Wifi on my old mac mini and macbook pro are giving issues

Support Network
1

Hi

I’m fairly new to linux and installed Manjaro on both my mac mini late 2011 and macbookpro late 2011.

In both devices the same Broadcom BMC 4331 is installed.

On both after intall no Wifi posiblity.

Now I found some help on this forum that get the wifi up and running but after reboot I have to enable it again in the terminal.

It looks like I miss something that the driver is not loaded during boot up.

What I did so far was:

rfkill list

0: hci0: Bluetooth

Soft blocked: no

Hard blocked: no

In AUR downloaded the B43 firmware and then in the terminal did following:

sudo modeprobe b43

This brings the Wifi up and running.

Rfkill list shows now

0: hci0: Bluetooth

Soft blocked: no

Hard blocked: no

1: phy0: Wireless LAN

Soft blocked: no

Hard blocked: no

I also created a b43.conf file in /etc/modprobe.d/ wich contains following line

options b43 allhwsupport=1

In /etc/modules-load.d I modified the file modules.conf and added the same line

options b43 allhwsopport=1 to it.

Still after reboot it does not work until I fill out the command in terminal sudo modprobe b43.

Than Wifi is up and running again.

What am I missing or misunderstanding?

Many thanks in advance for some help.

2

Welcome to the Manjaro Community! :vulcan_salute:

Have you tried with different Kernels? … Some system information may well help here:

inxi -zv8

… Please use proper code formatting; select the whole Terminal output, copy and paste it here, highlight all pasted text and click the </> button at the top of the Reply window.

It’s worth noting that I’ve had issues having to do the “modprobe thing” to get my trackpads working. All seem fine now with the kernels I’m now using.

3 
inxi -zv8
System:
  Kernel: 6.12.48-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
    root=UUID=8903b866-1773-4ef1-b00d-accf8066eedc rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet apparmor=1 security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.4.12 tk: GTK v: 3.24.50 wm: Muffin v: 6.4.1 tools:
    avail: cinnamon-screensaver vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: Manjaro
    base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: Macmini5,1 v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 16 v: Mac-8ED6AF5B48C039E1
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-8ED6AF5B48C039E1 v: Macmini5,1
    serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required> Firmware: UEFI
    vendor: Apple v: 135.0.0.0.0 date: 06/13/2019
Battery:
  Message: No system battery data found. Is one present?
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.53 GiB used: 2.44 GiB (15.7%)
  Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
  Array-1: capacity: 16 GiB note: est. slots: 2 modules: 2 EC: None
    max-module-size: 8 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: DIMM0 type: DDR3 detail: synchronous size: 8 GiB
    speed: 1333 MT/s volts: N/A width: N/A manufacturer: 0x80CE
    part-no: 0x202020202020202020202020202020202020 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: DIMM0 type: DDR3 detail: synchronous size: 8 GiB
    speed: 1333 MT/s volts: N/A width: N/A manufacturer: 0x80CE
    part-no: 0x202020202020202020202020202020202020 serial: <filter>
PCI Slots:
  Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-2415M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge
    gen: core 2 level: v2 built: 2010-12 process: Intel 32nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 0x2F
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 2 cores: 2 threads: 4 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB
    desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2900 min/max: 800/2900 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
    governor: schedutil cores: 1: 2900 2: 2900 3: 2900 4: 2900 bogomips: 18367
  Flags: acpi aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon avx bts clflush cmov
    constant_tsc cpuid cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts ept est
    flexpriority flush_l1d fpu fxsr ht ibpb ibrs ida lahf_lm lm mca mce
    md_clear mmx monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid
    pclmulqdq pdcm pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdtscp rep_good
    sep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc
    tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xsave xsaveopt xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
    vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
    STIBP: conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
    vendor: Apple driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-6 code: Sandybridge
    process: Intel 32nm built: 2011 ports: active: DP-1 empty: DP-2, DP-3,
    HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3, VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0126
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.18 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8 driver:
    X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1200 s-size: <missing: xdpyinfo>
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: NEC LCD2490WUXi2 serial: <filter> built: 2009 res:
    mode: 1920x1200 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red:
    x: 0.643 y: 0.333 green: x: 0.302 y: 0.616 blue: x: 0.145 y: 0.071 white:
    x: 0.314 y: 0.329 size: 480x300mm (18.9x11.81") diag: 611mm (24")
    ratio: 16:10, 15:9 modes: 1920x1200, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1400x1050,
    1280x1024, 1440x900, 1360x768, 1152x864, 1280x720, 1024x768, 832x624,
    800x600, 640x480, 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel crocus platforms: device: 0 drv: crocus
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: crocus surfaceless: drv: crocus x11:
    drv: crocus inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 3.3 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.2.3-arch1.2
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB
    GT2) device-ID: 8086:0126 memory: 1.46 GiB unified: yes
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo x11: xprop,xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1c20
    class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.48-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.8 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM57765 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe driver: tg3
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 02:00.0
    chip-ID: 14e4:16b4 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp2s0f0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Device-2: Broadcom BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n driver: bcma-pci-bridge v: N/A
    modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0
    chip-ID: 14e4:4331 class-ID: 0280
  IF-ID-1: wlp3s0b1 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Apple Bluetooth Host Controller driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 2-1.1.3:6
    chip-ID: 05ac:8281 class-ID: fe01
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 232.89 GiB used: 8.26 GiB (3.5%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 250GB
    size: 232.89 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1B6Q scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 232.59 GiB size: 232.59 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 8.26 GiB (3.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 8903b866-1773-4ef1-b00d-accf8066eedc
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 624 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A
    uuid: 1AD3-79CF
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 232.59 GiB size: 232.59 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 8.26 GiB (3.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 8903b866-1773-4ef1-b00d-accf8066eedc
  ID-4: /var/cache raw-size: 232.59 GiB size: 232.59 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 8.26 GiB (3.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 8903b866-1773-4ef1-b00d-accf8066eedc
  ID-5: /var/log raw-size: 232.59 GiB size: 232.59 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 8.26 GiB (3.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 8903b866-1773-4ef1-b00d-accf8066eedc
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0001
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 2-1:2 info: Microchip (formerly SMSC) 2.0 Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 2mA
    chip-ID: 0424:2513 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 2-1.1:3 info: Broadcom BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046
    Bluetooth) ports: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1
    power: 94mA chip-ID: 0a5c:4500 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-1.1.3:6 info: Apple Bluetooth Host Controller type: bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1
    mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 05ac:8281 class-ID: fe01
  Hub-5: 3-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 8 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-6: 3-1:2 info: Microchip (formerly SMSC) 2.0 Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 2mA
    chip-ID: 0424:2513 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-1.1:3 info: Apple Built-in IR Receiver type: HID
    driver: appleir,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s)
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 100mA chip-ID: 05ac:8242 class-ID: 0300
  Hub-7: 3-1.3:4 info: Apple Hub in Aluminum Keyboard ports: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 300mA
    chip-ID: 05ac:1006 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-1.3.1:5 info: Logitech M185 compact wireless mouse type: mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s)
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 50mA chip-ID: 046d:c542 class-ID: 0301
  Device-2: 3-1.3.2:6 info: Apple Aluminium Keyboard (ISO)
    type: keyboard,HID driver: apple,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 20mA
    chip-ID: 05ac:0250 class-ID: 0300
  Hub-8: 4-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0001
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 59.0 C mobo: 50.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1167 libs: 340 tools: pamac pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://mirror.koddos.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://manjaro.mirrors.lavatech.top/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
  CPU top: 5 of 239
  1: cpu: 9.3% command: firefox pid: 1529 mem: 573.5 MiB (3.6%)
  2: cpu: 8.2% command: firefox pid: 1753 mem: 324.7 MiB (2.0%)
  3: cpu: 3.3% command: cinnamon pid: 1057 mem: 176.1 MiB (1.1%)
  4: cpu: 2.8% command: gnome-terminal-server pid: 2374 mem: 50.1 MiB (0.3%)
  5: cpu: 2.2% command: Xorg pid: 699 mem: 116.8 MiB (0.7%)
  Memory top: 5 of 239
  1: mem: 573.5 MiB (3.6%) command: firefox pid: 1529 cpu: 9.3%
  2: mem: 465.1 MiB (2.9%) command: manjaro-hello started-by: python3
    pid: 1140 cpu: 0.2%
  3: mem: 324.7 MiB (2.0%) command: firefox pid: 1753 cpu: 8.2%
  4: mem: 305.9 MiB (1.9%) command: soffice.bin pid: 1484 cpu: 0.8%
  5: mem: 176.1 MiB (1.1%) command: cinnamon pid: 1057 cpu: 3.3%
Info:
  Processes: 239 Power: uptime: 30m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.2 GiB services: csd-power,upowerd
    Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.3.3 running-in: gnome-terminal
    inxi: 3.3.40

This all the info with inxi -zv8 command.

Quite a lot of info. And not sure where to look for unfortunately.

4

I can see that the machine is fairly recent (in my book anyway), so it’s possible one of the newer kernels might fix the issue (also let’s see what linux618 brings (upcoming LTS)).

My experience with the HWE (hardware-enablement) kernels is that some of these drivers get built-in, which may or may not be a good thing.

Some of those Broadcom WiFi modules are known to be problematic re. Linux driver support/stability. I’m hoping our members with more experience with these will see this thread.

5

Thanks so far.

I created a start up file which opens the terminal and exersices the commando after logging in.

I only have to fill out my password and wifi start up.

So far its a workable workaround.

Mary thanks so far.

Best regards, Hans

1 Like
6

Firmware is available from the AUR:

  • Kernel-appropriate linux-headers may be needed prior to building the firmware via the AUR. :eyes:

Also, some possibly useful information here:

And here;

Specifically:

Emphasis, mine.

1 Like
7

Thank you,

I downloaded the driver via aur, as I discibed above.

Will have a look into you other suggestions, beginning of next week :slight_smile:

1 Like
8

Normally, AUR sourced packages can be built and installed using pamac; for example:

pamac build b43-firmware
9

@hns

you may or may not know this, so allow me to give you just this hint:

The simplest workaround is to use a/any USB WiFi adapter.
(If this hint was trivial and superfluous, please excuse).

I am having exactly the same problem on my MacBookPro 8.1 of 2011, and haven’t solved it yet, that’s why I am reading this thread.

I acknowledge, though, that the more elegant solution would be to have a correctly-working driver.

(Let me add: beware – once you find a working solution using the USB adapter your energy for pursuing the firmware fix is bound to fade … This has been my case for over a year now, but I will go on reading this thread attentively).

Peter

Mod edit:- USB Adapters have already been adequately described in your text content. Please avoid posting pictures unnecessarily. Be kind to the Server. Images removed.

1 Like
10

@HaseIgel

Please use the @ character when you wish to mention another forum member – a modal appears after typing @ and you can then select a member’s name from a list.

This prevents the possibility of mistyping the name and also notifies the member that they were mentioned. Otherwise, they may never know. :wink:

Regards.

3 Likes