Wifi for MacBook Pro 16.1 running LM 20.2?

[tessarion]

Hello all,

I was recently given a 2019 MacBookPro 16.1 by my work. After some difficulty, I was able to successfully set it up to run Linux Mint 20.2 as the sole OS on the laptop (to make a long story short, dual-booting proved more difficulty than it was worth).

My next challenge, however, is able to get the wifi working. Right now, no wireless networks are detected when the machine is on. My system detects the wifi hardware, but doesn't appear to have any drivers for it; lwconfig simply reports back with 'no wireless extensions.'

Here's the output of inxi -F:

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System:
  Host: tessa-elife Kernel: 5.4.0-74-generic x86_64 bits: 64 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.4 Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: MacBookPro16,1 v: 1.0 
  serial: <superuser/root required> 
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-E1008331FDC96864 v: MacBookPro16,1 
  serial: <superuser/root required> UEFI: Apple 
  v: 1554.100.64.0.0 (iBridge: 18.16.14556.0.0,0) date: 03/10/2021 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 98.6 Wh condition: 98.6/100.2 Wh (98%) 
CPU:
  Topology: 6-Core model: Intel Core i7-9750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  L2 cache: 12.0 MiB 
  Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/4500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 
  3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 801 8: 800 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 14 [Radeon RX 5500/5500M / Pro 5500M] driver: amdgpu 
  v: kernel 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: amdgpu,ati 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,radeon,vesa resolution: 3072x1920~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD NAVI14 (DRM 3.35.0 5.4.0-74-generic LLVM 11.0.0) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 10 HDMI Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Device-2: Apple Audio driver: N/A 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-74-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM4364 802.11ac Wireless Network 
  Adapter 
  driver: N/A 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.92 GiB used: 8.34 GiB (1.8%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Apple model: SSD AP0512N size: 465.92 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 457.11 GiB used: 8.34 GiB (1.8%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 0 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0 
Info:
  Processes: 274 Uptime: 44m Memory: 15.53 GiB used: 919.0 MiB (5.8%) 
  Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.38 

And here's the relevant output of lspci:

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05:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4364 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:4464] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Apple Inc. BCM4364 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [106b:07bf]
06:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] [8086:15ea] (rev 06)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
07:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] [8086:15ea] (rev 06)

Is this problem indeed caused by a lack of a driver? If so, where can I get the appropriate driver? If not, what's another fix that might work?

Thanks!

[sleeper12]

You may need to disable secure boot in Bios. See what this shows:

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 mokutil --sb-state 

[absque fenestris]

1. Ethernet: connect your Mac via Ethernet to the net and download the Broadcom driver.

2. USB: connect a Smartphone or iPhone to your Mac via USB tethering and download the Broadcom driver.

As soon as one or the other port is up, the Driver Manager should inform you about the available driver.

[tessarion]

2. USB: connect a Smartphone or iPhone to your Mac via USB tethering and download the Broadcom driver.

Alas, I tried this, and while the Mac detected my Android (as a wired connection called 'eth0'), it can't access the internet through it--keeps saying that a cable is disconnected.

I'll pick up an ethernet-to-USB-C adapter tonight (gotta love the slim-design-at-all costs ethos Apple has going ), and try that tomorrow. Hopefully, one way or another, I'll be able to get the Mac to talk to the internet.

[tessarion]

Further update:

The MacBookPro does not appear to detect the ethernet-to-USB-C adapter, and thus, still cannot connect to the internet.

God, I hate Macs.

Is there any possible way I can find the driver file online, transfer it using a USB stick, and install it manually? Because this thing seems determined not to connect the internet otherwise.

[sleeper12]

What did the command I posted show?

[tessarion]

[deleted because of accidental double post]

[tessarion]

What did the command I posted show?

Something to the effect of 'Secure boot not enabled on this system.'

[sleeper12]

Ok, makes sense, I forgot it's a Mac. What does this show:

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 rfkill list all 

[tessarion]

Makes sense, I forgot it's a Mac. What does this show:

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 rfkill list all 

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0 : hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked:no
	Hard blocked: no

[sleeper12]

You would likely need to try the 5.11 kernel, but you can't do that without an internet connection:
https://linux-hardware.org/index.php?id ... -106b-07bf

[sleeper12]

Maybe this will help you get a temporary connection:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... ernet.html

If that works, you can then install the 5.11 kernel in Update Manager, View, Linux Kernels.

[tessarion]

Maybe this will help you get a temporary connection:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... ernet.html

If that works, you can then install the 5.11 kernel in Update Manager, View, Linux Kernels.

Alas, tethering doesn't work for some reason--the system detects it as a wired connection called 'eth0', but still maintains that a cable is unplugged, and no connection to the internet is available.

[sleeper12]

Maybe you should test wifi in a live session of the Edge edition of Mint. It comes with the 5.11 kernel. If wifi works, you can then install it:
https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=291

Otherwise, you could try a usb wifi adapter that works out of the box on linux.