Broadcom wifi driver bcm 4311

Installing Zorin OS
1

Hello, Zorin form members.

I have a very old laptop, an HP 530. I downloaded the factory driver directly from the Broadcom website but have no idea how to install it.

Here is the website link with the driver:

Here is the driver format form when downloaded:

hybrid-v35_64-nodebug-pcoem-6_30_223_271.tar.gz

How should I go about installing it, as I can't see the installation instructions in the readme.file

It would be really nice to get my internal Wi-Fi card working. I will need the exact steps to install.

3

Go to Software&Updates > Additional drivers and take a look if there is a wlan driver offered.

1 Like
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Screenshot from 2025-09-23 14-25-32
Screenshot from 2025-09-23 14-25-32601×480 25.4 KB

The STA driver is still not functioning after the restart. I also tried to install the b43-installer from the internet, but I encountered an error. I downloaded the factory driver in hopes of installing that, but I need installation instructions, and I haven't received a response from Broadcom.

5

Welcome to the Forum!

If in the Additional Drivers Tab in Software & Updates no Driver should be offered, open the Terminal and type sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer

This Package includes the Driver for 4311.

Did You tried the one directly from the Repo like wrote above?

6

Hi there,
Thank you very much!

Let me copy command and check again.

7

HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 404 Not Found
2025-09-23 14:43:18 ERROR 404: Not Found.

/var/lib/dpkg/info/firmware-b43-installer.postinst: Some problem occurred during
the firmware download. Please check your internet connection.
dpkg: error processing package firmware-b43-installer (--configure):
installed firmware-b43-installer package post-installation script subprocess re
turned error exit status 1
Processing triggers for man-db (2.10.2-1) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
firmware-b43-installer
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

8

Hmm ... Okay, then let's try something different. Type in the Terminal sudo apt install bcmwl-kernel-source and after the Installation make a Reboot.

Then another Thing: does Your System run in Wayland or X11? You can check that in Settings>About. When it runs in Wayland, You could try it with switching to X11/Xorg.

To do that, go to the Login Screen, not the Lock Screen. Simply reboot for that. On the Login Screen click on Your Profile so that the Password Fiels appears. When it is appeared, You should see in the bottom right Corner a Gear Icon. Click on it and choose the Option ''Zorin Desktop on Xorg'' and then log in.

9

Okay let me try everything you explained and check.

10

Screenshot from 2025-09-23 15-02-56
Screenshot from 2025-09-23 15-02-56601×480 24.6 KB

sudo apt install bcmwl-kernel-source...Done
Switched over to X11...Done

Its still not working, but on screenshot taken it now says the broadcom driver is now using an alternative driver and it went from grey-out to green.

Sorry I have just went over from windows.

11

Do you have disabled secure boot and fast boot in your BIOS and if you have dualboot with Windows also disabled fast startup there?

1 Like
12

Let me check

13

This worked for me with a Broadcom Wi-Fi on a Linx 12x64 tablet :-

14

Thank you for everyone's help; I found a solution for my Broadcom 4311 (ver2) wireless card.

The sudo command (sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer) just won't install the driver over the internet called "broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2"; an installation error keeps coming back. I suspect there may be damage to the driver file.

So I searched on the internet and found a solution to my problem. I went to install the b43-fwcutter tool for extracting firmware from Broadcom WLAN drivers.

sudo apt install b43-fwcutter

I then went to the website link (below) to download the Broadcom driver for my wireless card to install it manually with the code explained on that website.

Afterwards I rebooted my laptop with a working wireless card.

Hooray! Bye-bye Windows!

Thanks, Zorin, for saving my computer!

Here is the link:

2 Likes
15

Good that it works now. I marked Your Post as solution.

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