[SOLVED] LL7.6 on Macbook (Mid 2009) with WiFi module BCM4322

[oldgaz]

G'Day Stevef, Thanks for the clarification. That all worked and I submitted Macbook data.
The following is a description of the issue and the script to maintain WiFi operation during future Lite updates.

The issue I had was that I had installed Linux Lite 7.6 on a Macbook Pro 9.2 (mid 2012) and the WiFi was fine until I did a system update which caused it to go missing. It was important to go to this website -https://askubuntu.com/questions/55868/installing-broadcom-wireless-drivers – to identify the Broadcom model you have. In my case it was identified as 14e4:432b which used the b43 firmware. So the following script ONLY applies to this model. However it does work as I have re-installed the “base” 7.6 version, applied the script below, then did the system updates and the Wifi is still available.

Create the kernel hook script

sudo nano /etc/kernel/postinst.d/bcm4322-b43

Paste everything below:

#!/bin/sh
# Auto-restore BCM4322 b43 driver after kernel updates

set -e

LOG="/var/log/bcm4322-b43.log"

echo "[$(date)] Kernel update detected – enforcing b43 driver" >> "$LOG"

# Ensure firmware is present
apt-get update >> "$LOG" 2>&1
apt-get install -y firmware-b43-installer firmware-b43legacy-installer >> "$LOG" 2>&1

# Remove Broadcom STA if it sneaks in
apt-get purge -y broadcom-sta-dkms >> "$LOG" 2>&1 || true
apt-mark hold broadcom-sta-dkms >> "$LOG" 2>&1 || true

# Blacklist conflicting drivers
cat <<EOF >/etc/modprobe.d/bcm4322-b43.conf
blacklist wl
blacklist bcma
blacklist brcmsmac
EOF

# Force correct module load order
cat <<EOF >/etc/modules-load.d/bcm4322-b43.conf
ssb
b43
EOF

# Rebuild initramfs for the new kernel
update-initramfs -u >> "$LOG" 2>&1

echo "[$(date)] b43 enforcement complete" >> "$LOG"

Save and exit.

Make it executable (critical)

sudo chmod +x /etc/kernel/postinst.d/bcm4322-b43

Run it once now (to align the system)

sudo /etc/kernel/postinst.d/bcm4322-b43
sudo reboot