Linux noob in need of help

hi,
I got a new laptop yesterday and wasted no time installing Kubuntu (my brother uses Ubuntu and speaks very highly of it), but I'm having a few problems:
First, it doesn't recognize the wireless card. I don't know the model, but the laptop is a HP dv5z, standard wireless option.
Second, the sound doesn't work, and I have no idea where to look up the sound card and drivers.
Third, is there a way to install shockwave player for firefox?
Thanks in advance!

 

Most of this can be found in my ubuntu guide(see sig).
go to a termianl(Konsole in KDE) and run "lspci" and give use the output.
Not sure about the sound..what have you tested the sound with?

 

I believe the dv6500z's have Broadcom cards, but I don't know if HP changed that with the dv5z's. If they are Broadcom cards, however, you shouldn't have any problems getting wireless support (though it won't work out of the box in Ubuntu).

There is no way to get Shockwave natively running on Linux. However, you can install the Windows version of Firefox and Shockwave in Wine. This will require that you run the Windows version of Firefox (running in Wine) to access any sites that use Shockwave.

 

The driver manager shows that I have drivers for an Atheros card installed and that said card is in use. However, I still can't connect to my wireless network. Also, the network power button shows that the network is disabled, and I can't get it to enable it (it's touch based on the dv5z). Could that be the reason I can't connect to my wireless network?

The lspci command gives this output:
00:11.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:12.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI1 Controller
00:12.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI1 Controller
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 3a)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 IDE Controller
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 LPC host controller
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h HyperTransport Configuration (rev 40)
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h Miscellaneous Control
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h Link Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Mobilitiy Radeon HD 3400 Series
01:00.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 Audio device [Radeon HD 34xx Series]
08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02)
0a:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2380
0a:00.1 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2382
0a:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2381
0a:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2383
0a:00.4 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2384

Does that mean there is no way to watch youtube vids with linux? bummer...

 

Yes there is, see my ubuntu guide.
Have you tried madwifi? I know the work with atheros.

 

Oh, right. I must have overlooked that bit. Awesome guide btw
I can't get madwifi to work :/
Regarding the sound issue, headphones work, but not the speakers.

 

Sorry; double post...

 

Yes, you can watch youtube videos perfectly in Linux. If you are using Firefox, you will need to install adobe's flash player and then you will be all set. When I get home I will send you the instructions.

 

How to get Flash working:

 

Sweet, Youtube works now
Thanks!

 

No problem, just tell me if there's anything else you want to know. I suggest you read my Linux Switcher's Guide and my Linux Alternatives to Windows Software Guide if you already haven't.

 

There's still the wireless issue. According to the driver manager, the driver is installed, but whenever I remove the cable, no wireless card is recognized. It's an Atheros btw
And then there's the sound problem. It works over the headphone jack, but the speakers don't work.
I've started reading your guides. Awesome job with those!

 

For your sound problem, and check here and/or post in these forums for wireless help. Tell me if those links work out for you and if you need something else. These forums may be kind of slow sometimes but Ubuntu Forums should have some help for your problems. You can PM/IM me or post here/at UF if you need help.

 

Calvin beat me to it . I have a different set of instructions that I use. But it looks like you are all set, good luck!

 

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree also works.....

 

When did it become a competition?

 

No competition. Just didn't want the OP to think I forgot to post the instructions that I said I would.

 

Ah, now I understand. Didn't see that post.

 

hi guys
I did a complete system restore and did a clean install of vista so i could dual boot ubuntu and vista. Sound works now (somehow the master control wasn't set to apply to the speakers...) and so does firefox, and basically everything else. Wireless still doesn't work, but I'm starting to thinks that's because it's disabled in the bios.
Thanks for all the help!

 

I have this quirky issue with my broadcom card where I have to boot into windows sometimes to get it to work and then boot back into linux. My laptop has a hotkey option to disable the wireless and I think that is somehow being triggered in linux.

 

Yep, that's my problem too, except the hotkey is touch based and won't trigger in linux. Basically, drivers are installed for the correct card, but I can't use it because of the hotkey/bios.

 

Your WiFi button should not affect the operation of your WiFi hardware under Linux. However, you seem to have a relatively new version of the Atheros WiFi chipset in your dv5z. If the installed driver doesn't work, you could test using the most recent driver from madwifi source snapshots, and see if that will get your WiFi hardware working.

It should work the same under Kubuntu as under Ubuntu, (where these instructions originated). If not maybe someone who knows both systems can recommend Kubuntu specific changes to the procedure.

1) First go to System> Administration-> Hardware Drivers and make sure the following option is ticked (enabled)

Code:

Atheros Hardware Access Layer (Hal)

If it was disabled, and you enabled it, you need to reboot your system

2) Go to System->Administration->Software Sources. Make sure you have "Universe" & "Multiverse" checked.

3) Then open the terminal from Applications–>Accessories–>Terminal and perform the following commands for steps 3 through 7;

Code:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

4) Get this version of madwifi patched driver

Code:

wget http://snapshots.madwifi.org/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3772-20080716.tar.gz

5) Untar the downloaded package

Code:

tar xvfz madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3772-20080716.tar.gz

6) Get inside the unpacked directory

Code:

cd madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3772-20080716

7) Now you can first build, install, and then load, your madwifi driver modules with the following commands

Code:

sudo make && sudo make install
sudo modprobe ath_pci

8) Now restart your computer and see if your WiFi hardware works correctly.

Good Luck..

 

Awesome, it works now!
Thanks!!!

 

I just found a better fix, here. Apply the new fix and you'll have Flash 9 which might or might not interest you/work better. This works out better for me.

 

I have followed the directions for madwifi. Now it shows the interface ath0 and wifi0, but iwlist doesn't scan networks..

could you help me further for scanning the networks or mention alternate tools that I can use to connect to wireless networks..

thansk

 

Please post the output of the following commands separately;

Code:

sudo lspci |grep -i ethernet

Code:

sudo ifconfig -a

Code:

sudo iwconfig

Code:

sudo lsmod |grep -i ath

1) Also what is your Linux distribution and version?
2) What is your laptop and model?
3) And do you have the Networkmanager program installed?
4) Did you follow the steps for installing the madwifi driver outlined in the post above?

I also assume that you are testing this somewhere where there is a wireless network within range, etc. The best way to ensure this is to either boot with another OS, like a Windows version, and see if you can access the WiFi network. Or alternately have someone who has working WiFi access the network and make sure it's accessible, etc.

Good Luck..

 

I just realized I forgot to link you. My apologies, here is the link.