[SOLVED] Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter not detected

[mib91]

Been a Mint user for couple of years in this very same Dell Laptop, never encountered any issue with its WiFi which is a Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter untill last week when the network settings suddenly wasn't showing any "Wireless" option at all. System is running through Linux Mint 18.3 and WiFi was working flawlessly before vanishing into thin air out of blue.

I tried to figure out the cause by myself and saw good people here usually asked a few command's output as part of diagnosis when someone is in trouble with identical scenario. Based on that, I'm putting here are a few command's output. Let me know if I need to run something else.

inxi -Fxz

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System:    Host: mahfuz-Inspiron-N5110 Kernel: 4.15.0-29-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: Dell (portable) product: Inspiron N5110
           Mobo: Dell model: 0FXK2Y v: A09 Bios: Dell v: A09 date: 09/30/2011
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5-2450M (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 9977
           clock speeds: max: 3100 MHz 1: 798 MHz 2: 798 MHz 3: 798 MHz 4: 798 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Card-2: NVIDIA GF108M [GeForce GT 525M] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) FAILED: nouveau
           Resolution: 1920x1080@59.96hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Mobile GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 NVIDIA GF108 High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Card-2 Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-29-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter bus-ID: 09:00.0
           IF: N/A state: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 594.4GB (95.0% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD5000BPVT size: 500.1GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: SanDisk_Ultra size: 63.2GB ID-3: USB /dev/sdc model: Ultra size: 31.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 25G used: 20G (86%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 59.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 248 Uptime: 1:34 Memory: 4489.9/7883.0MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 

rfkill list all

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

iwconfig

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enp5s0    no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

uname -sr

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Linux 4.15.0-29-generic

Eagerly looking forward to get some clue on this so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

[rui no onna]

Perhaps it's the updated 4.15.0-29 kernel? I gave up trying to get my Broadcom wifi adapter working on LM 19, *ubuntu 18.04, etc. and just got an adapter with Intel chipset.

The Broadcom worked pretty well on LM 18.3 with 4.10.0-38 kernel (or whatever came with the LiveCD).

[JeremyB]

I would do

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sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-dkms

Reboot

[mib91]

Perhaps it's the updated 4.15.0-29 kernel? I gave up trying to get my Broadcom wifi adapter working on LM 19, *ubuntu 18.04, etc. and just got an adapter with Intel chipset.

The Broadcom worked pretty well on LM 18.3 with 4.10.0-38 kernel (or whatever came with the LiveCD).

Tried booting with 4.13.0-45 kernel from Grub and to my surprise, it did the trick! Thanks a ton, man. Now I'm feeling like a complete noob. In my laptop, the keyboard shortcut(Fn+F2) to activate both bluetooth and wifi are same. The fact is they both activated at the same time with same keyboard shortcut led me to thinking that it mightn't be the kernel issue since the bluetooth menu appears just fine. Hence, I was kinda certain that the problem resided somewhere else other than the kernel.
Thanks again.

I would do

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sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-dkms

Reboot

Could you help me understand your thought please? Won't it just wipe everything related to Broadcom? I mean, running it and after rebooting, is the OS even going to know how to load the Broadcom device anymore since there isn't any driver left?

[JeremyB]

I have a BCM4313 and it doesn't need any of those packages installed for it to work as it uses the open source kernel module brcmsmac. Actually you could uninstall them, reboot. If it doesn't work

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sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms

As broadcom-sta-dkms in those repositories is patch for the 4.15 kernels, bcmwl is in testing now

[rui no onna]

I would do

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sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-dkms

Reboot

I have a BCM4313 and it doesn't need any of those packages installed for it to work as it uses the open source kernel module brcmsmac. Actually you could uninstall them, reboot. If it doesn't work

Code: Select all

sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms

As broadcom-sta-dkms in those repositories is patch for the 4.15 kernels, bcmwl is in testing now

Just as a warning on this, make sure you have ethernet available as a backup. It's near impossible to fix wifi drivers without a working internet connection. I was sitting in the floor beside the wifi router with laptop connected via cat5 and an iPad with like a thousand tabs open trying to find a solution to get my wifi working.

[JeremyB]

I would do

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-dkms

Reboot

I have a BCM4313 and it doesn't need any of those packages installed for it to work as it uses the open source kernel module brcmsmac. Actually you could uninstall them, reboot. If it doesn't work

Code: Select all

sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms

As broadcom-sta-dkms in those repositories is patch for the 4.15 kernels, bcmwl is in testing now

Just as a warning on this, make sure you have ethernet available as a backup. It's near impossible to fix wifi drivers without a working internet connection. I was sitting in the floor beside the wifi router with laptop connected via cat5 and an iPad with like a thousand tabs open trying to find a solution to get my wifi working.

Why is a warning needed, did you not notice

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Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>

The poster is using an ethernet connection now

[rui no onna]

Why is a warning needed, did you not notice

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Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>

The poster is using an ethernet connection now

Sorry, didn't notice. It was more a general suggestion. I tried fixing wifi on my laptop without internet (just transferring files via USB using another laptop) and it was practically impossible.

[mib91]

I would do

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sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-dkms

Reboot

Many thanks. This also seems to do the trick.

At this point, I think this thread can be marked as "Solved". But I actually don't know how to proceed to that.

[alordiel]

I had the same problem with the wifi. I had a fresh install and then run updated - and no wifi after restart. My wifi card is BCM4352 thought, but the output of
inxi -Fxz regarding the network was pretty much the same as mib91. The below commands did fix the problem for me. Thanks a lot JeremyB.

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sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-dkms

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sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms

Reboot

[Moem]

At this point, I think this thread can be marked as "Solved". But I actually don't know how to proceed to that.

My signature will tell you how. Thanks for taking the time!

[alisam]

I had the same problem with the wifi. I had a fresh install and then run updated - and no wifi after restart. My wifi card is BCM4352 thought, but the output of
inxi -Fxz regarding the network was pretty much the same as mib91. The below commands did fix the problem for me. Thanks a lot JeremyB.

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-dkms

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sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms

Reboot

After many hours and trying all sorts of things from other web sites, this worked for me.
I am dual booting with MAC Big Sur on an old MacBook Air and the Wifi card is a Broadcom BCM4360.