[SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

kosmostory2160 · 2024-07-06 05:51:59

[SOLVED TL:DR] Ignore all network attempts during install, skip past installing debian libraries during install. Once installed used ethernet cable to connect internet and run thru the welcome script. Installed the debian libraries then allowed all updates and firmware checks requested. Afterwards was able to disconnect the ethernet cable and wi-fi networks were showing. Thank you to all who helped.

Hi, 100% linux noob here, having trouble getting Boron installed.

I'm trying to revive an old macbook air (circa 2009 I think) using a lightweight Linux distro. I've tried LXLE and AntiX but so far Boron has been looking most promising. However I'm running into an issue during install where I can't connect to my wireless network. I can skip past it but later on in the install process it tells me it can't find the online debian libraries and if I continue the installation will be a bare minimum.

I can connect to the wireless network just fine from the initial apple bootloader screen (before you select your USB drive to boot from), however this doesn't carry thru into the Boron installer.

During the connect to network stage it asks me for the ESSID. I have only the SSID and entered that but not sure if there is a functional difference between ESSID and SSID here.

It asks me for the security type, which is WPA/WPA2 (I can't see there is any option to change my security type to WEP on my particular router, it seems it can only do WPA. There is an option to create a guest network with no password but trying that using the [WEP/Open Network] option didn't seem to work either)

Then it asks me for the passphrase, which I have entered the local Wifi password. Again, if there is a functional difference between passphrase and password, or if I have to put some prefix at the start of this I don't know.

No matter what options I choose it won't connect to the wireless network. I don't have the adaptor required to connect an ethernet cable.

So: If I choose to install without the debian libraries is there a way to fix the install later? Unlike many distros I've had a look at, Boron doesn't seem to have an installer from inside the live session, you can only trial it but need to install from the bootloader screen.

Last edited by kosmostory2160 (2024-07-07 03:03:43)

hhh · 2024-07-06 12:32:06

Try to finish the installation without a network connection and without configuring apt. Then, what's the WiFi adapter? It'll be listed by one of these two commands...

lspci

lsusb

Also, see what iwconfig gives you...

iwconfig

If you succeed in connecting to your network, you can manually set up /etc/apt/sources.list and you'll be good to go.

kosmostory2160 · 2024-07-06 13:26:25

hhh wrote:

Try to finish the installation without a network connection and without configuring apt. Then, what's the WiFi adapter? It'll be listed by one of these two commands...
lspci
lsusb
Also, see what iwconfig gives you...
iwconfig
If you succeed in connecting to your network, you can manually set up /etc/apt/sources.list and you'll be good to go.

Thank you, I'll try those things.
The reason I didn't finish the install without connection is because it was telling me I'd be doing so without the debian libraries (?) so I wasn't sure about continuing.

hhh · 2024-07-06 15:22:15

If you get to "Detecting network hardware" and it shows your WiFi network, try connecting to it and entering the WAP passphrase. If it connects, your all set. If not, do as I said and finish the installation without a connection ("Do not configure network at this time"), and skip "Use a network mirror" near the end of the installation (you can't use one, you don't have a network connection) and then you can see if it's possible to identify your WiFI adapter and troubleshoot from there.

Bearded_Blunder · 2024-07-06 17:05:53

Assuming it doesn't all get sorted during the install & by the welcome script afterwards, which has happened for me when I deliberately didn't connect as a test (see my sig lol).

Worth finishing the install & take it from there.

kosmostory2160 · 2024-07-06 23:47:24

hhh wrote:

Then, what's the WiFi adapter? It'll be listed by one of these two commands...
lspci
lsusb
Also, see what iwconfig gives you...
iwconfig

The commands you've listed give the following information:

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Host Bridge (rev b1)
00:00.1 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 LPC Bridge (rev b2)
00:03.1 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.2 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 SMBus (rev b1)
00:03.3 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.4 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.5 Co-processor: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Co-processor (rev b1)
00:04.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:04.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:08.0 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 High Definition Audio (rev b1)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 PCI Bridge (rev b1)
00:0b.0 SATA controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 AHCI Controller (rev b1)
00:10.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:15.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation C79 [GeForce 9400M] (rev b1)
03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 05)

lsusb:

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 05ac:8216 Apple, Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp. BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046 Bluetooth)
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 05ac:8505 Apple, Inc. Built-in iSight
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 090c:1000 Silicon Motion, Inc. - Taiwan (formerly Feiya Technology Corp.) Flash Drive
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 05ac:0223 Apple, Inc. Internal Keyboard/Trackpad (ANSI)
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 05ac:8242 Apple, Inc. Built-in IR Receiver
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

iwconfig:

lo ... no wireless extensions
wlan0 ... IEEE 802.11 ESSID:off/any
... Mode:Managed Acess Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=20 dBm
... Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
... Power Management:off

I'll make a correction to my earlier post. I do have the ethernet cable adaptor as it turns out, but it requires the USB port which I'm using for the -iso to install.

Additionally, in the live session there are no available networks listed at all. The [Wi-Fi Networks], [Disconnected], and [Available Networks] are all greyed out.

I found a similar topic in the forums here: (I can't post as a link it seems) but under the forums its: /viewtopic.php?id=8548/
Following the steps that I could in that answer, gave me the following information:

$ inxi -Nxxxz:

Network
Device-1: Broadcom BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n
Vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme
driver: b43-pci-bridge
v: N/A
pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s
lanes: 1
bus-ID: 03:00.0
chip-ID: 14e4:4328
class-ID: 0280
IF-ID-1: wlan0
state: down
mac: <filter>

I had a look at linux-hardware_org using the Vendor ID: 14e4 and Device ID: 4328
Looking under the listed Apple Airport Extreme drivers, It seems Boson may not have a driver for my network card?

In the meantime I will try installing skipping all network steps as you suggested and then connect thru ethernet cable. Hopefully you can help me sort it from there. Thanks for your help thus far.

Bearded_Blunder · 2024-07-07 01:37:49

Out of curiosity, how did you prepare your install media? I'm assuming a USB stick with the iso written to it, but by what method? Using what software?

Sometimes driver / firmware issues arise using anything besides dd for the task, some of the firmware is accessed using symlinks, but if the USB stick is formatted FAT32 (iso hybrid mode) FAT32 doesn't support symlinks.

You might want to try prepping your install media a different way, or burning an actual DVD.

kosmostory2160 · 2024-07-07 03:06:32

Thank you for your reply, this issue is now solved by previous answers, but to satisfy your curiosity: I used Balena etcher to flash the usb with the Boron iso (64bit). Balena was the one and only utility that worked for this old Macbook. YUMI, Rufus etc all work fine for my main pc but won't load on Macbook.

Bearded_Blunder · 2024-07-07 11:31:11

I think from the documentation Balena Etcher does the job correctly, if you use Rufus for a Bunsen installer it can avoid some issues in edge cases if you ignore the program's advice & select dd mode, though it'll "just work" 8 or 9 times out of 10 it really depends on the target machine.

YUMI should be OK since there's no mods to the iso, assuming your machine will boot it.

#1 2024-07-06 05:51:59

[SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

#2 2024-07-06 12:32:06

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

#3 2024-07-06 13:26:25

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

#4 2024-07-06 15:22:15

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

#5 2024-07-06 17:05:53

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

#6 2024-07-06 23:47:24

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

#7 2024-07-07 01:37:49

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

#8 2024-07-07 03:06:32

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

#9 2024-07-07 11:31:11

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to wireless network during Boron install

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