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I am a beginner Linux user and I have a MacBook 3,1 made in 2007 running Lubuntu 16.04 64bit with Network Controller: Broadcom Limited BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] (rev 03), Subsystem: Apple Inc. Airport Extreme [106b:0088] Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge.

The wifi connection is very slow and disconnects often. Since the wifi was working under Mac OSX and Windows on the same computer/router setup, I suspect the solution is to uninstall the wifi driver and install a new one. My question is: which driver do I choose and how do I uninstall the old one and install the new one?

I followed the top-rated response of this post but the problem persists: Installing Broadcom Wireless Drivers

Thank you for reading! -Chris

cebroski
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2 Answers2

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I also have a MacBook 3,1 running Kubuntu 16.04.3 64 bit with the Broadcom Limited BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] (rev 03).

I am using the b43 driver. It does work, but can be a pain to get set up.

How to get it working:

  1. Purge the proprietary driver.

    sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source

  2. Blacklist the drivers you don't want by making sure the following lines are in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

    
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist wl

  3. Reboot

  4. Install the b43 firmware 

    sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer

  5. That should get it working. If not, you may need to reboot again.

JimBeam823
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  • Thanks, I am using the b43 driver and it is working much better now! I'm also curious how you like using Kubuntu on the MacBook 2007 and whether you think Kubuntu would be faster/better than Lubuntu. – cebroski Dec 31 '17 at 00:10
  • Kubuntu runs just fine, but I have 4GB RAM in mine. – JimBeam823 Dec 31 '17 at 16:53
  • The big problem with the MacBook 3,1 is the crappy Intel x3100 video. That's why it can't run anything from Apple newer than Lion, even though similar Macs got updates for years.

    To get video working properly with Ubuntu, download the applicable firmware. This makes a huge difference. You will need the Kaby Lake GUC 9.14 firmware and the Broxton GUC 8.17 firmware. Download it, untar, and install it from https://01.org/linuxgraphics/downloads/firmware

     – JimBeam823 Dec 31 '17 at 17:06
  • Also, if you are willing to download unofficial kernels (or compile your own), there have been significant updates to the video support in recent kernels. I noticed a major difference going from the 16.04.3 default 4.10 kernel to 4.14. – JimBeam823 Dec 31 '17 at 17:29
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sudo iwconfig wlan0 power off

This solves the problem temporarily only.

To make it permanent run command as follows:

  1. cd /etc/pm/power.d

  2. sudo gedit wifi_pwr_off This will open an empty file, copy the code below into it:

    #!/bin/sh /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 power off Save the file, remember to

sudo chmod +x wifi_pwr_off and restart. Please note that instead of wlan0 it can be wlan1 or so for you depending on the situation

[Link Here!][1]
Jose
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  • This does not resolve my issue. cristina@asuka:~$ iwconfig lo no wireless extensions.

    wlan0 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:"HOME-24AB"
    Mode:Managed Frequency:2.432 GHz Access Point: 60:A4:4C:8D:61:88
    Bit Rate=48 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
    Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off Power Management:off Link Quality=50/70 Signal level=-60 dBm
    Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0 Tx excessive retries:1709 Invalid misc:3965 Missed beacon:0

    eth0 no wireless extensions

     – cebroski Jul 08 '17 at 02:52