Broadcom Drivers

[wvufantim]

06:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet [1969:1083] (rev c0)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet [1025:0520]
Kernel driver in use: atl1c
Kernel modules: atl1c
07:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43225 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4357] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Foxconn International, Inc. T77H103.00 Wireless Half-size Mini PCIe Card [105b:e021]
Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
Kernel modules: bcma

[sleeper12]

Still not there, do again:

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 sudo apt install --reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source 

Reboot

Then let's see if wl shows up in:

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 lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net 

[wvufantim]

06:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet [1969:1083] (rev c0)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet [1025:0520]
Kernel driver in use: atl1c
Kernel modules: atl1c
07:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43225 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4357] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Foxconn International, Inc. T77H103.00 Wireless Half-size Mini PCIe Card [105b:e021]
Kernel driver in use: wl
Kernel modules: bcma, wl

[sleeper12]

Ok, now do:

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 sudo modprobe -rv bcma wl 

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 sudo modprobe -v wl 

[wvufantim]

It's still not working though.

[wvufantim]

I can see my wifi, but every time I try to connect, it tries and then disconnects.

[sleeper12]

Did you unplug the ethernet cable? That can sometimes block wifi.

If that doesn't help, maybe there's a different problem. Let's see:

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 rfkill list && iwconfig && mokutil --sb-state 

[wvufantim]

Unplugging didn't work.

Here is the result:

0: phy1: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
lo no wireless extensions.

enp6s0 no wireless extensions.

wlp7s0b1 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=19 dBm
Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off

EFI variables are not supported on this system

[wvufantim]

Here are some clues that I have noticed:

When I click on the network (GUI), I can see all available networks, including mine. Along with the Broadcom card, I have plugged in an old Netgear wifi USB. I can see available networks on both. The puzzling thing is that the network manager (bottom right task bar) says that both adapters are disconnected. This is odd.

The wifi emblem on the laptop is amber. I'm pretty sure that it should be blue if its in use.

Just some things I've noticed.

[wvufantim]

MX Linux also connects with no problems at all. It was running 5.10 kernel, but I really want to use Linux Mint on this laptop for my father in law.

[SMG]

When I click on the network (GUI), I can see all available networks, including mine. Along with the Broadcom card, I have plugged in an old Netgear wifi USB. I can see available networks on both. The puzzling thing is that the network manager (bottom right task bar) says that both adapters are disconnected. This is odd.

You are not getting the slider to turn on the WiFi source? If you booted with two attached, then you may not be automatically connected and have to select which one to turn on.

The wifi emblem on the laptop is amber. I'm pretty sure that it should be blue if its in use.

I have an HP laptop. The WiFi emblem is amber if I am disconnected and white when connected.

[wvufantim]

No, I had just plugged in the USB wifi for an experiment. All other times was just the internal Broadcom. I can't turn either one on. They both say "Disconnected" but they are picking up available routers to connect to. This is puzzling for sure.

[SMG]

I had to make changes in my computer's BIOS in order for the WiFi to work properly. I can not recall the specific name of the options, but there were two different settings which affected WiFi. As I recall, it was a weird HP thing. Maybe yours has a weird Acer thing.

Btw: My laptop has a BCM43224 while yours is a BCM43225. I now use the proprietary wl driver, but I originally used the bcma-pci-bridge.

Have you checked for errors in syslog? I can't recall for sure if I had any there originally (before I discovered I needed to make the change in BIOS).

[wvufantim]

I checked the bios but nothing was in there. Very basic bios. It could be a weird ACER thing, but I installed Cinnamon and I got it working I think. It's weird. I wonder what the difference is in Cinnamon vs XFCE on the network controller?

[sleeper12]

Did you ever try wifi on the 5.4 kernel? Just curious why you have 5.11 on an older machine.

[SMG]

I wonder what the difference is in Cinnamon vs XFCE on the network controller?

I would not have guesses there was one, but maybe someone else knows of a possible difference.

[wvufantim]

Did you ever try wifi on the 5.4 kernel? Just curious why you have 5.11 on an older machine.

Yes, I think 20.2 XFCE had the 5.4 and it didn't work. I installed the 5.11 to see if it would work. MX Plasma had the 5.11. I may install other XFCE distros to see if it's isolated to XFCE.

[wvufantim]

I wonder what the difference is in Cinnamon vs XFCE on the network controller?

I would not have guesses there was one, but maybe someone else knows of a possible difference.

I wouldn't have either, but I am a long time noob. I should be further along that I am, but it is what it is ya know.

[sleeper12]

Did you ever try wifi on the 5.4 kernel? Just curious why you have 5.11 on an older machine.

Yes, I think 20.2 XFCE had the 5.4 and it didn't work. I installed the 5.11 to see if it would work. MX Plasma had the 5.11. I may install other XFCE distros to see if it's isolated to XFCE.

I wonder if it would work now though with the wl driver. Just a thought.

[wvufantim]

It did. It already had the wl. I ran the same command after installing Cinnamon and seeing that it worked. The command resulted in wl being there. Don't know exactly why.