Broadcom Wireless not working in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS kernel 4.4

Question

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.

What is the exact result of the terminal command: sudo modprobe wl ? — chili555, Aug 24 '16 at 20:18
Possible duplicate of Why do I get "Required key not available" when install 3rd party kernel modules or after a kernel upgrade? — Pilot6, Aug 24 '16 at 21:16
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
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
@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

David Foerster · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-31T01:40:15.430

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

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).
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).
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).

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

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.

Broadcom Wireless not working in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS kernel 4.4

2 Answers2