December 12, 2024

How to Install WiFi driver for Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device in GNU/Linux Distros

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Getting proprietary WiFi drivers to work in GNU/Linux distros can be a pain sometimes. This time we’re going to deal with such a proprietary driver for the Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device. Let’s take a look at how to install WiFi driver for Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device in popular GNU/Linux distros such as Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch Linux. First of all let’s make sure we’re having the Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device. For that let’s make use of the lspci command as follows:

lspci -nn | grep -i network

If you are having the Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device then you will get an output somewhat like follows:

0d:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Limited BCM43142 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4365] (rev 01)

If you get the above output then we are good to continue.

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How to Install WiFi driver for Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device in GNU/Linux Distros

Contents

How to install WiFi driver for Broadcom BCM43142 in Debian and Debian-based distros like Ubuntu

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install broadcom-sta-dkms

The advantage of using a dkms driver is that you don’t need to manually update the driver everytime you upgrade your kernel!

Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) is a program/framework that enables generating Linux kernel modules whose sources generally reside outside the kernel source tree. The concept is to have DKMS modules automatically rebuilt when a new kernel is installed.
Wikipedia

How to install WiFi driver for Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device in Fedora

sudo dnf update
sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf update && sudo dnf install kmod-wl

How to install WiFi driver for Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device in Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S broadcom-wl-dkms

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23 thoughts on “How to Install WiFi driver for Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device in GNU/Linux Distros

  1. Hai,

    I am using HP 250 G4 laptop in which I installed Ubuntu. But, my wifi adapter is missing.
    Tried for two days resolving the issue myself searching the internet but failed.
    The commands given by you worked finally. Now I able to use wifi.
    Thank you very much.

  2. Ok. I don’t want to be rude nor insulting…..but has no one considered, that if you’re able to UPDATE and INSTALL anything then you’re ALREADY CONNECTED? and thus activating the wifi is not much of an issue? What about when you CANNOT CONNECT to your wifi?…how are you supposed to “apt-get” ANYTHING!? I do wish that sometimes the folks who write articles would be more considerate of the newbie who is not familiar with Linux! Is there an article where someone can find out how to install this if they DON’T have wifi!?

  3. This procedure fixed my problem so I consider it a godsend. I guess they did forget to say plug in an ethernet cable and do the apt-get, but very few people wouldn’t know to do that.

  4. I’ve just tried this with the trial version of Ubunto 19.10 (running a live session from a USB stick drive) and it didn’t work. I followed the instruction to type: lspci -nn | grep -i network

    and it came back with this result: 02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Limited BCM43142 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4365] (rev 01)

    However after typing: sudo apt-get update
    followed by: sudo apt-get install broadcom-sta-dkms
    .
    .. I got the following results:

    Reading package lists… Done
    Building dependency tree
    Reading state information… Done
    E: Unable to locate package broadcom-sta-dkms

    Please can you advise if there is any remedy for this?

  5. Unfortunately it didn’t solve my problem. I’m trying to use WiFi on a macbook white 2008 with Linux Mint 20 Xfce. But it’s irritating. have tried many ways of solution and nothing happens.

  6. Just in case, i’m using a MacBook White 2008, Linux Mint 20 Xfce. Broadcom BCM43142 WiFi device and newest version (6.30.223.271-12) installed. i guess maybe the kernel version could be the problem. What do you think?

  7. # To know which package to download from kali repository
    uname -rv (# Gives kernel version and linux version)

    # For (eg. 5.7.0-kali1-amd64 Debian 5.7.6-1kali2) download these
    linux-kbuild-5.7_5.7.6-1kali2_amd64.deb
    linux-headers-5.7.0-kali1-common_5.7.6-1kali2_all.deb
    linux-headers-5.7.0-kali1-amd64_5.7.6-1kali2_amd64.deb

    # You can download the packages manually by navigating on any browser to
    http://http.kali.org/kali/pool/main/l/linux

    # Install downloaded packages in correct order
    sudo dpkg -i linux-kbuild-5.7_5.7.6-1kali2_amd64.deb
    sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-5.7.0-kali1-common_5.7.6-1kali2_all.deb
    sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-5.7.0-kali1-amd64_5.7.6-1kali2_amd64.deb

    # Download and install dkms package (Google it)
    sudo dpkg -i dkms_2.6.1-4_all.deb

    # Download and install broaddcom-sta-dkms package
    sudo dpkg -i broadcom-sta-dkms_6.30.223.271-14_all.deb

    # Run the driver
    sudo modprobe -r b44 b43 b43legacy ssb brcmsmac bcma

    sudo modprobe wl

    # Done…..

  8. It has been useful to me. I did the first connection through usb with the iphone hotspot. Worked from the box in Debian 10.

  9. I’m with you. I’m trying to install Manjaro on an old Toshiba Satellite that doesn’t have an ethernet port. How do I get the drivers on?

  10. bro, you guys are the best and the only website that knows how to explain in a easy way how to configure this wifi shit! i love you for ever, going to make a video on youtube explaining how to configure this BCM43142 on fedora that is a pain in the ass, i have been here for 4 hours and wishing i found you earlier. thanks a lot

  11. The assumption is that you have a wired connection to the network (a physical ethernet cable connecting the computer to the router).

  12. Hi thank you for this very useful howto. I would mention that (for Ubuntu based distros at least) one has to install also the correct kernel headers. Under Ubuntu (I have elementary OS which is Ubuntu based) one can find the kernel version with uname -r and then install the headers with sudo apt install linux-headers-5.15.0-58-generic (replace 5.15.0-58-generic with your uname -r output).

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