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I am running ubuntu 17.04 on an asus x205ta, and through much struggle and research finally got the wifi working. I was so happy and decided to restart the pc just to make sure and come to my knowledge it does not work, unless I run these commands in the terminal once again:

sudo modprobe brcmfmac

I am using a guide I found on another post here: How to install (L)Ubuntu 16.04 on the ASUS X205TA (F205TA)

I think the problem could be that maybe the /etc/rc.local file that is suppose to be an executable is not becoming one or otherwise I have no clue. I am brand new to linux and this is my first time messing with it.

UPDATE: It is actually only the sudo modprobe brcmfmac command I have to run that I know of now. Im not sure if the others still have to be ran or not. It is also worth mentioning that in the guide the wifi should work before these steps are taken and mine does not until these commands are issued.

UPDATE2: The rc.local file is executable so that is not the problem.

Running command grep brcmfmac /etc/modprobe.d* returns grep: /etc/modprobe.d: Is a directory

Running command cat /etc/modprobe.d/* | grep brcmfmac returns blacklist brcmfmac

Running command sudo grep brcmfmac /etc/modprobe.d/* returns /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-custom.conf:blacklist brcmfmac

Taylor Austin
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  • From your terminal type: ll /etc/rc.local to display the attributes of the file. It should look something like this: -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 616 Oct 8 2016 /etc/rc.local* The -rwx means read, write and execute. Therefore when you see the x you know it's an executable files. This is repeated three times, once for the owner, once for the group and once for all users. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Oct 15 '17 at 06:06
  • Edit to include results for grep brcmfmac /etc/modprobe.d* – Jeremy31 Oct 15 '17 at 10:51
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix It reads -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root... So I guess that is not the problem then.

    @Jeremy31 added in the edits

     – Taylor Austin Oct 15 '17 at 11:25
  • @Jeremy31 I think you want to see results of cat /etc/modprobe.d/* | grep brcmfmac, @TaylorAustin try that command instead. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Oct 15 '17 at 14:55
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix added to the edits – Taylor Austin Oct 15 '17 at 15:06
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    Possible duplicate of Installing Broadcom Wireless Drivers sudo apt-get remove bcmwl-kernel-source reboot – Jeremy31 Oct 15 '17 at 15:35
  • @Jeremy31 I have already tried this and it does not fix the problem – Taylor Austin Oct 15 '17 at 15:38
  • Lets see if I can get the command right grep brcmfmac /etc/modprobe.d/* edit to post results as this should show the name of the blacklist – Jeremy31 Oct 15 '17 at 15:48
  • @Jeremy31 edit is in for that command I added sudo in front – Taylor Austin Oct 15 '17 at 15:52
  • @Jeremy31 Sorry I didn't see your latest comment as I was writing an answer at the same time. I didn't mean to step on your toes as I thought you had abandoned the question with your vote to close. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Oct 15 '17 at 15:52
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix just use the new info to add the exact fix to your answer. I am posting from phone – Jeremy31 Oct 15 '17 at 15:55
  • @Jeremy31 will do... give me couple min. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Oct 15 '17 at 15:56
  • I think I got it working, did sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-custom.conf and put # in front of blacklist brcmfmac. Are these the correct steps ? – Taylor Austin Oct 15 '17 at 15:57
  • @Jeremy31 and close voters - this isn't a dupe of that, it's specific to the X205TA and the immense quantity of information and discussion about it online. – Zanna Oct 17 '17 at 09:52
  • @Zanna, the guide he followed needs to be fixed as why would you blacklist a module just to use /etc/rc.local to load it? There was a time that the tactic worked for Atheros bluetooth – Jeremy31 Oct 17 '17 at 14:46
  • @Jeremy31 I've commented on the guide in question. This tactic used to be necessary for the X205TA, and worked fine until /etc/rc.local got axed – Zanna Oct 17 '17 at 15:22

2 Answers2

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Your card is blacklisted

You have to run sudo modprobe brcmfmac because it is blacklisted. You can tell this when you ran the command:

$ sudo grep brcmfmac /etc/modprobe.d/*
etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-custom.conf:blacklist brcmfmac

In order to "whitelist" your card you need to use sudo powers to edit etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-custom.conf. Then:

  • Find the containing blacklist brcmfmac
  • Insert a # in front of it.
  • Save the file

Now when you reboot you shouldn't have to type sudo modprobe brcmfmac anymore.

Thanks to Jeremy31 for recommending shorter version of my original answer. If yuou like this shorter answer please click on his name link find another answer of his you find helpful and upvote it.

Please note there is a reason your card was blacklisted in the first place and if you have additional problems you might have to download source for a different driver and compile it using DKMS.

Community
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WinEunuuchs2Unix
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  • In fact I found out that I don't even need that file so I deleted it all together which also would have fixed the problem, thanks so much for helping me figure this out guys! WinEunuuchs2Unix and Jeremy31 – Taylor Austin Oct 15 '17 at 16:10
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    @TaylorAustin You're most welcome. That's what this community is all about; first learning from others and then later on helping others :) Keep in mind sometimes deleting a file isn't enough if a future update reinstalls it. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Oct 15 '17 at 16:13
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You need to do the following fixes:

Wifi driver install.

Open up the terminal and type in the following commands (or you could copy and paste them)

cd /tmp
wget https://android.googlesource.com/platform/hardware/broadcom/wlan/+archive/master/bcmdhd/firmware/bcm43341.tar.gz
tar xf bcm43341.tar.gz
sudo mkdir -p /lib/firmware/brcm/
sudo cp fw_bcm43341.bin /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43340-sdio.bin
sudo mount -t efivarfs efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
sudo cp /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/nvram-74b00bd9-805a-4d61-b51f-43268123d113 /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43340-sdio.txt
reboot

Wifi stability fix.

Open the text editor and type the following text into it

blacklist btsdio

Save the file as "fix-wifi.conf" on the desktop

Open up the terminal and type in the following command

  • sudo thunar
  • Move the "fix-wifi.conf" file from the desktop to the directory "/etc/modprobe.d"
  • Close the file manager window

Type into the terminal

sudo update-initramfs -u -k all
sudo reboot
Dr Jekell
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