Acer Aspire WIreless Network in Ubuntu

If you have the install media (e.g. ubuntu install cd), you can set up your wireless network.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx
http://code.google.com/p/mixtools/downloads/detail?name=acer-aspire3000-wireless.zip&can=2&q=#makechanges

b43 - No Internet access

If you do not have any other means of Internet access on your computer, you will have to install b43-fwcutter and patch packages from the install media. After that you will need to setup firmware manually (without the firmware automatically downloading and being set up).

Setp 1.

b43-fwcutter is located on the Ubuntu install media under ../pool/main/b/b43-fwcutter/ and patch is located under ../pool/main/p/patch/ or both in the official repositories online.

Note: In some versions (10.04 and 11.04 at least) there is not a /pool/main/p/patch/ If this file is missing then you don't need it. In this case you only need to install /pool/main/b/b43-fwcutter by following the instructions below.

Double click on the package to install or in a terminal (under the desktop menu Applications > Accessories > Terminal) navigate to the folder containing the package and issue the following command:

:/b43-fwcutter/$ sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter*

In case you couldn't find the folder, wubi keeps it as a hidden folder so you have to mount it. Follow these steps:

~$ sudo mount -o loop /host/ubuntu/install/.fuse_hidden0000000400000001 /mnt
~$ cd /mnt/pool/main/b/b43-fwcutter/
~$ sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter
~$ sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter*

As for the patch:

~$ cd /mnt/pool/main/p/patch/
~$ sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

Then unmount:

~$ sudo umount /mnt

Step 2.

On a computer with Internet access, download the required firmware files from http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o and http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2

Step 3.

Copy the downloaded files to your home folder and execute the following commands consecutively in a terminal to extract and install the firmware:

~$ tar xfvj broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
~$ sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta-3.130.20.0.o
~$ sudo b43-fwcutter --unsupported -w /lib/firmware broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5/driver/wl_apsta_mimo.o

Step 4.

Under the desktop menu System > Administration > Hardware/Additional Drivers, the b43 drivers can be activated for use.

Note: A computer restart may be required before using the wifi card.