[SOLVED] Wi-FI cannot connect

walteweiss · 2023-03-14 09:53:09

Yesterday, my laptop (MacBook Pro 8,1 or in other words MacBook Pro 13 Early 2011) stopped connecting to Wi-Fi networks. The Wi-Fi Interface is visible, but it connects to the network indefinitely. I tried four different networks in different locations, none worked.

I use iwd and systemd-networkd. I cannot say I understand the network stack good enough to claim my configuration is correct, but I used it for years on different devices without any issues. (I'm very open to suggestions, corrections or explanations if there's something wrong.)

My first version was there's something wrong with the packages I installed, as the latest thing I did in the evening was updating my system. And when I turned on my laptop in the morning, the issue arose.

So my

grep -i upgraded /var/log/pacman.log

returned this list of packages:

iana-etc (20230105-1 -> 20230306-1)
ca-certificates-mozilla (3.88.1-1 -> 3.89-1)
linux (6.2.2.arch2-1 -> 6.2.5.arch1-1)
broadcom-wl (6.30.223.271-454 -> 6.30.223.271-457)
glib2 (2.74.6-1 -> 2.76.0-1)
hidapi (0.13.1-1 -> 0.13.1-2)
imagemagick (7.1.1.2-1 -> 7.1.1.3-1)
libmanette (0.2.6-3 -> 0.2.6.4)
libnsgif (0.2.1-7 -> 0.2.1-8)
libpipewire (1:0.3.66-2 -> 1:0.3.67-1)
sqlite (3.41.0-1 -> 3.41.1-1)
nss (3.88.1-1 -> 3.89-1)
perl-alien-build (2.77-1 -> 2.78-1)
pinta (2.1-1 -> 2.1.1-1)
pipewire (1:0.3.66-2 -> 1:0.3.67-1)
rust (1:1.67.1-1 -> 1:1.68.0-1)
sudo (1.9.13.p2-1 -> 1.9.13.p3-1)
glibmm (2.66.5-1 -> 2.66.6-1)
glibmm-2.68 (2.74.0-1 -> 2.76.0-1)
libpulse (16.1-4 -> 16.1-5)
broadcom-wl (6.30.223.271-453 -> 6.30.223.271-457)

What I've tried:

1. Downgrade broadcom-wl to -454 and -453. Didn't help.
2. Play with different configs of iwd or systemd-networkd, none helped
3. boot parameter

b43.allhwsupport=1

4. boot from Arch ISO, no wlan device is visible
5. boot from Fedora Workstation 37 Live USB, no Wireless device is visible in Gnome's GUI. I didn't test thoroughly, as I wanted to just check what would happen with booting into Fedora.

I use sway with minimum GUI apps (Firefox, Pinta, GIMP, LibreOffice and some more that I use daily), trying to do with CLI what I can. I managed my networks that way (iwd) for years prior to this.

My Ethernet works.

I cannot understand even the nature of my issue.

- If it was hardware, then it won't work at all, I assume. Then it won't break out of the blue, as there was no drops of the laptop, no humidity, extream cold or heat, no water damage, not even just electricity. I powered off the machine at home at 80% of battery and turned it on the next day in the office, still not plugged in.
- if it's purely software (e.g. the update), why it won't work in both Arch's or Fedora's Live systems out of the box?

rfkill list

shows as nothing soft and hard blocked. I have no hardware switches in my MacBook.

iwctl station wlan0 show

Scanning no
State connecting
Connected network MyWiFiName
No IP addresses Is DHCP client configured?

Each of these steps didn't help:

Reloading dhcp:

sudo systemctl reload-or-restart dhcpcd.service

Static IP address:

sudo ip addr add 192.168.1.245/24 dev wlan0

Reloading iwd:

sudo systemctl reload-or-restart systemctl

I greatly appreciate any input from you guys.

P.S. Found a potentially related issue right here, if that's some package break. But it could be very different as well.

-----

Versions:

uname -r
6.2.5-arch1-1

systemctl --version
systemd 253 (253.1-3-arch)
+PAM +AUDIT -SELINUX -APPARMOR - IMA +SMACK +SECCOMP + GCRYPT +GNUTLS +OPENSSL +ACL +BLKID +CURL +ELFUTILS +FIDO2 +IDN2 -IDN +IPTC +KMOD +LIBCRYPTSETUP +LIBFDISK +PCRE2 -PWQUALITY +P11KIT -QRENCODE +TPM2 +BZIP2 +LZ4 +XZ +ZLIB +ZSTD +BPF_FRAMEWORK +XKBCOMMON +UTMP -SYSVINIT defauklt-hierarchy=unified

iwctl version 2.3

dhcpcd --version
dhcpcd 9.4.1
Copyright (c) 2006-2021 Roy Marples
Compiled in features: INET ARP ARPing IPv4LL INET6 DHCPv6 AUTH PRIVSEP

-----

Solution is in the last post.

- I downgraded both kernel and broadcom-wl and rebooted my laptop, that solved the issue.
- I upgraded both the kernel and broadcom-wl to newer version, that solved the issue as well.

Last edited by walteweiss (2023-03-14 20:26:04)

seth · 2023-03-14 10:24:52

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=284254

walteweiss · 2023-03-14 11:14:16

seth wrote:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=284254

Thanks for pointing that out. I downgraded my kernel to 6.2.2-arch2-1, but it didn't fix the issue. Now I have no wlan0 device:

iwctl station wlan0 show

Device wlan0 not found.
Device wlan0 not found.
No station on device: 'wlan0'

`ip link` has no wireless device. `lspci -k` shows the network controller

03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 02)
Subsystem: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n
Kernel modules: bcma

I'm investigating further.

seth · 2023-03-14 11:16:37

You need to downgrade broadcom-wl to match the kernel or install linux-headers and use https://archlinux.org/packages/communit … m-wl-dkms/

walteweiss · 2023-03-14 18:43:34

seth wrote:

You need to downgrade broadcom-wl to match the kernel or install linux-headers and use https://archlinux.org/packages/communit … m-wl-dkms/

Thanks a lot, that solved my issue completely.

I downgraded the kernel to 6.2.2-arch2-1 and broadcom-wl to -454, that solved my issue. I mark the post as [SOLVED].

As bonus, I would greatly appreciate if anyone can help me understand:

1. Why did wireless network not work in LiveBoot environment?
2. How can I determine which one driver is better for my wireless? I see three brcm80211, b43, broadcom-wl in the wiki. Will usage of brcm80211 prevent me from similar issues in the future?

Last edited by walteweiss (2023-03-16 08:56:44)

walteweiss · 2023-03-14 20:20:53

Updating to broadcom-wl-6.30.223.271-458 and linux-6.2.6.arch1-1 solved the issue as well.

seth · 2023-03-14 20:30:17

Why did wireless network not work in LiveBoot environment?

What's a "LiveBoot environment"? The install iso should™ ship the broadcom-wl driver, but if it uses the buggy kernel, that won't help.

How can I determine which one driver is better "less terrible" for my wireless?

ftfy - broadcom is still the worst possible chip family. Essentially use what works for you.

Will usage of brcm80211 prevent me from similar issues in the future?

You would not have to remember to explicitly align the out-of-tree driver, but the bug is not in the broadcom-wl code (nor is the out-of-tree state relevant)

Arch Linux

#1 2023-03-14 09:53:09

[SOLVED] Wi-FI cannot connect

#2 2023-03-14 10:24:52

Re: [SOLVED] Wi-FI cannot connect

#3 2023-03-14 11:14:16

Re: [SOLVED] Wi-FI cannot connect

#4 2023-03-14 11:16:37

Re: [SOLVED] Wi-FI cannot connect

#5 2023-03-14 18:43:34

Re: [SOLVED] Wi-FI cannot connect

#6 2023-03-14 20:20:53

Re: [SOLVED] Wi-FI cannot connect

#7 2023-03-14 20:30:17

Re: [SOLVED] Wi-FI cannot connect

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