Ubuntu 8.04 LTS was recently released. So I upgraded a couple of my computers (that I’m far too lazy and have no time to maintain Gentoo on) to this new release to find that my wireless PCMCIA card did not work on my laptop. Okay - that’s fine. I’ve had this problem since I began using Linux years ago. However, unlike the previous release, Hardy Heron didn’t seem to list the driver for it in the restricted drivers. Granted, you need an internet connection to download the drivers either way, it would have been nice for it to say “Hey, we’ve got you covered!” So I was worried that it was for some reason removed from this release.

So, for those of you who have this problem - start by plugging it into a wired connection and updating your repositories (sudo apt-get update). Then in System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers, the driver for your wireless device should be listed. Simply install it and restart and you should be good to go.