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I carry a live 16.04 USB drive around to use on various computers, and I am trying to use it on a machine that requires the Broadcom STA driver for the Wi-Fi card.

However, since it's a live USB, rebooting after using Ethernet to install the driver... well I think you can see the problem there :)

So, how can I load the Broadcom STA driver without rebooting?

You'reAGitForNotUsingGit
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1 Answers1

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The Broadcom STA driver, also known as bcmwl-kernel-source, as well as its dependency dkms, resides on the live session. You should be able to go to Software and Updates > Additional Drivers and install it. Although I haven't a Broadcom wireless device and cannot test, I suspect that your wireless will then work immediately.

chili555
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  • I tried that, and it didn't work... which is the reason I asked the question :) – You'reAGitForNotUsingGit Nov 01 '16 at 20:05
  • Let's try a couple of things. After you install it, does it help to do: sudo modprobe -r b43 and then: sudo modprobe -r bcma and then: sudo modprobe wl ? I wonder if all the wrong drivers that are blacklisted by bcmwl-kernel-source are already loaded before you install it. – chili555 Nov 01 '16 at 20:09
  • The first two commands completed fine (no output is good output, right?), but the final command gave the error: modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'wl': Required key not available – You'reAGitForNotUsingGit Nov 01 '16 at 20:11
  • http://askubuntu.com/questions/762254/why-do-i-get-required-key-not-available-when-install-3rd-party-kernel-modules ??Secure boot?? – chili555 Nov 01 '16 at 20:12
  • Hrrrmmmmm... so as you know, I absolutely hate UEFI, but the computer I'm booting this on said that if I enabled "Legacy Boot", it would be unable to boot Windows 8. So, I just let it do an EFI boot since it was a live USB anyway... sooooooo... what should I do? – You'reAGitForNotUsingGit Nov 01 '16 at 20:15
  • You could try the whole mokutils thing as outlined in the link, but it requires downloading things which you can't do without wireless, I suspect. Moreover, I have seen very few instances where it actually worked! I am unsure if you can switch to Legacy to boot Ubuntu and then back to secure boot for Windows 8. Be careful! – chili555 Nov 01 '16 at 20:19