[Fix]WiFi Driver Breaks After Update in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS [Intel Wifi 5100]

If your Intel WiFi 5100 series WiFi driver broke down after latest update in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS desktop, understand that you are not the only one here with the same problem. A good friend of mine had the exact same issue. This is what you need to do to solve 'WiFi driver breaks after update' issue in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

Fix for WiFi Driver Breaks After Update in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

Disclaimer: I haven't tried and tested the below steps all by myself. I don't use Ubuntu 10.04 LTS anymore and hence can't reproduce the same problem. Use it at your own risk.

Howto Solve 'WiFi Driver Breaks After Update' Issue in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS?
  • Do the following in Terminal. (Important Note: If you are using kernal version 2.6.32-33, you should skip this step and follow the instruction below this).
wget http://www.orbit-lab.org/kernel/compat-wireless-2.6-stable/v2.6.38/compat-wireless-2.6.38.2-2-ns.tar.bz2
sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-'uname -r'
sudo apt-get remove lsh-server
tar jxvf compat-wireless-2.6.38.2-2-ns.tar.bz2
cd compat-wireless-2.6.38.2-2-ns
make
sudo make install
sudo make wlunload
sudo make btunload
sudo modprobe iwlagn bnep btusb rfcomm sco
sudo modprobe iwlagn
sudo modprobe bnep
sudo modprobe btusb
sudo modprobe rfcomm
sudo modprobe sco
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
  • Done. Under normal circumstances, the steps described above should solve the WiFi driver break down issue for you.
  • Now, if you are using a slightly older kernel with version 2.6.32-33, do the following(to know which kernel version you are using, just type uname -r in terminal).
wget http://www.orbit-lab.org/kernel/compat-wireless-2.6-stable/v2.6.32/compat-wireless-2.6.32.16.tar.bz2
tar -jxvf compat-wireless-2.6.32.16.tar.bz2
sudo apt-get remove lsh-server
cd compat-wireless-2.6.32.16/
./scripts/driver-select iwlwifi
make
sudo make install
sudo make wlunload
sudo make btunload
sudo make unload
sudo modprobe iwlcore
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
sudo modprobe iwlagn
sudo modprobe iwlagn bnep dtusb rfcomm sco
  • Done. Hope it worked for you.
A bug report has already been filed regarding this WiFi driver issue and the real courtesy of this particular post goes to the users there who have already detailed the steps on solving the problem. Thanks to our reader and good friend Santhosh N.Raju for the tip.