Mid-2012 Macbook w/ fresh Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Installation - no WiFi

[neurotakuko]

Hi there,

Under Settings --> Wi-Fi shows a message: "No Wi-Fi Adapter Found / Make sure you have a Wi-Fi adapater pugged in and turned on"

I don't have a wired connection available (no ethernet port adapter).

I followed instructions listed here for running the wireless info script and the output is here: https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/p/xDFcXQtr6G/.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I tried searching for drivers to download and transfer but couldn't find the right information.

[chili555]

Your device requires firmware. Hadaka's excellent post #2 here describes the off-line process: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread....hlight=b43.zip

Post back if you get stuck or need additional assistance.

[neurotakuko]

Hi chili555,

I followed Hadaka's steps and I see the b43 files correctly copied to /lib/firmware/b43. I entered the modprobe command and restarted a couple of times but I am still seeing the same message of 'No Wi-Fi Adapter Found'.

Thank you for your help.

[chili555]

Let's see if there are any interesting messages that we can find. Open a terminal and run;

rfkill list all

Any hard blocked:yes?

Also:

dmesg | grep b43

Anything jump out at you? Anything about firmware??

How are the permissions in the file?

sudo ls -al /lib/firmware/b43

We hope you see:

drwxr-x---  2 root root  4096 Jul  6 19:05 .
drwxr-xr-x 84 root root 36864 Jul  6 19:05 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   178 Jul  6 19:05 a0g0bsinitvals5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   178 Jul  6 19:05 a0g0bsinitvals9.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  1836 Jul  6 19:05 a0g0initvals5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  1992 Jul  6 19:05 a0g0initvals9.fw
etc.

You don't have to copy and paste the whole thing; just tell us if the permissions are -rw-r--r-- for all the files.

[jeremy31]

Moved to Apple Hardware

[nofrills2]

Hi Chilli555,

I'm a new Ubuntu user experiencing the same wifi problems trying to install 18.04 LTS on a mcbook pro early 2011. Wireless card is a Broadcom 4331. I've tried following the instructions provided above but am having the exact same issues as neurotakuko. My terminal output is below:

phill@phill-MacBookPro:~$ rfkill list all
0: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
phill@phill-MacBookPro:~$ dmesg | grep b43
[   21.047141] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4331 WLAN found (core revision 29)
[   21.047547] b43-phy0: Found PHY: Analog 9, Type 7 (HT), Revision 1
[   21.047558] b43-phy0: Found Radio: Manuf 0x17F, ID 0x2059, Revision 0, Version 1
[   21.047560] b43-phy0 warning: 5 GHz band is unsupported on this PHY
[   21.129283] b43 bcma0:1: Direct firmware load for b43/ucode29_mimo.fw failed with error -2
[   21.129305] b43 bcma0:1: Direct firmware load for b43/ucode29_mimo.fw failed with error -2
[   21.129326] b43 bcma0:1: Direct firmware load for b43-open/ucode29_mimo.fw failed with error -2
[   21.129338] b43 bcma0:1: Direct firmware load for b43-open/ucode29_mimo.fw failed with error -2
[   21.129341] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode29_mimo.fw" not found
[   21.129344] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43-open/ucode29_mimo.fw" not found
[   21.129347] b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the correct firmware for this driver version. Please carefully read all instructions on this website.
phill@phill-MacBookPro:~$ sudo ls -al /lib/firmware/b43
[sudo] password for phill: 
total 300
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root  4096 Jul  8 22:40 .
drwxr-xr-x 82 root root 12288 Jul  8 22:39 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 a0g0bsinitvals5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 a0g0bsinitvals9.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  1840 Jul  8 22:40 a0g0initvals5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2002 Jul  8 22:40 a0g0initvals9.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 a0g1bsinitvals13.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 a0g1bsinitvals5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 a0g1bsinitvals9.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2080 Jul  8 22:40 a0g1initvals13.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  1840 Jul  8 22:40 a0g1initvals5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2002 Jul  8 22:40 a0g1initvals9.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 b0g0bsinitvals13.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 b0g0bsinitvals9.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2080 Jul  8 22:40 b0g0initvals13.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  1840 Jul  8 22:40 b0g0initvals5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2002 Jul  8 22:40 b0g0initvals9.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 lp0bsinitvals13.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 lp0bsinitvals14.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 lp0bsinitvals15.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  3618 Jul  8 22:40 lp0initvals13.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2064 Jul  8 22:40 lp0initvals14.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2052 Jul  8 22:40 lp0initvals15.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 n0absinitvals11.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   158 Jul  8 22:40 n0bsinitvals11.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2100 Jul  8 22:40 n0initvals11.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  1320 Jul  8 22:40 pcm5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 29864 Jul  8 22:40 ucode11.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 32232 Jul  8 22:40 ucode13.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 31384 Jul  8 22:40 ucode14.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 30488 Jul  8 22:40 ucode15.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 22384 Jul  8 22:40 ucode5.fw
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 25160 Jul  8 22:40 ucode9.fw
phill@phill-MacBookPro:~$

I'll keep following this thread, I would appreciate any help you could provide.
Cheers, Phill.

[neurotakuko]

Hi chili555,

For 'rfkill list all' I only see Bluetooth comeup which shows 'Soft blocked: yes'.

The output of 'dmesg | grep b43' is identical to what nofrills2 posted above.

Finally, the permissions in the file are all -rw-r--r--.

Thanks for your continued help.

[chili555]

Both of you, let's try more advanced methods, known here in the woods of South Carolina as a bigger hammer!

Please download this package on some other computer and transfer it on a USB key or similar. Drag and drop it to the desktop of the Ubuntu computer. Install it from the terminal with:

cd ~/Desktop
sudo dpkg -i linux-firmware*.deb

Reboot.

http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/poo..._1.173_all.deb

[nofrills2]

Hi Chili555,

Ok, I've downloaded, run and installed the linux firmware package and rebooted. Still no sign of the wi-fi card

A critical detail I forgot to mention is that I am connected via ethernet, just no wifi. Apologies for failing to mention before.

Thanks for your help, Phill.

[chili555]

May I please see:

dmesg | grep b43
rfkill list all

Thanks.