Workaround to install Broadcom43142 driver from Live USB

[TWPonKubuntu]

Please note; this is not a rant. It may help others who face this problem.

My Christmas present was a new/used HP Pavilion, 64bit laptop. Works very well. 1TB drive and 6GB RAM, quad core CPU... I like it! It has a built-in Broadcom 43142 wireless chip. Therein lies the rub.

The problem arose when I tried to install a Linux OS on it.

The Saga:

I burned a live USB, which I have done many times in the past, so I'm not a newb at this process.

The Live USB loaded and I was able to run Linux (several different distros) in Live mode. List follows.

BEFORE I tried to do the install from live USB to hard drive, I tried to establish a wireless connection...

The Broadcom chip was seen by the various distributions running in live USB mode. But it was not automatically linked to the Broadcom driver software When in Live mode.

In each case, the distro Driver Manager GUI would see the Broadcom chip AND offer a check box to activate it. BUT none of them would accept the activation when I clicked the "apply" button... The Live USB would look for an internet connection to (I assume) download the Broadcom driver:

The distros, all of them (list below) offer to activate the "Broadcom-kernel-source" to install the driver. None are successful without a working connection to the 'net.

NOTE: this is BEFORE I attempt to install the distros to the hard drive, I was still in Live mode.

The Distro List:

KDE Neon, latest 64bit release. neon-useredition-20181129-0531-amd64.iso
Linux Mint 19.1 linuxmint-19.1-xfce-64bit.iso
Linux Mint 18.3 linuxmint-18.3-xfce-64bit.iso
Kubuntu 18.04.1 kubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso

I'll note that all of these have an Ubuntu base.

NEXT STEP: Install to hard drive.

Each distro would install and yield a working Linux OS, but no wireless connection.

DURING the install to disk, I found that I was able to activate a 'net connection via the Broadcom chip. This allowed me to install all the software which is normally either updated during install or is part of the 3rd party and proprietary tools which are not on the Live USB. Except for the Broadcom-Kernel-Source...

The install proceeded to completion with a working 'net connection. I could remain in the live USB session and use the wireless connection...

However; If I choose to proceed to run the Hard Drive OS, the 'net connection disappeared and the Broadcom driver WAS NOT INSTALLED as part of the hard drive software. I could run the Linux OS and each one (list above) looked and behaved well, except no 'net connection.

SOLUTION:

I attached a USB wireless access point (TP Link), booted to the Live USB and immediately had 'net access in Live mode. The driver was part of the Live USB software.

I was then able to install to the hard drive as before and the driver for the TP Link access point WAS installed, unlike the Broadcom driver (Broadcom-kernel-source).

Once I was in the hard drive installed OS, I was able to use the Driver Manager GUI to both accept and activate the Broadcom chip. I could then remove the external USB access point and run from the built-in Broadcom chip.

I hope this helps anyone else who runs into this problem.

I'm now back to running Kubuntu 18.04.1 (a good thing) and will spend the next couple of days building my preferred desktop tool set.

I have joined the 64bit world, at last...

FYI

[jglen490]

Congratulations, and Merry Christmas! Sometimes you gotta work hard AND smart!

It's always good to have a known good wifi adapter around for cases like this where you may not have the choice that you really want in the hardware you get. Sometimes having 100' of ethernet cable hiding in the closet works for a temporary connection, too

[TWPonKubuntu]

I agree, my next step was to string a cable to the router itself and get in that way. But that router is buried under "stuff" and I did everything I could to avoid digging for it.

Now I want a fix for the Live USB install software which obviously had access to the Broadcom driver but didn't install it to the the hard drive. Oh, well, I got to play with the system, which is fun too.

[dequire]

Broadcom is notoriously bad on Linux. Glad you got it sorted, but this speaks to a bigger issue, I mean...in this day and age, should it really be an issue? The are one of the last holdouts on the Linux train. I shun them without remorse.

[oshunluvr]

Broadcom is notoriously bad on Linux. Glad you got it sorted, but this speaks to a bigger issue, I mean...in this day and age, should it really be an issue? The are one of the last holdouts on the Linux train. I shun them without remorse.

Agreed, but it speaks to another issue: If this is known, why are the linux people not including the required broadcom files in the live releases?

While I agree that broadcom should be generally avoided in the same way I avoid most products that are poorly supported - Linux or not - often, as in this case, we (the users) are subjected to less-than-optimal hardware configurations. In today's world, a computer without a working network connection isn't very useful.

The "solution" is to get Broadcom on the Linux train, no doubt. However, the distro packagers failing to prioritize connect-ability is also a problem - and one that can and should be addressed. We no longer are subjected to the must-fit-on-a-CDROM size limitation so why are wifi chipset drivers being left out of the ISOs?

[Snowhog]

Strongly agree. I would think that having the majority of mainstream wifi drivers in the ISO would be a number one priority, ahead of Desktop Software (Libre Office, et al). Not having a working Internet connection when booting up is a deal breaker for almost every noob, and many, more experienced users as well.

[TWPonKubuntu]

What is weird is that the ISO DOES contain some driver which recognized my Broadcom chips. But only when I committed to installing to the drive. It WAS USED during the install because I was able to install/update software during the install. It, the wireless driver, was not used during the "live" run and was not automatically installed as part of the install process. But it does exist in the ISO. To get the Broadcom driver, I had to complete the install, using another wireless device (TP Liink), reboot and then use the Driver Manager to locate and install the Broadcom driver. And, @dequire, I too shun Broadcom as a general rule. But I'm frequently stuck with what is built into the computer. At least a driver does exist, rather than having to go through the process of extracting it from the old Windows drivers...

[jglen490]

Strongly agree. I would think that having the majority of mainstream wifi drivers in the ISO would be a number one priority, ahead of Desktop Software (Libre Office, et al). Not having a working Internet connection when booting up is a deal breaker for almost every noob, and many, more experienced users as well.

I agree, but good luck getting that prioritized. In responding to the OP, I recommended keeping a known good (or at least decent) dongle around - or a long enough ethernet cable so once you have your new/upgraded Kubuntu installation you can grab a current driver for a desired wifi adapter.

At one time, I had a PCIe adapter with dual antennas that worked great. It died, and I just couldn't bring myself to spring for that model again. So eventually, I got a USB dual antenna dongle from Panda that works great and is 100% (so far) Linux friendly. I also keep two older, but supported USB dongles in a drawer - just in case.

Always have a backup plan.

[TWPonKubuntu]

This is an aside, but this thread is an example in point.

My OP (#1) allowed me to insert paragraph breaks (double lines).
My reply (#7) does not let me do that. It is all run together.

What changed? I assume it is my configuration, but I don't know what to change.

[edit] ARRGH! and this post worked correctly! I have Gremlins in my system!

[TWPonKubuntu]

This is an update to my original post. The Broadcom 43142 NO LONGER works with the latest Linux kernels (5.1.x). When I try to install a new kernel, both of the Broadcom drivers fail when the kernel attempts to compile:
bcmwl-kernel-source
broadcom-sta-dkms

I'm functional with my external TP-Link wireless adapter, but I'd really like to have my internal chip recognized by Linux and complied in at boot time.

Such is life...