Mid 2015 MacBook Air Linux Installation Wifi issues

AMFA

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2021
Messages
57
Reaction score
44
Credits
502
All,

I attempted to install Linux Mint (most current version) onto my mid 2015 Mac Air. While in the installation menu (test mode I think it is called) wifi works great I am logged into the form. My problem is when I restart the machine and it logs into Mint I have no wifi, when I click the connection in the bottom right corner no wifi networks at all nothing to even select wifi.

I read through the forums and seen it is probably a driver for the wireless card, problem is nothing is saved or updated from the test enviroment and these Mac Airs have no ethernet port or I would hardwire it to attempt to update the drivers.

If I go to Driver Manager I get the below information/notice:
Broadcomm Inc and subsidiaries: BCM4360 802.11 ac Wireless Network Adapter
This device is using an alternative driver.
bcmwl-kernel-source
Version 6.30.223.271+bdcom-0ubuntu8
Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA Wireless driver source


Any ideas or suggestions would be great, I am learning Linux (still very very new). Thank you and i appreciate all the help. Hope everyone has a good day.
 
Last edited:


That driver should work with the BCM4360.
But some thing must be missing.
Go to a terminal and type this command
Code:
rfkill list all
Then post the output back here.
The BCMWL driver can be found on the live disk under
Code:
/pool/main/b/bcmwl
It's a .deb file and can be installed using gdebi. so you should not need a Lan connection. install and reboot. should work.


Good luck.
 
Last edited:
That driver should work with the BCM4360.
But some thing must be missing.
Go to a terminal and type this command
Code:
rfkill list all
Then post the output back here.
The BCMWL driver can be found on the live disk under /mint/pool/b/bcmwl
It's a .deb file and can be installed using gdebi. so you should not need a Lan connection. install and reboot. should work.

Good luck.
Thank you, I was able to find the thunder port to Ethernet cable and updated it using the driver manager. It works fine now. Thank you. I am sure this thread will help someone else later. Take care KC and thanks again.
 
click on mint menu
go to all
scroll down to additional drivers, and open
mint will search for any additional drivers,
if no additional drivers found..
go mint menu
open software manage put BCM in the search box let it search, the first offering should be bcmwl-kernel-sorce
If it is installed then uninstall it wate a few seconds then re-install it,
 
click on mint menu
go to all
scroll down to additional drivers, and open
mint will search for any additional drivers,
if no additional drivers found..
go mint menu
open software manage put BCM in the search box let it search, the first offering should be bcmwl-kernel-sorce
If it is installed then uninstall it wate a few seconds then re-install it,
Thank you Brickwizard
 
Glad you got it going. if ever in that situation again another alternative to Ethernet cable is to tether a cell phone to and you can get on that way until the driver is installed. Cheers!
 
Glad you got it going. if ever in that situation again another alternative to Ethernet cable is to tether a cell phone to and you can get on that way until the driver is installed. Cheers!
Working well, I have Ubuntu on the Wife's desktop and Mint on my Macbook Air, the Mint distro seems very good. Now I am trying to learn all the diffrent things with Linux. I think Linux is much better than Mac and a dumpster fire is better than Windows. It is amazing how you can customize everything. Have a good evening KC and thank you for the feedback much appreciated.
 
Working well, I have Ubuntu on the Wife's desktop and Mint on my Macbook Air, the Mint distro seems very good. Now I am trying to learn all the diffrent things with Linux. I think Linux is much better than Mac and a dumpster fire is better than Windows. It is amazing how you can customize everything. Have a good evening KC and thank you for the feedback much appreciated.
I use mint here as my daily driver. It's quite solid and I like Cinnamon DE. Enjoy the learning :)
 
I'm having the same issue with the same wifi driver, but in elementary 6.1. Can you suggest a similar fix? It isn't as clear what I can/should do based on the description for working in Mint. I'd install Mint 20.3, but my boss likes the Mac desktop and functions but is happier with elementary. Or would you suggest another solution for finding or supplying the wireless card driver?
And the rfkill command shows it isn't hard or soft blocked.
 
Welcome to the forums @bromax
I suspect yours is a different problem, but not to worry,
First install inxi [you will need internet connection] open a terminal put in sudo apt install inxi and enter then put in your password and enter
when it installs open a terminal and put in inxi -Fnxz copy and paste the result back,
[I suspect you have a realtek wi-fi for which you will need to download and install the correct drivers]
Bwiz
 
If you prefer mint as an operating system, but your boss only likes the elementary desktop, then why not combine the two, install mint Xfce or mate desktop then install the Parthenon [elementary desktop] over the top… using these instructions

 
If you prefer mint as an operating system, but your boss only likes the elementary desktop, then why not combine the two, install mint Xfce or mate desktop then install the Parthenon [elementary desktop] over the top… using these instructions

I'm grateful for your attention and help. I've got a 2015 Macbook Air, A1465, and I've installed elementary 6.1. It shows a broadcom 4360 wireless card. I don't have an ethernet adapter for it (the computer was a donation) but I can transfer files and packages via usb. Although he'd prefer elementary (it's impressive to me that I got my boss using Linux at all) but if I can't resolve this I may soon try installing Mint as you suggested. I'm open to further suggestions too.
I'm a religious brother, a Franciscan, and we beg for our needs. So donated computers are a thing for us, along with the issues they present. Thanks again for your help, and I look forward to your replies brickwizard.
 
And I'm too impatient, and too interested, to wait. So I've started installing Mint like you suggested. Already working. Next is Pantheon. Great suggestion so far!!
 
And I'm too impatient, and too interested, to wait.
Take it easy, don't rush, or you may miss something,
now this is getting more important, once you have installed your distribution and desktop, Install Timeshift [see first post in this thread] https://www.linux.org/threads/timeshift-similar-solutions-safeguard-recover-your-linux.15241/

Addendum. I don't know your location, but I am in the GMT+0 timezone, so you may have to kerb your Impatience and wait for my replies

Bwiz
 
Last edited:
So...Mint 20.3 xfce has given me trouble installing the bcmwl file. It's there, but even with the usb still attached (it requested it) it won't make the changes to use the needed driver for the wireless card. I've attempted moving the files needed (and a few dependencies) to the desktop and install in the terminal. So far no luck but it feels close. And thanks for helping me here in NYC.
 
@bromax
try again, when you install you will be asked if you wish to install non-free/ propriotry drivers, make sure you tick that box, once loaded If still no joy, come back to me, we will get it working, but patients is required, you will have the same problem with any distribution, just stick with it,
It would be of great help if at your Seminary you have a router you can connect to by wire before you go through the install process
 
@bromax
I have just returned from doing the shopping [10 mile round trip to the nearest supermarket] I was passing the Church a couple of villages away, when I had a thought, If you still can't get Linux working yourself, why not put a small notice just inside SFOA asking if any congregation members would be willing to help install Linux for you.
 
Good idea. My expectation is that I'm the one they'd be asking help from. We're in a very poor section of the Bronx.
If I may pose some more questions, I'd be very grateful for your advice. I'm having trouble with Mint xfce. I suspect that Mint cinnamon will work out with the wireless driver. But will it be a bad idea to install Pantheon over Cinnamon (if that's the correct way to see it)?
On a different topic, can you point me in a good direction for trouble with automount on my Mint 20.3 Cinnamon laptop (Asus U46E)? I am aware it could be a number of things that are wrong. The rig reads both DVDs and usb drives seeing the name of the drive or dvd, but says I am not authorized to mount them. The troubleshooting and searching I've done points to establishing a mountpoint (not sure how to) or dealing with /etc/fstab but this didn't seem a way for automounting. I can mount the drives manually, but I'd like to be able to have it automount. Any suggestions?
 
I'm having trouble with Mint xfce. I suspect that Mint cinnamon will work out with the wireless driver.
Sorry to say The base distribution is the same, the only difference is the desktop, so there will be no difference when it comes to installing them, the same problem will arise if you try installing any other distribution without ethanet connection, [but I am still looking into a way out for you]

mount drives..have a read of this
 


Top