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I just got an older macbook air from a friend and it was running a bit slow so I decided to use Ubuntu! I have used Ubuntu in the past but I'm sort of a newbie so please bear with me.

When I installed it was 12.04 which i have fully upgraded to 14.10. In doing so my wifi was not working. I have gone through a lot of posts on this forum yet none have fully resolved the issue. I do however have it to where it looks like the wifi should be working yet no networks are being detected and I am in need of some help (i can bluetooth tether from my phone for temp internet connection)

here are something I have seen in other forums that may be helpful.

LSPCI

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] (rev 05)
    Subsystem: Apple Inc. AirPort Extreme [106b:008b]
    Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
    Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort+ <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
    Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 256 bytes
    Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 21
    Region 0: Memory at 93100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: wl

rfkill list all

 0: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
2: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

modinfo wl

 filename:       /lib/modules/3.16.0-28-generic/updates/dkms/wl.ko
license:        MIXED/Proprietary
srcversion:     DF2576C38AD45205B3556DD
alias:          pci:v*d*sv*sd*bc02sc80i*
depends:        cfg80211
vermagic:       3.16.0-28-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           passivemode:int
parm:           wl_txq_thresh:int
parm:           oneonly:int
parm:           piomode:int
parm:           instance_base:int
parm:           nompc:int
parm:           intf_name:string

any help would be greatly appreciated

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  • Do you mean 'fully upgraded to 14.10?' Please edit your question if so. If you are running 14.10, then I think you have the same problem and require the same solution as this: askubuntu.com/questions/565036/…
    – chili555
    Dec 25, 2014 at 19:09
  • So i tried this and it worked (thanks you very much!) however if i restart/shutdown it goes back to not being able to detect any networks. any idea? Dec 25, 2014 at 21:08
  • Is the b43 module blacklisted? cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf or else: cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf If you find 'blacklist b43' in there, we'll need to remove it.
    – chili555
    Dec 25, 2014 at 22:06
  • The code I got was blacklist pcspkr blacklist amd76x_edac #blacklist brcmsmac blacklist usbmouse blacklist usbkbd blacklist eepro100 blacklist de4x5 blacklist eth1394 blacklist snd_intel8x0m blacklist snd_aw2 blacklist i2c_i801 blacklist prism54 # blacklist bcm43xx blacklist asus_acpi blacklist snd_pcsp blacklist pcspkr #blacklist brcmsmac Should I be changing anything? Dec 25, 2014 at 23:37
  • Does the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf exist? Run: ls /etc/modprobe.d If you see the file blacklist-bcm43.conf, remove it: sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf Then reboot and tell us if the wireless works. If not, try: sudo modprobe b43 and see if it works.
    – chili555
    Dec 26, 2014 at 2:18

1 Answer 1

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I'm going to tell you what I tell everyone else and which, to date, has never ever failed. However most of those I tell this to are not installing ubuntu on macbooks so I make no guarantees.

Please do the following, I guarantee only that it will do no harm, and considering that more invasive methods can do harm, that's pretty good I think you'll agree.

step by step follows: if your macbook has an ethernet jack, and if you have an ethernet cable, connect them. else stop here. Otherwise continue open the ubuntu finder (top icon on the left side) type "update" sans quotes and press enter when update appears, press check when check is done press update when update is completed, disconnect the ethernet cable and reboot if your wifi works, please let me know.

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  • I have seen this method before but I am on a macbook air which does not have an ethernet port but thank you anyway Dec 25, 2014 at 21:08
  • @TaylorO'Reilly, My car does not have snow tires but I'd buy them if I had to move to Alaska. You can probably afford this accessory for air macbook air. walmart.com/ip/…
    – gyropyge
    Dec 26, 2014 at 10:19
  • true however my router is in a closet away from anywhere i would be sitting and also my usb isn't being recognized which is a whole other problem I am dealing with. Dec 26, 2014 at 15:35
  • I am wondering if it is possible that the wifi device built into your mac is connected to the usb bus internally. I have never heard of that on other computers, so at first it seems unlikely, but in so much as I have an HP laptop in which both the touchpad and fingerprint reader are actually internal usb devices, it might not be that much of a stretch.
    – gyropyge
    Dec 27, 2014 at 23:20

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