Is it possible to use Broadcom BCM43142 wifi in Ubuntu 16.04? [duplicate]

I've spent hours looking on the net, tried various things. One site said that this particular card is not supported by the b43 driver so I have to use wl. And make sure that b43 is blacklisted which I was unable to do (always I try to blacklist the b43 it says permission denied). So, is it even possible to use this network controller with Ubuntu (16.04) I've had my new laptop a week now and still not up and running - Win 10 works though :(

Solution 1:

Although I have read some questions that suggest it is troublesome, I have not yet read any report that says it absolutely will not work. It is easy enough to find out. Install the driver and see!

With a working internet connection by ethernet, tethered or whatever means possible, open a terminal and do:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

The installation of the driver does the required blacklisting for you. However, if you wanted to undertake it manually, I suggest:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Use nano or kate or leafpad if you don't have the text editor gedit. Add the following lines at the very end to the existing text:

blacklist b43
blacklist bcma
blacklist ssb

Proofread carefully, save and close the text editor. Reboot and tell us if the wireless is working.

Solution 2:

Mind that there's also a secure boot connection. If you have secure boot enabled in your BIOS, the wifi may not be properly detected in Ubuntu now. Disabling secure boot instantly resolves that and all will work fine.

This was the case on a HP 250 G4 with the BCM43142 wifi/bluetooth module.

I've read about this elsewhere as well, that having secure boot turned on can cause grief for some drivers. Sigh.