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After looking through many forums, both here and in the Ubuntu/Debian communities, I still cannot connect to wireless. Here is my situation:

-Dual-booting Mac OS Sierra with Debian Jessie -Had to adjust grub for display by setting acpi=off -Installed and removed several different packages. Removed: bcmwl-kernel-source (Reinstalled as well in the end) Added to deb sources to /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian jessie main non-free
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib non-free

Installed the following packages:

apt-get install broadcom-sta-dkms firmware-linux firmware-linux-free firmware-linux-nonfree firmware-brcm80211 firmware-b43-installer fimware-b43legacy-installer

Added to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf: 

blacklist brcmsmac
blacklist bcma
blacklist b43
blacklist b44
blacklist ssb

Rebooted and no change. Interface showed up only after the broadcom-sta-dkms installed. I tried uninstalling and installing broadcom-sta-common instead but I lost it doing that so switched packages back.

Finally, ran

modprobe wl

Behavior: I tried with SSID broadcast and without. It doesn't matter what network I connect to, even if there is no authentication required. It can see the networks, even the networks that aren't broadcasting (Sees signal strength), but NEVER connects. I used the netinstall and I heard someone using the full livecd made an install and it worked, but I just want to find the right drivers and be done with it.

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  • Install a new kernel from backports e,g : the 4.8
    – GAD3R
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 19:39

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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I finally got it working.

Downloaded and installed the Stretch distro netinstall with firmware. After doing that, my display issue needed no fixing. However, even after installing the default dkms package, I still got the same error with wl module.

Then, I went directly to the Debian website and downloaded the .deb package from stretch, and installed it. Sure enough, it worked after that! The only issue I have now is sometimes when I put the computer to sleep, after waking it up I have to manual reconnect to the wireless network I was on. May bring that part to a different thread, but for now my biggest concern is solved.

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You need to install a new kernel from backports to solve the wifi issue :

Edit your sources.list

apt edit-sources

add the following line:

deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie-backports main contrib non-free

Save and update your system then install a new kernel e,g:

apt update
apt-get -t jessie-backports install linux-image-4.7.0-0.bpo.1-amd64
apt-get -t jessie-backports install linux-headers-4.7.0-0.bpo.1-amd64

edit

Install linux-base from backports:

 apt-get -t jessie-backports install linux-base

Reboot and reinstall broadcom-sta-dkms :

apt-get remove broadcom-sta-dkms bcmwl-kernel-source firmware-brcm80211 firmware-b43-installer fimware-b43legacy-installer

apt-get install dkms build-essential
apt-get -t jessie-backports install broadcom-sta-dkms broadcom-sta-source broadcom-sta-common

and reload the wl module:

rmmod wl && modprobe wl
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    I got down to installing the image package and got the following: The following packages have unmet dependencies: linux-image-4.7.0-0.bpo.1-amd64 : Depends : linux-base(<= 4.3~) but 3.5 is to be installed. E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages Not sure if I should remove linux-base :O
    – Mr 1235813213455
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 20:03
  • Ok so I tried the above and let me say firstly this definitely fixed the super tiny icons on my desktop, and I no longer have to add additional options into grub2. Yay! :D. However, it appears the wireless card isn't even showing up anymore, and I uninstalled bcmwl-kernel-source, and attempted to reinstall, but I get the below: ` Package bcmwl-kernel-source is not available, but is referred to by another package. This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or is only available from another source
    – Mr 1235813213455
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 20:47
  • Also, wl doesn't work either: modprobe: ERROR: ../libkmod/libkmod-module.c:816 kmod_module_insert_module() could not find module by name='wl' modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'wl': Function not implemented modprobe: ERROR: ../libkmod/libkmod-module.c:960 command_do() Error running install command for wl modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'wl': Operation not permitted
    – Mr 1235813213455
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 20:51
  • It is installed. I even reinstalled. Still no dice :(
    – Mr 1235813213455
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 21:00
  • What is the output of insmod wl.ko ?
    – GAD3R
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 21:16

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