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I have Broadcom wifi adapter and after upgrading to kernel linux 4.4 on ubuntu 14.04 LTS it stoped working.

My Broadcom :

0c:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:432b] (rev 01)

Now I'm using my computer with advanced options from boot menu set to the old kernel 3.16.0-77-generic.

Initially I used this question to install the Broadcom Wireless.

What is the solution to this issue? Should I aspect more issues generated by the kernel update?

If there is no solution yet to this, how can I roll back the 4.4 kernel update to the old one 3.16?

Meanwhile I used this to free up space in inodes and atemted to update to 4.4.0-45 kernel. Same result. The wireles does not work. I must delete it and return to the old 3.16 kernel.

David Foerster
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marius-ciclistu
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  • What is the exact result of the terminal command: `sudo modprobe wl` ? – chili555 Aug 24 '16 at 20:18
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    Possible duplicate of [Why do I get "Required key not available" when install 3rd party kernel modules or after a kernel upgrade?](http://askubuntu.com/questions/762254/why-do-i-get-required-key-not-available-when-install-3rd-party-kernel-modules) – Pilot6 Aug 24 '16 at 21:16
  • @chili555 modprobe: FATAL:Module w1 not found. Same for wl. – marius-ciclistu Aug 26 '16 at 17:08
  • Please reinstall the driver: `sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source` – chili555 Aug 26 '16 at 17:11
  • @chili555 ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/bcmwl-kernel-source.0.crash' Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.4.0-34-generic (i686) Consult /var/lib/dkms/bcmwl/6.30.223.248+bdcom/build/make.log for more information. modprobe: FATAL: Module wl not found. update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated) Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.103ubuntu4.4) ... update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-34-generic – marius-ciclistu Aug 26 '16 at 17:27
  • We'd like to see what the referenced log says. Please run: `cat /var/lib/dkms/bcmwl/6.30.223.248+bdcom/build/make.log` and paste it here: http://paste.ubuntu.com Give us the link. – chili555 Aug 26 '16 at 17:56
  • @chili555 http://paste.ubuntu.com/23094329/ – marius-ciclistu Aug 26 '16 at 18:06
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    A known bug. I am continuing to research. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bcmwl/+bug/1594974 – chili555 Aug 26 '16 at 18:18
  • @chili555 After doing the above, the wifi stoped working on 3.16 kernel also. Before reinstalling the driver , the wifi worked on 3.16 kernel via advanced options from boot menu. – marius-ciclistu Aug 26 '16 at 19:43
  • Is there an error? A log you can paste? If there is no evident error, what is the result of: `sudo modprobe wl`? – chili555 Aug 26 '16 at 20:12
  • @chili555 There is no error. The result of that comand in 3.16 kernel is : modprobe: FATAL: Module wl not found. The wifi simply doesn't show in the top right corner drop down network menu. Now I'm using the laptop with external usb wifi adapter. But that tutorial won't work if I reinstall the broadcom from zero in 4.4 kernel? – marius-ciclistu Aug 27 '16 at 19:45
  • That is correct. The bug is for kernel 4.4; not 3.16. – chili555 Aug 27 '16 at 20:34
  • @chili555 I'll wait then until the bug gets a solution. I'll use the external wifi adapter until then. Thank you. – marius-ciclistu Aug 27 '16 at 22:54
  • @chili555 Hello. Any answear about this problem? I see that the bug is unsolved... Am I stuck on using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS until april 2019 with 3.16 kernel without updates? – marius-ciclistu Oct 25 '16 at 10:26

2 Answers2

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Since kernel v4.4 is from Ubuntu Xenial, as a workaround you can use the bcmwl-kernel-source package from Xenial too (source):

  1. Go to https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/xenial/+package/bcmwl-kernel-source and select the package with the highest version with “(Release)” behind it for your architecture (currently 6.30.223.248+bdcom-0ubuntu8).

  2. On the page for that release build in the section “Downloadable files” select and download the only Deb package built (e. g. currently bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.248+bdcom-0ubuntu8_i386.deb for i386).

  3. Install that package with Software Center or GDebi or directly with dpkg:

    sudo dpkg -i bcmwl-kernel-source_*_$(dpkg --print-architecture).deb

    If there are missing dependencies follow up with:

    sudo apt-get install -f

This should allow your system to build the kernel module with the wireless adapter driver for kernel v4.4 successfully. As a side effect it you may not have a working driver in earlier kernel versions (e. g. 3.13 or 3.16).

David Foerster
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0

I found a temporary fix to this issue. From the grub menu I chosed advanced and I selected the old 3.16 kernel. After loging in into this kernel I followed the method exposed here Not enough free disk space when upgrading to delete de new 4.4.0-xx-generic kernel/kernels.

EDIT 26.12.2016

I made an update from 3.16 kernel to 4.4.0-58 on another identical laptop and this time the above problem didn't apear. It seems that the update contains the solution.

Thanks to Ubuntu developers.

Community
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marius-ciclistu
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