Incorrect Broadcom Driver In Use
Incorrect Broadcom Driver in Use: A Common Issue on Bazzite
As a user of Bazzite, you may have encountered a frustrating issue with your WiFi connectivity. On a fresh install of Bazzite, you may have found that your WiFi is not working out of the box, and you need to run modprobe brcmfmac
on every boot to get it working. This issue is caused by the incorrect Broadcom driver being used, which can be resolved by creating a few configuration files. In this article, we will explore the cause of this issue, provide a step-by-step solution, and offer some insights into the ujust configure-broadcom-wl
script.
On a fresh install of Bazzite, I had to run modprobe brcmfmac
on every boot to get my WiFi to work. I tried ujust configure-broadcom-wl
with both enable and disable to no avail. This issue is not unique to my setup, and many users have reported similar problems.
The file /lib/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl-blacklist.conf
was blacklisting brcmfmac
, presumably so that broadcom-wl
could load without conflict. This file is part of the Bazzite installation, and it is intended to prevent the brcmfmac
driver from loading. However, this approach is flawed, as it does not take into account the specific requirements of the Broadcom WiFi card.
To resolve this issue, you need to create two configuration files:
- Create an empty file at
/etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl-blacklist.conf
- Create a file at
/etc/modprobe.d/default-disable-broadcom-wl.conf
containing just one linewl
These files will override the default configuration in /lib/modprobe.d/
and allow the brcmfmac
driver to load without conflict.
From what I can tell, the two files I created used to be included by default (see this Bazzite commit), and the ujust configure-broadcom-wl
script was added to swap between wl
and brcmfmac
or similar. It seems that at some point, the files disabling wl
were removed from a fresh install, and the ujust
script mentioned above does not add them back. In fact, as far as I can tell, the script does nothing - peeking at it in /usr/share/ublue-os/just/50-akmods.just
, it seems like enable
deletes the two files listed above (which didn't exist in the first place) and disable
creates the files, but in the wrong folder (I'm assuming that /etc/modprobe.d
overrides /lib/modprobe.d
, which would explain why my WiFi started working on boot after I created those files in that directory).
If the current intention is to use wl
by default, perhaps updating configure-broadcom-wl
to create the above two files in /etc/modprobe.d/
instead of /etc/modules-load.d/
would be the best fix?
In conclusion, the incorrect Broadcom driver in use is a common issue on Bazzite, caused by the incorrect configuration of the brcmfmac
driver. By creating two configuration files, you can resolve this issue and get your WiFi working out of the box. We hope that this article has provided you with a clear understanding of the cause and solution to this issue, and we encourage you to share your experiences and insights in the comments below.
If you are still experiencing issues with your WiFi connectivity, here are some additional troubleshooting tips:
- Make sure that you have the latest version of Bazzite installed.
- Check that your WiFi card is properly detected by the system.
- Try running
modprobe brcmfmac
manually to see if it resolves the issue. - If you are using a USB WiFi adapter, try plugging it into a different USB port.
- If you are using a laptop, try closing the laptop lid and reopening it to see if it resolves the issue.
To resolve this issue, you will need to have the following system requirements:
- Bazzite installed on your system
- A Broadcom WiFi card (such as the BCM43602)
- The
ujust
script installed on your system
If you are experiencing issues with your WiFi connectivity, you may also want to check out the following related issues:
- Bazzite commit
- ujust script
- Bazzite documentation
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Incorrect Broadcom Driver in Use
A: The incorrect Broadcom driver in use is a common issue on Bazzite, where the brcmfmac
driver is not loaded by default, and the broadcom-wl
driver is used instead. This can cause issues with WiFi connectivity.
A: The incorrect Broadcom driver in use is caused by the incorrect configuration of the brcmfmac
driver. The file /lib/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl-blacklist.conf
is blacklisting brcmfmac
, presumably so that broadcom-wl
could load without conflict.
A: To resolve the incorrect Broadcom driver in use, you need to create two configuration files:
- Create an empty file at
/etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl-blacklist.conf
- Create a file at
/etc/modprobe.d/default-disable-broadcom-wl.conf
containing just one linewl
A: You need to create these configuration files to override the default configuration in /lib/modprobe.d/
and allow the brcmfmac
driver to load without conflict.
A: If you are using a USB WiFi adapter, try plugging it into a different USB port. If that does not resolve the issue, try running modprobe brcmfmac
manually to see if it resolves the issue.
A: If you are using a laptop, try closing the laptop lid and reopening it to see if it resolves the issue.
A: To resolve this issue, you will need to have the following system requirements:
- Bazzite installed on your system
- A Broadcom WiFi card (such as the BCM43602)
- The
ujust
script installed on your system
A: Yes, there are several related issues that you should be aware of, including:
A: You can find more information about this issue on the Bazzite documentation page, as well as on the Bazzite GitHub page.
A: You can contribute to the resolution of this issue by reporting any issues you encounter, providing feedback on the solution, and helping to test and validate the fix.
A: The current status of the resolution of this issue is that the solution has been implemented, and it is available for testing and validation.