the usb list twords the bottom they probably have less bugs 1st gen device get a firmware ending in lm86.arm 2nd gen device get one ending in lm87.arm i used the very bottom one from the usb section since i have a second gen device now rename the firmware you downloaded to isl3886usb for the 1st gen or isl3887usb for the 2nd gen now move it to /lib/firmware/"YOUR_KERNEL_VER_HERE"/"YOUR DOWNLOADED FIRMWARE HERE" for 64 bit you might as well put one here too /lib64/firmware/"YOUR_KERNEL_VER_HERE"/"YOUR DOWNLOADED FIRMWARE HERE" the syntax to move is sudo mv /Source/directory/filename /dest/dir/filename once the files are moved run modprobe -r p54usb | modprobe -r p54common then modprobe p54usb | modprobe p54common now iwconfig it should list your adapter then connect and have a good day

Your assistance is much appreciated.

I ran the commands as suggested. Not sure of what to do next:

$ `sudo modprobe p54usb` 
$ `dmesg | grep p54` 
   [11269.753346] p54usb 2-3:1.0: failed to initialize device (-2) 
   [11269.761600] usbcore: registered new interface driver p54usb
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guiverc avatar
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guiverc
You've provided no specifics as to your hardware; but I used hardware as old as from 2006 in QA *testing* all releases up to and including current *jammy* (older devices up to 19.04). Windows XP was sold on 32-bit hardware; Vista & later is rare as usually the 32-bit windows was sold on 64-bit hardware (32-bit windows dropped the price by $5 which consumers understood more than 32 vs. 64 bits). Given the errors in what you provided; I'd check your machine can't use *amd64*.
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guiverc avatar
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guiverc
FYI: Xubuntu 18.04 LTS is no longer supported; refer https://xubuntu.org/release/18-04/ or https://fridge.ubuntu.com/2020/08/14/ubuntu-18-04-5-lts-released/ where you'll note only Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Desktop & Ubuntu Cloud come with 5 years of support; *flavors* only had shorter lives. I'd suggest using `ubuntu-support-status` to assess the security status of your actual install. Your question is still on-topic here, but consider how much security matters to you and the results of prior command. You're now using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with Xfce (*not Xubuntu*).
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chili555 avatar
cn flag
chili555
The driver for your device is *p54usb*. Load it from the terminal: `sudo modprobe p54usb` and check the message log to see what is says about firmware: `dmesg | grep p54` Welcome to Ask Ubuntu.
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Dee avatar
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Dee
I will pursue the other comments related to a potential upgrade to a supported version. I ran the commands as suggested. Not sure of what to do next: dseals@dseals-xubuntu:~$ sudo modprobe p54usb dseals@dseals-xubuntu:~$ dmesg | grep p54 [11269.753346] p54usb 2-3:1.0: failed to initialize device (-2) [11269.761600] usbcore: registered new interface driver p54usb
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chili555 avatar Ubuntu
cn flag
chili555

In your dmesg, we see:

p54usb 2-3:1.0: failed to initialize device (-2)

Although missing firmware is not explicitly mentioned, I assume that the required firmware, which is not present in the default Ubuntu installation, is the reason for failure to initialize.

With a working internet connection by ethernet, tethering or whatever means possible, open a terminal and do:

cd /lib/firmware
sudo wget https://daemonizer.de/prism54/prism54-fw/fw-usb/2.13.25.0.lm86.arm
sudo mv 2.13.25.0.lm86.arm isl3886usb
sudo wget https://daemonizer.de/prism54/prism54-fw/fw-usb/2.13.25.0.lm87.arm
sudo mv 2.13.25.0.lm87.arm isl3887usb

Reboot and show us:

dmesg | grep p54
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