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Beginning reviews and edits on Apple wifi post.

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Hyperling
2025-11-19 14:33:42 -07:00
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content/posts/tech/apple-debian-wireless-issues.md
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@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
---
title: "Apple Wireless Card issues on Debian Trixie (13)"
title: "Apple Wireless Card Issues on Debian Trixie"
subtitle: ""
author: Hyperling
date: "2025-11-19T13:00:00-07:00"
toc: true
tags:
- tech
- networking
@@ -26,27 +27,33 @@ series:
categories:
- guides
aliases:
draft: true
---
## Disclaimer
This article assumes that your laptop has recently had the wireless card working on Debian recently. I have a Macbook Air (7,2? ~2015) with a BCM4360 [14e4:43a0] and use the `wl` driver.
This article assumes that your laptop has had the wireless card working on Debian recently.
I have a Macbook Air 7,2 (early 2015, i5) with a BCM4360 [14e4:43a0] and use the `wl` driver.
```
$ sudo apt list broadcom*
broadcom-sta-common/stable 6.30.223.271-26 amd64
broadcom-sta-dkms/stable,now 6.30.223.271-26 amd64 [installed]
broadcom-sta-source/stable 6.30.223.271-26 amd64
```
## Introduction
I do not have experience with other Macbooks, the Debian wiki and forums are your best bet if this article does not apply to you.
{{< external-link "Debian Wiki: Macbooks" "url tbd" >}}
## Introduction -- Define the Problem
If your wireless card is no longer being recognized on a Debian device, ensure the latest version of the Linux kernal came with its headers.
I'm not sure why this happened, but it was when the kernel version jumped from `6.12.41` to `6.12.43` that its symptoms showed up. I had already migrated from Bookworm to Trixie and thought I had already went through a few kernel updates since then without issues.
I'm not sure why this happened, but it was when the kernel version jumped from `6.12.41` to `6.12.43` that its symptoms showed up. I had already migrated from Bookworm to Trixie and thought I had went through a few kernel updates since then without issues.
Later versions such as `6.12.48` and `6.12.58` continued to get pulled and I'd try them before rebooting to `6.12.41`. With the newer versions `/sbin/iwconfig` showed no wireless network and GNOME didn't even have a Wi-Fi listing in the Settings app top top menu.
Later versions such as `6.12.48` and `6.12.57` continued to get pulled and I'd try them before having to reboot back to `6.12.41`. While booten into the newer kernel versions `/sbin/iwconfig` would show no wireless network and GNOME didn't have a Wi-Fi button listed in the Settings app nor its system menu. Then I tried this:
```
$ sudo modprobe wl
@@ -54,7 +61,7 @@ modprobe: FATAL: Module wl not found in directory /lib/modules/6.12.57+deb13-amd
$
```
I then realized that the wl module wasn't being loaded. What was confusing was that it said it was not foud, even though I knew it was installed since it was working on other kernel versions. I saw no error when the new versions were being instaleld, either. And thus began my discovery...
After realizing that the wl module wasn't being loaded I thought maybe there was a packaging issue. I was confused since it said it was not found, even though I knew it was installed since it was still working if I booted to the older installed kernel versions. I saw no error when the new versions were being installed, either. And thus began my discovery...
## Solution -- Install Headers Automagically
@@ -64,7 +71,9 @@ Ubuntu provides the packages `linux-image-generic` and `linux headers-generic`.
sudo apt install linux-image-amd64 linux-headers-amd64 --reinstall
```
Some sources say that Debian has no generic/meta package for the kernel and its headers. I can't find any information as to the release date of these to confirm/deny that claim. I'm just glad they work!
Some sources say that Debian has no generic/meta package for the kernel and its headers. I can't find any information as to the release date of these to confirm/deny that claim.
I'm just glad they work to now keep the headers installed automatically!
## Still Not Working?
@@ -73,6 +82,7 @@ If you're still having problems then it may be something else.
Some good troubleshooting commands are below, as well as examples of when I was running them trying to troubleshoot my system.
```
tbd change this to an unordered list with `` on each command.
uname -a
lspci -vnn | grep -i net
/sbin/iwconfig
@@ -83,6 +93,8 @@ apt list
### Missing Kernel Headers Example
tbd make these individual code blocks.
```
[user@hostname ~]$ uname -a
Linux debian 6.12.57+deb13-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.57-1 (2025-11-05) x86_64 GNU/Linux
@@ -300,6 +312,8 @@ broadcom-sta-source/stable 6.30.223.271-26 amd64
### Working Example
tbd make these individual code blocks.
```
---