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There is a recurrent and very much difficult to solve instability of the wifi connection on the 2008 MacBook Air due to the chipset, causing various trouble on Ubuntu ranging from

  • connection to Wifi but no connectivity
  • keyboard and mouse lacking
  • irq conflicts

What happened is that each time the connection seems to work again, but after some time there is a connection, but no internet, and the compatibility issue is such that the previous found solutions don't work anymore!

I'll propose here a workaround supplying a stable solution to the problem.

Lurch
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  • Please refer https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic, Ubuntu and official flavors of Ubuntu (https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours) are on-topic on this site. The on-topic link provides alternate SE sites for non-Ubuntu OSes. No Ubuntu is mentioned, and Ubuntu-based are off-topic here, only Ubuntu and official flavors are on-topic. You've provided no specifics about what Ubuntu release or on-topic flavor you're talking about (if it's a GA or HWE kernel option you have issues with), however ubuntu-based releases are off-topic here. – guiverc Dec 14 '20 at 07:51

1 Answers1

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After struggling a lot, knowing there are solutions around, that I found in Linux Mint forums, but not giving a stable solution for the problem.

I refer to this thread, however the solution is not entirely solved there. How to get internal wifi working on MacBook Air 1,1 on Ubuntu Mate 16.04?

"To resolve this issue you must re-install Linux Mint, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.

Begin the reinstallation process and where you select "Installation Type" select "Something Else" create a 500MB partition and select "reverse bios" instead of "efi"

To the best of my knowledge, problem seems to be that "Secure Boot" AKA "efi" only allows for supported hardware and the required b43 driver apparently isn't supported hardware." Source: here

Then, just install the b43-installer from driver manager.

If you prefer an out of the box solution, look here

Have fun! The MacBook Air 1,1 is a great machine under linux, it would have been a pity not being able to use it normally, and ubuntu gives it after all a well-deserved life extension!

Lurch
  • 43
  • Please refer https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic, Ubuntu and official flavors of Ubuntu (https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours) are on-topic on this site. The on-topic link provides alternate SE sites for non-Ubuntu OSes. No Ubuntu is mentioned, and Ubuntu-based are off-topic here, only Ubuntu and official flavors are on-topic. – guiverc Dec 14 '20 at 07:50
  • The notice has been adressed here as well. Thanks! – Lurch Dec 14 '20 at 08:10
  • I don't see it as addressed within site rules yet, it is written in a manner that suites SE Unix & Linux where it's not restricted to Ubuntu and official flavors of Ubuntu, the only specific release mentioned is an off-topic release with no details about the Ubuntu software stack in use (Ubuntu LTS releases provide two choices for example). This question as I see it anyway, suits SE Unix & Linux and not Ask Ubuntu as currently written. – guiverc Dec 14 '20 at 08:31
  • Ok. Let me know if the article has to move there yet. But as it is now written, it supplies specific instruction on how to treat the issue under ubuntu; is the suggestion to install another flavor too much? Let me know, then I'll move it and delete it from here. – Lurch Dec 14 '20 at 08:39
  • Ubuntu flavors on-topic for this site can be found at https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours where you don't mention any. Peppermint is not a flavor of Ubuntu. – guiverc Dec 14 '20 at 08:40
  • Thank you for the prompt reply. I'll move the question from here since the complete reply is providing an exhaustive fix choice. – Lurch Dec 14 '20 at 08:43
  • The answer has been edited accordingly. Let me know if it is acceptable as is now, the complete solution ported where you suggested. Thank you for the guidance! – Lurch Dec 14 '20 at 08:48
  • Select Reverse BIOS & not EFI?? What release are you talking about? Which installer? Ubuntu has ISOs with ubiquity, subiquity, calamares & di, and I regularly use those in QA testing, but am not familiar with the option you mention? Which Ubuntu release & ISO are you talking about? (I'm familiar with most on-topic flavors too, but still can't picture the option to which you refer; I know subiquity the least as it's a server installer and I work on desktops) – guiverc Dec 14 '20 at 08:51