Install old kernel for 13.10 using apt-get?

[SteveRiley]

Remove the previous /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom.conf. Create /etc/modprobe.d/no-wl.conf and include the following line:

blacklist wl

Reboot. Then show the output of:

lsmod | egrep 'br|bc|wl|rf|802'

Finally, does wireless work?

[Feathers McGraw]

feathers@62-West-Wallaby-Street:~$ lsmod | egrep 'br|bc|wl|rf|802'
rfcomm                 42699  12 
bluetooth             228967  22 bnep,btusb,rfcomm
feathers@62-West-Wallaby-Street:~$

Unfortunately, still not working. That did something though, wireless seems to be off completely now.

Feathers

[SteveRiley]

I don't understand why the bcma and brsc* drivers aren't loading. Let's make sure they aren't present in any other blacklist file. Please show the output of:

egrep -iR 'bl|br' /etc/modprobe.d/*

[Feathers McGraw]

feathers@62-West-Wallaby-Street:~$ egrep -iR 'bl|br' /etc/modprobe.d/*
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:install snd /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-ioctl32 ; /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq ; }
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:install snd-pcm /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-pcm $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-pcm-oss ; : ; }
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:install snd-mixer /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-mixer $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-mixer-oss ; : ; }
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:install snd-seq /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-seq $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-midi ; /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-oss ; : ; }
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:install snd-rawmidi /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-rawmidi $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-midi ; : ; }
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:install snd-emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-emu10k1 $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-emu10k1-synth ; }
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:install snd-via82xx /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-via82xx $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq ; }
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:install saa7134 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install saa7134 $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist saa7134-alsa ; : ; }
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:# Ubuntu #62691, enable MPU for snd-cmipci
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ath_pci.conf:blacklist ath_pci
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf:blacklist b43
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf:blacklist b43legacy
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf:blacklist ssb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf:blacklist bcm43xx
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf:blacklist brcm80211
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf:blacklist brcmfmac
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf:blacklist brcmsmac
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf:blacklist bcma
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist evbug
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist usbmouse
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist usbkbd
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist eepro100
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist de4x5
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist eth1394
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist snd_intel8x0m
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist snd_aw2
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist i2c_i801
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist prism54
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist bcm43xx
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist garmin_gps
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist asus_acpi
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist snd_pcsp
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist pcspkr
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:# from being initialised (Ubuntu: #297750). Blacklist so that the driver
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:# continues to build and is installable for the few cases where its
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:blacklist amd76x_edac
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-firewire.conf:blacklist ohci1394
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-firewire.conf:blacklist sbp2
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-firewire.conf:blacklist dv1394
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-firewire.conf:blacklist raw1394
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-firewire.conf:blacklist video1394
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-firewire.conf:#blacklist firewire-ohci
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-firewire.conf:#blacklist firewire-sbp2
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist aty128fb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist atyfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist radeonfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist cirrusfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist cyber2000fb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist cyblafb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist gx1fb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist hgafb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist i810fb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist intelfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist kyrofb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist lxfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist matroxfb_base
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist neofb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist nvidiafb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist pm2fb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist rivafb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist s1d13xxxfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist savagefb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist sisfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist sstfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist tdfxfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist tridentfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:#blacklist vesafb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist vfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist viafb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist vt8623fb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf:blacklist udlfb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-modem.conf:# Uncomment these entries in order to blacklist unwanted modem drivers
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-modem.conf:# blacklist snd-atiixp-modem
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-modem.conf:# blacklist snd-intel8x0m
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-modem.conf:# blacklist snd-via82xx-modem
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ac97
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ac97_codec
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ac97_plugin_ad1980
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ad1848
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ad1889
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist adlib_card
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist aedsp16
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ali5455
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist btaudio
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist cmpci
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist cs4232
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist cs4281
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist cs461x
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist cs46xx
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist emu10k1
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist es1370
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist es1371
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist esssolo1
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist forte
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist gus
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist i810_audio
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist kahlua
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist mad16
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist maestro
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist maestro3
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist maui
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist mpu401
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist nm256_audio
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist opl3
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist opl3sa
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist opl3sa2
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist pas2
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist pss
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist rme96xx
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist sb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist sb_lib
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist sgalaxy
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist sonicvibes
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist sound
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist sscape
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist trident
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist trix
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist uart401
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist uart6850
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist via82cxxx_audio
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist v_midi
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist wavefront
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ymfpci
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ac97_plugin_wm97xx
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist ad1816
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist audio
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist awe_wave
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist dmasound_core
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist dmasound_pmac
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist harmony
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist sequencer
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist soundcard
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-oss.conf:blacklist usb-midi
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rare-network.conf:# vulnerability exploitations, they are being blacklisted here so that
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist acquirewdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist advantechwdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist alim1535_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist alim7101_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist booke_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist cpu5wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist eurotechwdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist i6300esb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist i8xx_tco
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist ib700wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist ibmasr
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist indydog
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist iTCO_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist it8712f_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist it87_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist ixp2000_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist ixp4xx_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist machzwd
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist mixcomwd
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist mpc8xx_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist mpcore_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist mv64x60_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist pc87413_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist pcwd
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist pcwd_pci
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist pcwd_usb
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist s3c2410_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist sa1100_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist sbc60xxwdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist sbc7240_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist sb8360
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist sc1200wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist sc520_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist sch311_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist scx200_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist shwdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist smsc37b787_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist softdog
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist twl4030_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist w83627hf_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist w83697hf_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist w83697ug_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist w83877f_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist w83977f_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist wafer5823wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist wdt_pci
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf:blacklist wm8350_wdt
/etc/modprobe.d/no-wl.conf:blacklist wl
/etc/modprobe.d/vmwgfx-fbdev.conf:options vmwgfx enable_fbdev=1
feathers@62-West-Wallaby-Street:~$

[SteveRiley]

LOL... the "bl" matches every "blacklist," duh.

The drivers are getting blocked by blacklist-bcm43.conf. Please move that file out of the way:

sudo mv /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm43.conf /root

Reboot. Now what?

Oh, and run the second command in post #16 again.

[Feathers McGraw]

feathers@62-West-Wallaby-Street:~$ lsmod | egrep 'br|bc|wl|rf|802'
rfcomm                 42699  12 
brcmsmac              550835  0 
cordic                 12574  1 brcmsmac
brcmutil               14755  1 brcmsmac
mac80211              606872  1 brcmsmac
cfg80211              512114  2 brcmsmac,mac80211
bluetooth             228967  22 bnep,btusb,rfcomm
bcma                   41080  1 brcmsmac
feathers@62-West-Wallaby-Street:~$

You hero!

What do you think blacklisted the driver in the first place? I can't remember if I checked the box to install restricted extras when I installed, could that be it?

Thank you

[Feathers McGraw]

It works with the newer kernels, too

[SteveRiley]

ROFLMAO! Please don't let that image spread...I have a reputation to protect, you know!

When Jockey installs the Broadcom STA driver, it also creates that blacklist file for the other modules. I had forgotten about that; it's been ages since I've worked with Broadcom wireless. In fact, I dislike their stuff so much that I installed a hacked BIOS on my HP Mini 2140 just so that I could remove the wi-fi module whitelist and thereby replace the Broadcom mini PCI NIC with one from Intel.

I would suggest that you remove the STA module. I don't know how Jockey does this and what kind of side effects it may create, so let's do the removal manually. Please show the output of:

dkms status

[Feathers McGraw]

No promises

That is dedication! Why did you have to change the BIOS, was it a Windows machine? I was under the impression that you could just swap a wireless card with Linux without any problems.

Also, why do you dislike Broadcom wireless?

feathers@62-West-Wallaby-Street:~$ dkms status
bcmwl, 6.30.223.141+bdcom, 3.11.0-12-generic, x86_64: installed
bcmwl, 6.30.223.141+bdcom, 3.11.0-14-generic, x86_64: installed
bcmwl, 6.30.223.141+bdcom, 3.11.0-15-generic, x86_64: installed
bcmwl, 6.30.223.141+bdcom, 3.8.0-35-generic, x86_64: installed

Feathers

[SteveRiley]

For some unfathomable reason, HP and other hardware manufacturers will whitelist particular hardware elements in the BIOS. This is commonly done with wi-fi and Bluetooth mini PCI card. If you remove the manufacturer-supplied card and replace it with one not on the whitelist, the machine will refuse to boot. Doesn't matter what operating system is installed, of course, because the firmware halts the machine long before it starts the bootloader.

I loathe Broadcom's wi-fi because they're always troublesome to get working in Linux. While I love exploring the corners and edges of software and operating systems, fighting with hardware is just stupid. So I Googled for hacked Mini 2140 BIOSes and found one. Of course, since it's a binary blob, you can't completely trust it. But I was willing to give it a shot. I flashed it and then swapped out the Broadcom card for an Intel card. The machine booted fine. I let the thing sit on my network for 24 hours and captured all its traffic off a span port on my switch. I didn't see anything that looked like "phone home" signals so I figured the hacked BIOS was safe.

Now let's get rid of your STA drivers.

sudo dkms remove bcmwl/6.30.223.141+bdcom --all

And, if you don't want Jockey to hassle you any more, remove it:

sudo apt-get purge jockey-kde jockey-common

[Feathers McGraw]

Because they want to sell you their replacement parts, right? That's a sneaky trick.

That's cool, I love that it's possible to get stuff like that on the internet. I guess you used Wireshark to capture the traffic?

Thanks for that, I'll keep jockey for now and see if it badgers me, if it does I'll get rid of it.

Thank you again for all the help

[SteveRiley]

Possibly. Or perhaps it's a kickback thing. PC manufacturers basically don't make any money at all on the hardware, that's why they bundle so much shìtware on the machines that you get at your local BestWallBuyMart. The peddlers of this garbage pay the hardware manufacturers. It isn't difficult to imagine that hardware peripheral makers do the same thing. BROADCOM: "Hey, HP, put our garbage wi-fi cards in your laptops. We'll let you have them at cost if you whitelist them in the firmware. We know our stuff is crap, and a certain percentage will die. People will order replacements from you, and you can charge 10000% over what you bought them from us for."

Yes, of course I used Wireshark. I love my tool!

The presence of /etc/modprobe.d/no-wl should prevent the STA driver from loading even if Jockey feels like building it again. I really can't predict Jockey's behavior here, as its one of the things I immediately purge after building a system. I don't like software making decisions without my approval.