My Mac Mini (late 2012) will not show any wireless networks. Ubuntu 12.10

Question

I am fairly new to ubuntu so a step by step answer would be appreciated. My wireless card is Broadcom BCM4331. Thank You.

I also have no way to connect to the Internet on it except my original osx partion. So a solution that works offline is required. My Mac mini is a 6,1 model.

Solution 1

I ran into the same problem as you. I solved it by following the instructions on the help pages. The [instructions if you have wired internet] are the easiest - it will most probably be something like:

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

and after a reboot you'll be good to go.

I, however, didn't have a wired connection at hand (seems my ethernet is not working) and I had to follow the no-internet instructions. Basically, I first got the .deb files on another computer where I had internet:

• b43-fwcutter
• firmware-b43-installer

You have to search the packages portal under your Ubuntu version. You can install them with:

sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter*
sudo dpkg -i firmware-b43-installer*

Now, the second one will fail, as it tries to download the latest firmware from the internet. We can copy the link that it wanted to fetch, however, and make understanding our hardware specifics and finding the appropriate version that much easier. For me the url was:

http://lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2

You can then get that file, copy it to the problematic machine, extract it:

tar xfvj broadcom-wl-*

and install it manually with something like:

sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o

(the exact details, file name, driver version, will probably differ, and you should conclude for yourself based on the help page and some common sense).

A reboot was then enough for my driver to start working, but there is some talk of potentially having to blacklist other drivers - explore this if it still doesn't work for you.

Solution 2

Please run the terminal command:

lspci -nn

Is your wireless device ID 14e4:4331? If so, please download this file and transfer it to your Ubuntu machine on a USB key or similar. Drop it on your desktop. Right-click it and select 'Extract Here.' Now back to the terminal and do:

sudo mkdir /lib/firmware/b43

The folder may already exist; that's fine, just proceed.

sudo cp Desktop/b43/*  /lib/firmware/b43
sudo modprobe -r b43 && sudo modprobe b43

Your wireless should now be working.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/58267392/b43.zip

If this is not your device ID, please post it and we'll proceed.

Comments

[Jonas]

I have the same issue with Ubuntu 13.04: askubuntu.com/questions/290658/…

[Alex Pechlivanos]

Sorry about the format I did press enter at the proper time.

[chili555]

Your second command should be: sudo cp Desktop/b43/* /lib/firmware/b43. All in one command but with a space between the * and the following /. In human language, it means, as super user, copy everything in 'Desktop/b43' to '/lib/firmware/b43. It has to be in one command on one line. Please try again.

[Alex Pechlivanos]

I did everything correctly and nothing happened. So I filled the file map into the file system and found all the files had successfully copyed into the driver section but nothing is happening I performed a reboot as well and still nothing. Any ideas?

[chili555]

Let's see if there are any clues here: dmesg | grep b43. Then a second command: rfkill list all. That funny pipe symbol | is on the right side of my US keyboard on the same key with \.

[Alex Pechlivanos]

It says 0: hci0: Bluetooth soft blocked: no hard blocked: no

[Alex Pechlivanos]

No it just gave me a new line to start typing I'll try again. What should I be getting?

[chili555]

You should be getting an error or message to go on related to the driver b43. Please try: sudo modprobe b43 && dmesg | grep b43. It ought to give us some clue as to what's wrong.

[Alex Pechlivanos]

b43-phy0: Broadcom 4331 WLAN found (core revision 29)

[Alex Pechlivanos]

What does this mean

[chili555]

I am not at all sure yet. Please reboot so we have a clean slate and then do: sudo modprobe b43; dmesg > alex.txt. Find the text file in your user directory and transfer it on a USB key or similar to your OSX partition and then post it here: paste.ubuntu.com When you paste it, a link will be created so you can put it here and we can review it.

[Alex Pechlivanos]

paste.ubuntu.com/1529261

[chili555]

dl.dropbox.com/u/58267392/mimo.zip Please download this file also. Drag and drop it to your desktop. Right-click it and select Extract Here. Then, in a terminal, do: sudo cp Desktop/mimo/* /lib/firmware/b43. Reboot and your wireless should be working.

[chili555]

Reference from your pastebin: b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode29_mimo.fw" not found

[chili555]

Wow! My very first youtube reply, awesome. Are the mimo files in /lib/frmware/b43? ls /lib/firmware/b43 | grep mimo. If so,let's see another pastebin of dmesg after a reboot.

[Alex Pechlivanos]

paste.ubuntu.com/1557127

[Alex Pechlivanos]

There it is sorry about taking so long

[Alex Pechlivanos]

are you still there?

[chili555]

I am barely here. I don't see much wrong here. Again, using pastebin, reboot so we have a clean slate and paste: lsmod; dmesg | grep b43. Thanks.

[Alex Pechlivanos]

paste.ubuntu.com/1594007

[chili555]

The expected driver, b43, isn't present in lsmod. Please try again, but this time: sudo modprobe b43; sudo modprobe bcma; lsmod; dmesg | grep b43.

[Alex Pechlivanos]

Figured out a workaround for the wifi issue. I have usb tethering on my phone and this connects it to the Internet. What commands can I use to get the drivers.

[Alex Pechlivanos]

It says unable to locate package

[chili555]

Download the package here: packages.ubuntu.com/quantal/all/linux-firmware-nonfree/downl‌​oad Install it with: sudo dpkg -i Downloads/linux*.deb <--or wherever you downloaded the package if not to 'Downloads.'

[Alex Pechlivanos]

Before I try this should I do a clean wipe and install then do the install connected to the Internet through my phone. Will this fetch the drivers automatically?

[chili555]

Download the file with your phone. Install it as I said above and then detach the phone and reboot. Now does it work?

[James]

@chili555 I did all the steps you've described above and this is what I get when I attempt the modprobe's: "[ 1947.406525] bcma: PMU resource config unknown for device 0x4331"

[James]

Pastebin of my output after trying to connect: pastebin.com/4zYjtJiu

[cclloyd]

Can confirm that this works on late-2012 Mac Mini with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Network sharing from wifi to ethernet with a Macbook worked.