The current release of Ubuntu (Karmic) does NOT have the latest kernel which includes the required drivers for the wireless card on this laptop. The wifi card this laptop has is as described in by lspci below.
03:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8192 (rev 01)
At the time of writing, the development version (Ubuntu lucid) ships with the 2.6.32 kernel which HAS the required module but NOT the required FIRMWARE (I'll get to that later).
So, either install this kernel manually, or update to lucid using synaptic or update-manager -d, or do-release-upgrade -d.
Once you have done that, the network manager will list the wifi card as wlan0, but wifi operations will not be permitted (For example, the Network Manager will display "disconnected" under the wireless networks menu, as the firmware cannot be found, and you will not be able to do anything with it.
To install the firmware, do as follows. (You will need to apt-get git-core if you haven't already done so)
cd /tmp
git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/gregkh/firmware.git
sudo cp -av firmware/RTL8192E /lib/firmware/
Reboot your system. You should now have wireless!
3 comments:
Hello, I was wondering if you could more specific as to which L510 you have. The specs vary from place to place. I downloaded a driver for ubuntu from the manufacturer and have wifi enabled although it's making the system unstable and doesn't allow wireless to transmit data although it claims your connected.
Thanks
Thanks for the info. I actually walked into a DSE today to go and buy one. I brought along a 9.10 Ubuntu disc to run on it.. and noticed that the wireless was not detecting.
It looks like I'll hold off on getting this machine for now...
I'll download lucid in a few days when it's released and take that disc in to see how it goes.
thanks,
Andrew
Yeah, even with the above fix, the wireless isn't very stable. If you arn't in a hurry, I'd hold off until the Intel 620 UM processors are out, as the battery life isn't great.
Very good laptop for the price though. If its in your price range, and you do get wireless working properly, I'd buy it.
Post a Comment