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#1 2020-12-25 04:00:42

malkortechie
Member
Registered: 2019-10-31
Posts: 11

WiFi on Mac Mini (2012) works during install but not after

This is my first attempt to install Arch on a Mac (of any stripe). Installation went well and I even remembered to install NetworkManager. After reboot, all is well except that WiFi won't connect. If I plug in the installation USB and boot to it again, WiFi is fine again. I've had just over a year's worth of successful installation on PCs and have been using Linux since early Slackware (mid 1990's). New to Arch but not to Linux, but my cup is empty: I look forward to this lesson.

        When booting to newly-installed Arch, COMMAND "lspci -vv | grep Broadcom" returns
  > 02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom ... BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 03)
  > 03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom ... NetXtreme BCM57766 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 01)
  >              Subsystem: Broadcom ... NetXtreme BCM57766 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
  >                             Product Name: Broadcom NetXtreme  Gigabit Ethernet Controller
  > 03:00.1 SD Host controller: Broadcom ... BCM57765/57785 SDXC/MMC Card Reader (rev 01) (prog-if 01)
  >              Subsystem: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries Device 0000
  > pcilib: sysfs_read_vpd: read failed: Input/output error

Per wiki <https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Broadcom_wireless> should be using the "brcmfmac" driver. COMMAND "lsmod | grep brcm" seems to confirm that only "brcmfmac" is loading: "brcmsmac" is not loaded. COMMAND "lsmod | grep brcm" returns
  > brcmfmc        430080  0
  > brcmutil           24576  1 brcmfmac
  > cfg80211       913408  3 b43,brcmfmac,mac80211
  > mmc_core     188416  6 b43,sdhci,ssb,cqhci,brcmfmac,sdhci_pci

Also, COMMAND "dmesg | grep brcmfmac" returns...
  > [ 1045.853678] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac

        COMMAND "nmcli d status" returns
  > DEVICE    TYPE      STATE      CONNECTION
  > enp3s0f0  ethernet  connected  Wired connection 1
  > lo              loopback...

...but has no line for the WiFi device. The command "nmtui" shows only the wired connection in the 'Activate a connection' and 'Edit a connection' menus. The COMMAND "nmcli radio", however, returns...
  > WIFI-HW    WIFI     WWAN-HW   WWAN
  > enabled    enabled     enabled     enabled

        I've been using NetworkManager for years - to the point that its commands are reflex - and have never had issues with it. I do not believe this to be a version-specific issue as I've got updated-to-current Arch on four other PCs currently - all using  NetworkManager - and all behaving themselves without issue. I suspect that I'm missing some simple, little thing, but I've been beating my head against this for two weeks. I've got my nose pressed to hard against a tree: to be able to see the forest.
        I'd appreciate any help available. Thanks.

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#2 2020-12-25 11:39:03

scurrvy2020
Member
Registered: 2019-09-10
Posts: 8

Re: WiFi on Mac Mini (2012) works during install but not after

Are there any other messages in dmesg that show the driver failing?

Sometimes it helps just to

 
sudo modprobe -r brcmfmac 
sudo modprobe brcmfmac

I would do that while watching dmesg (sudo dmesg -w)

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#3 2020-12-26 06:17:57

kode54
Member
Registered: 2013-10-21
Posts: 48

Re: WiFi on Mac Mini (2012) works during install but not after

The bcm94360cd / bcm4360 is not supported by any open source drivers. The stock Arch iso bundles broadcom-wl, which does support it. You may also opt for broadcom-wl-dkms instead, if you will ever be using any kernel other than the default `linux` package.

I wish I could figure out how to get the bcm2046b1 bluetooth adapter in this very same card working... nearest I could find involved some trick causing the hci module to reset itself post-boot, or in a module options setting.

E: My bad. The bcm4360 appears to be supported by the b43 driver, too. And unlike the broadcom-wl driver, the b43 driver is still under occasional development, or at least, its directory of the kernel was touched within the past two months.

Last edited by kode54 (2020-12-26 06:35:00)

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#4 2020-12-26 06:53:31

kermit63
Member
Registered: 2018-07-04
Posts: 371

Re: WiFi on Mac Mini (2012) works during install but not after

malkortechie wrote:

... and I even remembered to install NetworkManager. After reboot, all is well except that WiFi won't connect.

Did you enable it?

systemctl enable ---now NetworkManager

Last edited by kermit63 (2020-12-26 06:56:21)


Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.
It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

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#5 2020-12-30 22:05:19

malkortechie
Member
Registered: 2019-10-31
Posts: 11

Re: WiFi on Mac Mini (2012) works during install but not after

scurrvy2020: QUITE interesting... "modprobe -r brcmfmac" followed by "modprobe brcmfmac" returns "Module...not found in directory /lib/modules/5.9.11-arch2-1"...how did it load previously, if the file isn't there to be loaded?

kermit63: I did, indeed

kode54: I'm a bit confused, per the forum page, "brcmfmac" should load automatically for standard arch kernel and should be the one to support my hardware. Did I read that wrong? REF https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=245145

Thanks, again, for the help.

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#6 2021-01-26 22:29:57

malkortechie
Member
Registered: 2019-10-31
Posts: 11

Re: WiFi on Mac Mini (2012) works during install but not after

After re-reading through the Broadcom Wireless article - https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/br … _selection - I just manually installed 'broadcom-wl' (as in "pacman -S broadcom-wl"). I also installed 'base-devel' and 'linux-headers': as the article was unclear as to whether they would be necessary and I have the space to spare. After installing these three, and a reboot, I was able to enter 'nmtui' and set up my WiFi connection.

I will give it a few days - to make sure nothing else goes wrong - but this looks solved: to me. WIll update if things go all pear-shaped.

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