Hi,
I recently installed Zorin OS 17.3 Pro on a PC that was given to me, so far - aside from a few learning curves - everything has gone well; however, I have no Wifi Access. This came with a "BigPond NetGear Wifi Adapter USB" ["dongle"] due to no in-built adapter.
With lusb, this is what shows up:
I'm relatively new to Linux systems so step-by-step help would be much appreciated so please feel free to ask for any other information regarding the adapter or the PC to help come to a solution!
Thanks in Advance
Forpli
July 28, 2025, 4:15pm
2
Please connect your computer with your phone via cable so that you have internet.
You can install the drivers with:
"sudo apt update && sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer b43-fwcutter bcmwl-kernel-source"
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Gillie53:
[Broadcom BCM43241]
Broadcom considers its drivers proprietary, so does not allow distributions to carry them pre-installed.
sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer
This is what I received when entering the command's, both your [Aravisian] and Forpli's solutions:
Please launch Software & Updates and on the main tab - change Download from to "Main Server."
Refresh the sources
sudo apt update
Then run
sudo apt --fix-broken install
sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer b43-fwcutter
I've changed and saved the server source as instructed. It then prompted me to refresh software sources, which I did and completed.
I ran "sudo apt update" with success, but "sudo apt --fix-broken install" returned an error:
[Only re-opened Software & Updates for screenshot]
Also, I just want to put it out there that I very much appreciate the help from the both of you! Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this.
Ok let's clear out this package:
sudo dpkg --purge firmware-b43-installer b43-fwcutter
sudo apt clean && sudo apt autoremove
sudo apt --fix-broken install
Now, we'll use this to install, instead:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install linux-firmware
1 Like
Those commands went through okay, what do I do next?
If all went through, please reboot and test wifi...
Unfortunately, it still comes up with the same message it did to begin with.
What is your terminal output for:
lsmod | grep brcmfmac
If there is no output, run:
sudo modprobe brcmfmac
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
Then check if there is wifi... This is being very stubborn...
I input those commands to no response. I do apologise for being a stubborn case
Do you need anymore information that could help fill in any gaps regarding the PC or adapter?
Can you post the terminal output of
lspci -nnk | grep -A3 -i network
Sorry to keep throwing commands at you...
lsusb
That's alright don't apologise, I'd rather get to the bottom of it - has to be done!
Here's response for lsusb:
We can see the device is recognized and running...
ls -l /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43241*
This shows that the firmware is now installed, and there are no "Not found" missing files.
Maybe the driver is soft blocked...
rfkill list all
I input that command and didn't receive any response. I re-opened the settings and Wifi still gives the same message of "No Wi-Fi Adapter Found".
I really do appreciate the assistance!
