Wifi unavailable on Linux Mint 18.2 with Broadcom; potentially related to kernel updates

[Falconus]

Here's the problem basically: on kernel 4.8.0-58, the wifi continues to work as expected. On kernels 4.10.0-30 and 4.11.0-14, however, the wifi disappears completely. Not only can I not connect to the wifi, but if I click on the Connections applet on the panel, there is no reference to wifi at all - as if I didn't even have a wifi card in the computer. The ethernet continues to work as expected. I believe that the problem may be related to these posts:

• https://askubuntu.com/questions/917128/ ... untu-14-04
• https://askubuntu.com/questions/928198/ ... -4-10-0-24

My understanding is that 4.8 series has reached End of Life, so I do not wish to continue using that kernel series.

I am running a "Broadcom Corporation BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 03)" with Linux Mint 18.2 (all updates applied at the time of this posting). I am using the bcmwl-kernel-source 6.30.223.271 driver (available through driver manager), although the firmware-b43-installer choice in the driver manager did not make any difference when I tried it out.

I have basically two questions:
1. Does anybody have any ideas on how to correct the problem?
2. Where should I report the bug? Is it a Linux Mint issue?

[JeremyB]

Please post results for

Code: Select all

lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net; dkms status

If you know you are using the bcmwl-kernel-source driver aka Broadcom proprietary module you may need to download from https://packages.ubuntu.com/zesty/bcmwl-kernel-source using the 4.8 kernel during boot and install

[Falconus]

Here is the output you asked for:

Code: Select all

lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net; dkms status
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (2) I218-V [8086:15a1]
	Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Ethernet Connection (2) I218-V [1849:15a1]
	Kernel driver in use: e1000e
	Kernel modules: e1000e
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI Controller #2 [8086:8cad]
--
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 11)
	Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Motherboard (one of many) [1849:8168]
	Kernel driver in use: r8169
	Kernel modules: r8169
--
06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:43b1] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: AzureWave BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [1a3b:2123]
	Kernel modules: bcma
07:00.0 SATA controller [0106]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1062 Serial ATA Controller [1b21:0612] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Motherboard [1849:0612]
bbswitch, 0.8, 4.10.0-30-generic, x86_64: installed
bbswitch, 0.8, 4.11.0-14-generic, x86_64: installed
bbswitch, 0.8, 4.8.0-58-generic, x86_64: installed
bcmwl, 6.30.223.271+bdcom, 4.8.0-58-generic, x86_64: installed
ndiswrapper, 1.60, 4.10.0-30-generic, x86_64: installed
ndiswrapper, 1.60, 4.8.0-58-generic, x86_64: installed
nvidia-375, 375.66, 4.10.0-30-generic, x86_64: installed
nvidia-375, 375.66, 4.11.0-14-generic, x86_64: installed
nvidia-375, 375.66, 4.8.0-58-generic, x86_64: installed
open-vm-tools, 10.0.7, 4.10.0-30-generic, x86_64: installed
open-vm-tools, 10.0.7, 4.11.0-14-generic, x86_64: installed
open-vm-tools, 10.0.7, 4.8.0-58-generic, x86_64: installed

I'll now try updating the firmware from the link you gave me.

[Falconus]

Alright, updating the driver did it. Thanks! It's working now.