Brand new to Linux and Zorin OS! The install of Zorin OS 18 Core was very easy and I am triple-booting MacOS 10.14 Mojave, MacOS 15 Sequoia, and Zorin OS 18 with no trouble. However, while I can connect to my network via ethernet, I cannot use the computer's wifi nor do I get any sound output.
I have spent several hours following instructions here in this forum, from Google AI, from YouTube videos and nothing has worked to get my wifi going. I've installed the broadcom drivers but even after a reboot when I go to Software & Updates -> Additional Drivers I see nothing ("No additional drivers available.”) and the OS does not give me any options in Settings to configure wifi, it only shows me the "wired connection" which is my ethernet.
I want to get the wifi working before worrying about the audio output to the computer's speakers, but I will note that the camera is working!
I know this sounds like a topic and a request that has been repeated many times. However, as I said, I have followed all the steps including just blindly copy-pasting commands into the Terminal that I don't fully understand and everything seems to go as the instructional intends until I get to the actual attempt to configure the wifi or install the additional drivers in Software & Updates and there's just... nothing. So apologies, but I do hope someone will help.
Welcome to the Forum!
To see what Network Stuff You actually have, post the Output of the Terminal Command sudo lshw -C network please.
Befor this, You wrote:
Did You installed them directly in the Terminal or were there available at the Additional Drivers Tab and disappeared after Installation?
Thank you for your reply!
*-network UNCLAIMED
description: Network controller
product: BCM4364 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
version: 03
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:81400000-81407fff memory:81000000-813fffff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: NetXtreme BCM57766 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
vendor: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
logical name: enp3s0f0
version: 01
serial: 38:f9:d3:07:ce:d2
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm vpd msi msix pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=tg3 driverversion=6.17.0-14-generic duplex=full firmware=57766a-v1.15 ip=192.168.1.217 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
resources: irq:17 memory:b0200000-b020ffff memory:b0210000-b021ffff
The first thing I did when I saw that the wifi wasn't being recognized at all was plug in the ethernet cable and then allowed the OS to update itself. After that, I went to Additional Drivers (because I had done some reading in advance of installation and assumed there would be extra Mac-cy complications) and nothing was there, and so followed tutorials to use the Terminal to get the Broadcom drivers installed after confirming through that same output command you just gave me that my computer does indeed have a Broadcom wifi adapter.
Thank you for taking the time to help me!
I know I ran those two commands earlier but never with the double-ampersand "and" link. So I did it just as you instructed, everything seemed to install properly, I did a sudo reboot and...
Unfortunately, nothing: No wifi upon user login, nothing in additional drivers.
I ran sudo lshw -C network again and the output was identical to the above before I ran the command you requested.
What is the terminal output for:
dpkg -l | grep bcmwl
modinfo wl
Is secure boot enabled?
mokutil --sb-state
I see, you run in Kernel 6.17. I would sugest to try it with 6.14 and see if it behaves different. To switch choose on the GRUB Menu on Start-Up ''Advanced Options'' and there choose the one with the 6.14 Kernel.
I went to https://askubuntu.com/questions/55868/installing-broadcom-wireless-drivers and followed the instructions there. Unfortunately, I have a 4464 rev 03 which is not on the table so I wasn't able to complete that process. It looked promising, though!
I needed to learn how to invoke the grub menu at boot time, and then had to learn how to set it up so that the system would default into 6.14 every time rather than automatically going back to 6.17 if I didn't choose the right option in the grub menu in time. But I got that done and am now booting into 6.14. (For what it's worth, my computer doesn't seem to like it as much as I immediately noticed that the backlighting on the built-in screen defaults to a painful maximum. But OK for now!)
Once set to boot into 6.14 and rebooting an extra time for good measure, I went back and followed the earlier instructions.
No change. Still no wifi, still nothing in additional drivers, still "network UNCLAIMED" in the output for sudo lshw -C network.
While waiting for additional help I have gone back to the 6.17 kernel but can easily reboot into 6.14 if any additional troubleshooting steps require that. Thank you both again for taking the time to help me!
(I have to say, though, that as much as I like Zorin OS so far this issue is causing me to think about trying a different distro that might allow my wifi and speakers to work out of the box. I'll definitely wait for at least one of you to tell me it's hopeless before doing that, though!)
Hmm ... @Aravisian gave You already this Command:
I will add something to this Package. Let's see if this helps:
sudo apt install bcmwl-kernel-source b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer
Is not a bad Idea to see if the Machine bahaves with a different Distro better.
Still nothing. I tried when booted into both kernels.
Ah well, thank you both for trying. I don't know when I'll get to attempting an install of a different distro but if/when I do and I find one that allows my wifi to work I'll report back here for anyone who might be interested in the future.
This output shows that the driver is installed
and that the module is loaded.
It shows no Secure Boot - which... I should have noticed... It is habit to ask.
But a Mac would not have Secure Boot, of course...
But all of that output shows that the driver is loaded and ready, which makes the network being unclaimed mysterious.
Especially as you tried on 6.14 kernel as well as also trying b43 cutter.
A 2019 model should be fine on kernel 6.14.
I am at a loss. The only thing left is the unhappy idea that something is wrong with the network card itself or port... or some firmware on the Mac is blocking.
That computer’s wifi (and speakers) work fine when booted into multiple versions of MacOS so the chance of some hardware fault with the Broadcom card is very tiny. I can’t speak to the rest since while I have a lot of experience using the Terminal in MacOS I touched Linux for the first time only a few days ago and 95% of the time I have spent on it so far has been trying to get Zorin OS into a state that will allow it to use this Mac’s wifi.
I agree, if the hardware works fine elsewhere - we can set that possibility aside.
They are Very, Very similar. Same commands, even. They share the same UNIX like base. So you can take confidence in yourself.
But yes, that is a showstopper.
Apple is Very Proprietary, however. What this leaves us with is likely firmware level blocking.
The PCI ID may not work with wl blobs.
BUT
Before we give up hope...
I know that also bcmwl is ported in, but not supported.
It May Be that these kernels are too new for bcmwl.
I know that the 6.2 kernel still supports it.
I have come across many instances of anything beyond 6.8 not successfully deploying the module, even when loaded so
I would test this on the 5.15 to 6.2 kernel range before deciding that the firmware is blocking it.
And Because Of Course... The Noble Repos do not contain the 5.15, 6.2 or Even the 6.8 kernels... You must download them from the archives...
wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.16/amd64/linux-headers-5.16.0-051600_5.16.0-051600.202201092355_all.deb
wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.16/amd64/linux-headers-5.16.0-051600-generic_5.16.0-051600.202201092355_amd64.deb
wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.16/amd64/linux-image-unsigned-5.16.0-051600-generic_5.16.0-051600.202201092355_amd64.deb
wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.16/amd64/linux-modules-5.16.0-051600-generic_5.16.0-051600.202201092355_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
Thank you for all that information.
Are there any security issues with older kernels? One of the reasons I began to investigate Linux is because this Mac – even though it is not my primary workstation – is going to receive MacOS security updates only for about 18 more months but I would like to keep it in use and on-line.
Hello,
Aravisian actually commented on this in another post: Zorin Lite 17.3 macbook air 2011 high cpu + fan - #124 by Aravisian
I could help later on with the sound as I believe my Macbook Pro has the same audio chipset than your imac. In the meantime, plugin a speaker or headphone via usb (even using jack to usb adaptor) or Bluetooth should work.
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Actually regarding the wifi issue, @Aravisian looks like you were on the right track when you pointed out something to do with the firmware, I just found this documentation that seems to be relevant to this specific imac 19,2: Introduction - t2linux wiki
Link for me to read in detail and then try later when I have the time. Looks very promising as it references my specific Mac model and my specific wifi card (the 4364). Could be a while – weeks – before I get to this but I will get to it and then report back here.
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