New Install. WiFi working but no networks show up.

Jolurado · 09-01-2017, 09:42 AM

I've installed 18.2 as the only OS on a first generation MacBook Air using a USB stick. The wireless card is on, but no networks are showing up in the list. From another computer, I downloaded the Broadcom b43-cutter-installer wireless card installer and the B43 driver for my wireless card (PCI.ID [14e4:4328]).

Here are the steps I took:

Code:

sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o
sudo modprobe -r b43 bcma
sudo modprobe -r brcmsmac bcma
sudo reboot
sudo modprobe b43

Here are the results of lspci and iwconfig:

Code:

$ lspci -knn | grep Net -A3; rfkill list
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] (rev 05)
   Subsystem: Apple Inc. AirPort Extreme [106b:008b]
   Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
   Kernel modules: ssb
0: hci0: Bluetooth
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
****
$iwconfig
wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:off/any
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=20 dBm
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off

lo        no wireless extensions.

I tried disabling BlueTooth, but it didn't help.

I can successfully select and login into my WiFi network when I start the install, but it doesn't retain that info after it finishes and I have to install the Broadcom drivers.

It has worked once and I was able to update the default packages. I was able to reboot immediately after that and get an Internet connection. The next day, I don't have a connection anymore and can't see the WiFi networks. I tried disabling and re-enabling the Broadcom driver.

Can anyone see what's wrong or tell me what else to try?

Thank you, in advance, for your help.

lazydog · 09-01-2017, 12:08 PM

What is the output of the following command:

Code:

ifconfig
ip addr

Jolurado · 09-01-2017, 04:27 PM

Ok, I just rebooted the machine to run those commands in Terminal and when I did, the machine connected to my network with the preferred connection and now shows the wifi access points in the list when I click on the wifi icon in the task bar. I have rebooted this somewhere around 10 times before this on different days hoping for a connection, but didn't get one. It waited until after I posted on this forum to start working. [Arrrg!!!]

But maybe something else is going on. I've seen others mentioning dropped connections or a loss of wifi connections in their list after updating. Is this Broadcom driver less reliable than others? Is there a better one that I should use?

Please tell me how to gracefully uninstall this and install the better one (if there is one).

Thank you.

Here is the output of the ifconfig statement now that I DO have a connection:

Code:

$ ifconfig
lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:138 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:138 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1 
          RX bytes:11595 (11.5 KB)  TX bytes:11595 (11.5 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1e:c2:b4:71:d3  
          inet addr:10.0.0.112  Bcast:10.0.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: 2601:5cc:c801:34d0:21e:c2ff:feb4:71d3/64 Scope:Global
          inet6 addr: 2601:5cc:c801:34d0:9d03:884a:cee0:93bf/64 Scope:Global
          inet6 addr: fe80::21e:c2ff:feb4:71d3/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:278 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:117 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:38455 (38.4 KB)  TX bytes:17546 (17.5 KB)

And here is the output of the ip addr command that you wanted:

Code:

$ ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:1e:c2:b4:71:d3 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 10.0.0.112/24 brd 10.0.0.255 scope global dynamic wlan0
       valid_lft 604711sec preferred_lft 604711sec
    inet6 2601:5cc:c801:34d0:9d03:884a:cee0:93bf/64 scope global temporary dynamic 
       valid_lft 86391sec preferred_lft 85713sec
    inet6 2601:5cc:c801:34d0:21e:c2ff:feb4:71d3/64 scope global mngtmpaddr dynamic 
       valid_lft 86391sec preferred_lft 86391sec
    inet6 fe80::21e:c2ff:feb4:71d3/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Now, FYI, here's the output of iwconfig after my wireless card decided to start working:

Code:

$ iwconfig
wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"Nothing_But_Net_2.4G"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: B0:7F:B9:89:DD:19   
          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=46/70  Signal level=-64 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:113   Missed beacon:0

lo        no wireless extensions.

As always, I appreciate your thoughtful consideration.

Jolurado · 09-02-2017, 09:12 AM

The wifi networks are not showing up today. Yesterday it worked fine, even after rebooting.

Here is the output of ifconfig and ip addr:

Code:

$ ifconfig
lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:1672 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1672 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1 
          RX bytes:134847 (134.8 KB)  TX bytes:134847 (134.8 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1e:c2:b4:71:d3  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

$ ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:1e:c2:b4:71:d3 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
$

This is looking like an unstable driver.

Any ideas?

ondoho · 09-02-2017, 09:24 AM

always test with ping, twofold:

Code:

ping 8.8.8.8
ping google.com

if the first is working, but the second doesn't, that means your issue is not driver related, but name resolution is not working.

a working ping looks like this:

Code:

 ping 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=57 time=55.3 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=57 time=26.5 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=57 time=54.8 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=57 time=92.4 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=5 ttl=57 time=33.2 ms
...etc etc...

frankbell · 09-02-2017, 09:08 PM

Quote:

But maybe something else is going on. I've seen others mentioning dropped connections or a loss of wifi connections in their list after updating. Is this Broadcom driver less reliable than others?

I've had several computers with Broadcom wireless and used them with Ubuntu, Slackware, and Mint. In my experience, once I've gotten a Broadcom wireless connection working, it remains stable.

For what it's worth, I think something more is going on.

lazydog · 09-03-2017, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jolurado

The wifi networks are not showing up today. Yesterday it worked fine, even after rebooting.

Is your wireless card seeing any access points?
Try this;

Code:

iwinfo wlan0 scan

Before calling it a driver issue we need to see if it is seeing any networks. If it see the networks but doesn't connect then it isn't a driver issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jolurado

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1e:c2:b4:71:d3
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

always test with ping, twofold:

Code:

ping 8.8.8.8
ping google.com

Look at what he has provided. There is no IP Address so neither of these two commands is going to work.

ferrari · 09-03-2017, 11:17 PM

As Frankbell has suggested it does look like 'something more is going on'. It may well be a USB power management issue. Some users have found TLP useful for taming power management in laptops...

http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-...anagement.html

You may need to install it first

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw

https://itsfoss.com/things-to-do-aft...linux-mint-18/

Then blacklist power management (USB autosuspending) for this device (configured in /etc/default/tlp)...

Code:

USB_BLACKLIST="106b:008b"

Reference:
http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-...ation.html#usb

Hope that helps.

Jolurado · 10-08-2017, 12:38 PM

@ferrari: there was definitely something else going on, but we'll never know what it was. I bought a USB Ethernet dongle on Amazon and reinstalled (The lesson learned is to try to get a wired connection to make life easier.)

I'm still having dropoff issues with my connection and am installing TLP, but I have a question.

Here's is the output of lsusb:

Code:

$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 05ac:8505 Apple, Inc. Built-in iSight
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 003: ID 05ac:0223 Apple, Inc. Internal Keyboard/Trackpad (ANSI)
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 05ac:8242 Apple, Inc. Built-in IR Receiver
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 05ac:8210 Apple, Inc. 
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp. BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046 Bluetooth)
Bus 005 Device 006: ID 046d:c016 Logitech, Inc. Optical Wheel Mouse
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Should I BLACKLIST the range "0a5c:4500" for the Broadcom hub instead of the range you gave (i.e. "106b:008b").
How did you get that range and what is it for?

Respectfully,

ferrari · 10-08-2017, 02:14 PM

I didn't give a range - I gave a specific chipset (106b:008b), which was the one listed in the output in your opening post pertaining to the wireless device. If you read the reference I provided a link to, it explains how to exclude particular devices (by chipset) from USB autosuspending. YMMV.