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I recently installed Ubuntu 11.04 on an Inspiron 1501 with an AMD Sempron. I think the RAM is probably low because it is very slow. Googling the problem, I noticed that a problem with the coding in Dells shuts off the wifi card.

The solution seems to be to input this code.

sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

However, once I did that, it made the wifi settings visible, but still not accessible. Before enter the code, you couldn't even see the words. Now it says WIRELESS NETWORKS and Device Not Ready (Firmaware Missing).

If the solution is to update Ubuntu, then that leads to my next problem. I can't install any additional software on it. I go through the Software Center, but as I try to install, it says the following:

Failed to Download Repository Information.

I am not an IT guy. Please help if you can.

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closed as off-topic by Eric Carvalho, Thomas W., Eliah Kagan, Kevin Bowen, Seth Aug 10 '13 at 4:18




1 Answer 1

One possible solution to this problem is to open the terminal ALT+CTRL+T and type rfkill list all, this will help solve some issues with wifi connectivity.

Additionally, it appears that there is some issue with the main Ubuntu repository. Here is a question very similar to yours that lists some additional answers that you haven't said that you've tried. If that doesn't help look at this page for more information about repositories.

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