[sf-lug] wifi on linux (notably laptops)

[jim]

   my ignorance is getting in the way. 
   i'm sure there's some kind of ladder or hierarchy 
that, once understood with terminology nailed down, 
could help make sense out of diagnosing not only how 
come the <BADWORD> wifi isn't working but other things 
as well. 

   the specific problem is to get wifi working on a 
dell inspiron 1545 that's got a broadcom 43xx chipset 
and on which we've installed ubuntu 9.04. 

   i'm looking for a general mental model that uses 
standard terminology for the pieces that play togethers. 
my current impression is the cast of characters includes: 

network manager (ubuntu) 
/etc/modprobe.d/ 
ifup 
iwconfig 
iwlist 
wlan0 
lspci 
lsusb 
lsmod 
dmesg 
wep and wap 
tcp/ip 
firmware 
ndiswrapper, drivers 
realtek, atheros, intel, <BADWORD> broadcom 

* up at the top are the applications such as browsers 
and email clients. 
* beneath the apps is the TCP/IP stack. 
* below that there's some other stuff 
* then there's firmware and drivers ("kernel modules") 
* down at the bottom is the chipset. 


recently found links: 

http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1266620&page=8 
someone claimed that post 79 had info to get the wifi working, 
and it did until the guy who achieved the success left and the 
laptop owner rebooted. 

http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/wiki/index.php/Quick_HOWTO_:_Ch13_:_Linux_Wireless_Networking