Arch Install on Late 2013 iMac wifi issues

keatonh · 2021-07-01 20:08:01

OK so here's my issue. I've been trying to install the base Arch on my late 2013 iMac. I'll walk you through my steps of what I've tried.
After booting the live iso I enter

ip link

It only shows my local host interface and my ethernet interface. So i ran

lspci -k

It shows I have a wireless broadcom driver so i read that wiki page. Then i ran

modprobe -r b44 b43 b43legacy ssb brcmsmac bmca wl
modprobe wl (also tried lib80211 and lib80211_crypt_tkip as well too)

I ran ip link again and there was my wlan0 interface. **One time i tried it was set down so i set it up with ip link** All other times it was automatically up.

But heres the issue, I now enter iwctl and the device doesnt show. I tried

device list
adapter list
ap list
wsc list
station list

All these are empty. Ok so i tried enthernet and skip wifi until I have a full install. Well i plug it in to the router and it wont connect and gives the error it has no-carrier.

Ive read wiki page after wiki page, forum after forum, and it seems to be possible to run Arch on this iMac. The only other option i have left is the offline installation but it doesnt make sense to me. It just says for offline install to download the base-devel package during installation and use another computer for the linux-header. I know i can use archiso to get base-devel on the image but what does it mean use another computer to get the linux-headers?

keatonh · 2021-07-01 20:14:25

also forgot to mention I ran

rfkill list

And the Wireless interface is not soft blocked or hard blocked.

[UPDATE]

I installed an endeavourOs iso to same iMac. i ran

modprobe -r b44 b43 b43legacy ssb brcmsmac bcma wl
modprobe wl lib80211 lib80211_crypt

Still no show under iwctl but when i used the GUI wifi app I was able to get a connection , although a slow one I was still able to connect.

So it seems I'm having an issue with iwctl picking up my wifi driver. I guess Ill run endeavour on it until i can find the issue.

Last edited by keatonh (2021-07-01 20:33:33)

seth · 2021-07-01 20:45:54

1. Don't bump, edit your post unless somebody has resonded
2. Don't paraphrase, post the actual output of commands you run (in particular lspci), https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=57855
3. If wl isn't chosen automatically, blacklist b43 and ssb, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel … acklisting
4. Is iwd actually running? Did you try to restart it after making the device available through the wl driver?
5. wrt to the ethernet situation and (2), post the output of "ip a"

keatonh · 2021-07-02 04:07:56

1) Yes, sorry I forgot there was an edit button to edit my posts.

(Cant get system logs, Im on my tablet. And no internet on my computer of the topic. but ill try my best)

2) On first live boot 'ip link' shows:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP>
2: enp3s0f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP>

'lspci -k' shows:

02:00.0 Network Controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 03)
Subsystem: Apple Inc. Device 0111
Kernel driver in use: wl
Kernel modules: bcma, wl
03:00.0 Ethernet Controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries NetXtreme BCM57766 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 01)
Subsystem: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries NetXtreme BCM57766 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
Kernel driver in use: tg3
Kernel modules: tg3

After 'modprobe -r b43 ssb' it shows:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP>
2: enp3s0f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether 38:c9:86:00:d8:a9 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_code1 state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether d0:03:4b:cd:a7:f1 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

After seeing my wireless interface show up I check 'iwctl device list' but it is empty.

3) I've ran the 'modprobe -r' command on both b43 and ssb but I cant blacklist them in /etc/modprobe.d and reboot or I return to default settings on the live image.

4) Just tried disabling iwd.service with 'systemctl' and then enabling it and starting it again. 'ip link' still shows:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP>
2: enp3s0f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether 38:c9:86:00:d8:a9 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_code1 state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether d0:03:4b:cd:a7:f1 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

and 'iwctl device list' is still empty.

5) 'ip a' shows:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP>
2: enp3s0f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether 38:c9:86:00:d8:a9 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_code1 state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether d0:03:4b:cd:a7:f1 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet6 fe80::d203:4bff:fced:a7f1/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

seth · 2021-07-02 06:50:24

I've ran the 'modprobe -r' command on both b43 and ssb but I cant blacklist them in /etc/modprobe.d and reboot or I return to default settings on the live image.

So we're not talking about an installed system but the installation medium only?

You don't need to list the devices in iwctl,

iwctl station wlan0 scan

- something™ (iwd) brings the device up, so it's (probably) usable.

As for your ethernet device enp3s0f0: NO-CARRIER means that: there's no wired connection between this and another NIC. Either the cable is broken or not properly seated or plugged into the wrong™ slot (eg. into the/one output-only connection on the router)

Arch Linux

#1 2021-07-01 20:08:01

Arch Install on Late 2013 iMac wifi issues

#2 2021-07-01 20:14:25

Re: Arch Install on Late 2013 iMac wifi issues

#3 2021-07-01 20:45:54

Re: Arch Install on Late 2013 iMac wifi issues

#4 2021-07-02 04:07:56

Re: Arch Install on Late 2013 iMac wifi issues

#5 2021-07-02 06:50:24

Re: Arch Install on Late 2013 iMac wifi issues

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