How to Enable Wi-Fi on MacBook, Mac Mini, MacBook Air for Ubuntu/Linux/Debian/Mint/Mate OS

how-to-enable-wifi-macbook-mac-mini-air-ubuntu-linux-debian-mint-mate-os.md

How to Enable Wi-Fi on MacBook, Mac Mini, MacBook Air for Ubuntu/Linux OS

By default older Mac computer models have driver issues with the Broadcom Wi-Fi chip. Most instructions online (such as this one from the official Ubuntu docs @ https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Macmini5-1/Precise) suggest to use sudo apt-get and install these packages from the PPA.

BUT you don't have Internet so you can't use apt-get! Instead you can use a different computer to download the packages, then transfer them over.

In the instructions below, you will need to replace sid in the download URL's with the proper version of Debian your version of Ubuntu/Linux is using. To find which version you should use, you can view the chart at https://askubuntu.com/questions/445487/what-debian-version-are-the-different-ubuntu-versions-based-on#445496. If you're using jessie for example, then replace all sid with jessie in the links below.

1. Download b43-fwcutter @ https://packages.debian.org/sid/b43-fwcutter (replace "sid" in the URL as needed -- scroll down to "Download" section and choose based off your architecture, and then select a mirror/FTP link to download from on the next page that appears).
2. Download firmware-b43-installer @ https://packages.debian.org/sid/firmware-b43-installer (repeat same note as above)
3. Download webfs @ https://packages.debian.org/sid/webfs (repeat same note as above)
4. Download http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2 (e.g. using wget http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2)
5. Save these downloaded files to flash storage and then insert flash storage into your Ubuntu/Linux machine.
6. Copy the files from the flash storage to your Ubuntu/Linux machine's desktop.
7. Open a terminal and run the command echo '127.0.0.1 www.lwfinger.com' | sudo tee --append /etc/hosts
8. Run the command sudo dpkg -i ~/Desktop/webfs.deb (replace webfs.deb with the webfs deb file name)
9. Run the command sudo mkdir -p /var/www/b43-firmware
10. Run the command sudo mv ~/Desktop/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2 /var/www/b43-firmware/
11. Run the command sudo sed -i -e 's/web_root="\/var\/www\/html"/web_root="\/var\/www"/' /etc/webfsd.conf
12. Run the command sudo sed -i -e 's/web_port=""/web_port="80"/' /etc/webfsd.conf
13. Restart the web server sudo /etc/init.d/webfs restart (you may need to use sudo systemctl restart webfs if your system uses systemd)
14. Run the command sudo dpkg -i ~/Desktop/b43-fwcutter.deb (replace b43-fwcutter.deb with the b43-fwcutter deb file name)
15. Run the command sudo dpkg -i ~/Desktop/firmware-b43-installer.deb (replace firmware-b43-installer.deb with the firmware-b43-installer deb file name)
16. Run the command echo 'blacklist ndiswrapper' | sudo tee --append /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
17. Run the command echo 'SUSPEND_MODULES="b43 bcma"' | sudo tee ---append /etc/pm/config.d/modules
18. Run sudo reboot and then check if you can connect to Wi-Fi.
19. See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro8-2#Wireless for other instructions, such as enabling Sensors. Also see https://askubuntu.com/questions/334561/problems-with-broadcom-bcm4311-wireless-card-on-hp-pavillion-dv6000#667832 for reference.
20. Remove webfs and the temp dir by typing sudo apt-get remove -y webfs and sudo rm -rf /var/www/b43-firmware/ on your Ubuntu/Linux machine afterwards.