Broadcom BCM43142 driver not working in Debian Jessie
 

Hi,

I am having a Dell Vostro Laptop which has broadcom BCM43142 wireless lan. I have copied the driver for the same from Ubuntu 14.04
"bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb"

It installs but gives the error

Any help will be appreciated..

I am pasting the commands that i have used to get over this

root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop# dpkg -i bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb
Selecting previously unselected package bcmwl-kernel-source.
(Reading database ... 137345 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking bcmwl-kernel-source (6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu2) ...
Setting up bcmwl-kernel-source (6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu2) ...
Loading new bcmwl-6.30.223.141+bdcom DKMS files...
Building only for 3.16-2-amd64
Building for architecture x86_64
Module build for the currently running kernel was skipped since the
kernel source for this kernel does not seem to be installed.
modprobe: FATAL: Module wl not found.
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.116) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.16-2-amd64
root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop# uname -a
Linux debian 3.16-2-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.16.3-2 (2014-09-20) x86_64 GNU/Linux
root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop# sudo apt-get install linux-source-$(uname -r)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package linux-source-3.16-2-amd64
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'linux-source-3.16-2-amd64'
root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop# sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package linux-headers-3.16-2-amd64
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'linux-headers-3.16-2-amd64'

I don't think you should be using Ubuntu drivers in Debian.
That said, I also don't think the Debian repo's have a driver for your card (I'm sure the more expert forum members will correct me if I'm wrong about this)...

You could try downloading this .deb for your driver from here at your own risk (this is not "best practice"):
https://mega.co.nz/#!qIUySZYJ!PgfNRV...bU-houaQ97c0yM
This is a modified version of the Ubuntu driver that should work better.

Then install the packages required:
Then install the .deb (use either `dpkg -i` or gdebi).

And activate it using:

Hi Head_On_Stick,

you are right when you say not to use ubuntu drivers on debian. but at times we need to try a few things to get the work done.. ;)

also 'broadcom-ska-modules' is not there in the repository, i found 'broadcom-sta-modules'. and i tried installing that and i download the broadcom driver and installed it.... unfortunately no success... i pasting the command and the output below...

root@debian:~# apt-get install linux-headers-amd64 build-essential dkms broadcom-sta-modules
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'broadcom-sta-dkms' instead of 'broadcom-sta-modules'
build-essential is already the newest version.
dkms is already the newest version.
linux-headers-amd64 is already the newest version.
broadcom-sta-dkms is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 39 not upgraded.
root@debian:~#
root@debian:~# cd /home/rudraraj/Desktop/
root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop# cd BROADCOM\ DRIVER/
root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop/BROADCOM DRIVER# ls
wireless-bcm43142-dkms_6.20.55.19-1_amd64.deb
root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop/BROADCOM DRIVER# dpkg -i wireless-bcm43142-dkms_6.20.55.19-1_amd64.deb
Selecting previously unselected package wireless-bcm43142-dkms.
(Reading database ... 137345 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack wireless-bcm43142-dkms_6.20.55.19-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking wireless-bcm43142-dkms (6.20.55.19-1) ...
Setting up wireless-bcm43142-dkms (6.20.55.19-1) ...
Loading new wireless-bcm43142-6.20.55.19 DKMS files...
Building only for 3.16-2-amd64
Module build for the currently running kernel was skipped since the
kernel source for this kernel does not seem to be installed.
root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop/BROADCOM DRIVER# modprobe wl
modprobe: FATAL: Module wl not found.
root@debian:/home/rudraraj/Desktop/BROADCOM DRIVER#


modprobe says module wl not found.... :(

I think that's because your headers don't match the kernel you're running.

I've just tried this and dkms should bring in the headers it needs...

Maybe your attempt to install the Ubuntu-based driver has messed things up, I'm not sure. Sorry.

You should read the complete output of make. It has information.

jlinkels

Hello Jlinkels,

I have read the output of make.... And I am aware that the kernel source is not installed.... If you look at my initial post.... You will see that i have tried to pull in the kernel source... but it was not available in the jessie repositories.... looks like the kernel source has to be compiled in installed seperately......

As long as the correct kernel source is not installed it is no use to whine about the module not compiling. You have to find the kernel source first. If it is not in the Jessie repos anymore, get it from kernel.org.

jlinkels

Post output of Also how many kernels do you have installed?

my coworker got the broadcom card working on his dell laptop w/ linux using the below link.

http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php