No wifi options Ubuntu 16.04 LTS - running on an old MacBook Air

Question

I installed Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on an old MacBook Air that had ceased working (pinwheel of death, OS X wouldn't boot). Wiped OS X from the machine on install. The idea was to get some additional usage out of a machine that otherwise would be headed for the trash. Ubuntu works just fine, and connected to the wifi during install.

On restarting, however, it now says "No network devices are available", and can't see wifi network(s).

Please note that its a Mac and only has USB and Thunderbolt ports–so cannot connect to ethernet.

I'm not very techie, and new to Ubuntu, so any suggestions please be plain and practical. Thanks!

UPDATE:

02:00.0 Network Controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4353] (rev 01) Subsystem: Apple Inc. Airport Extreme [106b:00e9] Kernel modules: bcma 03:00.0 PCI Bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation DSL3510 Thunderbolt Port [Cactus Ridge] [8086:1547] (rev 03)

SUGGESTED SOLUTION:

The needed driver bcmwl-kernel-source, is on the installation media. Please check here: askubuntu.com/questions/835475/…

DIDN'T WORK:

FATAL: Module wl not found in directory lib/modules/4.13.0-26-generic" . Wifi still not working.

FOLLOW-UP

What version is the deb file? bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.271+bdcom-0ubuntu3_amd64.deb? Note it should be xx-0ubuntu3. If not, I will un-dupe the question and propose an answer. – chili555 1 hour ago

RESPONSE:

It appears to be 0ubuntu1~1.1

FURTHER UPDATE:

Did as suggested here:

I suggest that you download this package on some other computer and put it on a USB key or similar. http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/restricted/b/bcmwl/bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.271+bdcom-0ubuntu3_amd64.deb Transfer it to the Ubuntu computer to some convenient place such as the desktop. Now, in the terminal:

The "arch" command result was was fine with following result:

x86_64

I then followed the further commends in terminal and got following result:

dpkg: error: dpkg status database is locked by another process

FIXED!

Thanks guys, the last fix suggested worked fine, and my Ubuntubook is now connected to the internet. Good job.

Answer 1

Evidently, the failure to build issue is a bug that was fixed in later versions of bcmwl-kernel-source. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bcmwl/+bug/1724863

I suggest that you download this package on some other computer and put it on a USB key or similar. http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/restricted/b/bcmwl/bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.271+bdcom-0ubuntu3_amd64.deb Transfer it to the Ubuntu computer to some convenient place such as the desktop. Now, in the terminal:

cd ~/Desktop
sudo dpkg -i bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.271+bdcom-0ubuntu3_amd64.deb 

Note any errors and post them. If there are no errors, load the module:

sudo modprobe wl

NOTE: This assumes yours is a 64-bit installation; check:

arch

If the terminal returns x86_64, then the 64-bit package referenced above is correct. If not, then this is the package you need instead: http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/restricted/b/bcmwl/bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.271+bdcom-0ubuntu3_i386.deb