[SOLVED] Linux Mint 20.1 - Wifi not working

[Larry78723]

Is that machine currently connected to the 'net using an Ethernet connection? Some machines disable wifi if an ethernet cable is plugged in. (Mine does this)

[infinito1971]

Hi all,
I had disabled Fast boot directly in boot settings; so, it isn't the cause of the problem.
With the command suggested by hglee, I noticed some error in booting process; so i setted the previous value in the configuration file and everything is back as before.
Even unplugging the network cable, the wifi doesn't work.
I am increasingly convinced that the cause of the problem is this:

Code: Select all

03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5286 PCI Express Card Reader [10ec:5286] (rev 01)

It seems to be a driver problem but I don't know how to solve.
I hope someone can suggest me the right solution.
Thank you in advance.

Regards,
inifnito1971

[hglee]

I had disabled Fast boot directly in boot settings; so, it isn't the cause of the problem.

Perhaps you're confusing the Fast Boot in your BIOS with the Fast StartUp in Windows power options (not boot settings).

How to Turn Off Fast Startup in Windows 10 (1m53s @YouTube)


I haven't mentioned the BIOS Fast Boot, but yes disable it, to avoid hardware initialization and diagnostic shortcuts during power-on.

[sleeper12]

I can't confirm it, but I still suspect secure boot may be hiding somewhere in Bios/Uefi settings. Maybe in a Security tab.

Edit: Maybe this helps to find it?
https://www.libble.eu/asus-a553ma/onlin ... ?page=0076

[hglee]

I am increasingly convinced that the cause of the problem is this:

Code: Select all

03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5286 PCI Express Card Reader [10ec:5286] (rev 01)

It seems to be a driver problem but I don't know how to solve.
I hope someone can suggest me the right solution.

There isn't anything in the data to indicate that your Realtek card-reader chipset is interfering with your Broadcom wifi. That "Unassigned class" isn't unusual for card readers on a PCI bus. Does the card reader not function properly?


Resetting the BIOS to its default/factory values can sometimes remedy wireless issues. Upgrade your 7-year-old (2014) BIOS if it's available.


Several utilities recognize the wifi driver, yet inxi doesn't and the module doesn't appear to be loading. Let's uninstall and reinstall the driver packages:

Open a Terminal (Ctrl-Alt-T), click CODE:SELECT ALL, then copy-and-paste the following as one block of text into the Terminal window...

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install -y build-essential dkms;sudo dkms remove broadcom-sta/6.30.223.271 --all;\
sudo apt-get install --reinstall -y broadcom-sta-{dkms,common,source};\
sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb wl brcmfmac brcmsmac bcma;sleep 5;sudo modprobe -v wl

Wait a couple of minutes to see if wifi kicks in. Otherwise reboot.


Check that your chipset understands which country it's in:

Code: Select all

sudo iw reg get | grep country

You should see your two-letter country code.



This could be a hardware issue: The wifi card may need a hard power-cycle, which it can't do while the laptop gets power from the battery.

If you could disconnect the battery, then hold down the power button for a couple of minutes to drain the residual charge from all the circuit components. That would do it. Alternatively, it might be sufficient to run the battery down completely flat -- don't let the laptop sleep -- and then hold down the power button, for about the duration of several TV commercials (the power button is only an input to a microcontroller/ASIC, it isn't connected to the power source).

Also, power OFF (unplug) your wifi router/modem & extenders -- everything in the loop -- count to 30, power ON.

[infinito1971]

Hi hglee,
thank you for the link to the video, it was very interesting. In any case, on my PC, Fast boot was alredy disabled.
Then, I tried the command you suggest to reinstall broadcom driver.
The last rows logged was the follows:

Code: Select all

update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.4.0-74-generic
install /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install wl $CMDLINE_OPTS 
insmod /lib/modules/5.4.0-74-generic/updates/dkms/wl.ko 
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'wl': Operation not permitted
modprobe: ERROR: ../libkmod/libkmod-module.c:990 command_do() Error running install command '/sbin/modprobe --ignore-install wl ' for module wl: retcode 1
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'wl': Invalid argument

Thank you very much for yours hints but, unfortunate, I haven't solved it yet.

[JeremyB]

Post results for

Code: Select all

efibootmgr -v

[infinito1971]

Hi JeremyB,
result of command that you suggested is the following:

Code: Select all

No BootOrder is set; firmware will attempt recovery

Regards,
infinito1971

[infinito1971]

Hi all,
from the logs (or even with the command: lspci -k) I noticed that for the Broadcom BCM43142 there is no kernel driver in use.
This could be the problem.
How can I fix?

Regards,
infinito1971

[sleeper12]

Do you have Windows on that machine or Mint only?

[infinito1971]

Hi sleeper12,
yes, both Windows and Mint.

Regards,
infinito1971

[Larry78723]

Have you made sure that fast startup is disabled in Win10?

[infinito1971]

Hi Larry78723,
yes, sure 100%.

Regards,
infinito1971

[sleeper12]

Did you disable Fast Boot in Bios?

[infinito1971]

Hi sleeper12,
yes, Fast boot in Bios is disabled.

Regards,
infinito1971

[sleeper12]

I still think you might have secure boot on that machine that needs to be disabled. This seems to indicate such if you scroll down to the Security section:
https://www.libble.eu/asus-a553ma/onlin ... ?page=0076

[infinito1971]

Hi sleeper12,
I hope this removes all your doubts:

Regards,
infinito1971

[sleeper12]

No, not convinced. The OP in this thread has the same Asus X553MA and somehow disabled secure boot.
viewtopic.php?t=329416

Maybe you can ask there how they did it.

[infinito1971]

Hi sleeper12,
actually my problem was the same reported in the topic you mentioned and that I found by searching in the forum. The problem was that I had disabled Secure boot from Windows and Fast boot from bios but not Secure boot from bios which on the Asus is in the security section and not in the boot section.
Hence the whole misunderstanding.
I thank you and all the others very much for the great patience and availability shown that helped me to solve the problem.
Thank you very much.

Regards,
Infinito1971

[sleeper12]

Very good, glad we were finally able to get it solved.