How to have the wifi functioning when turning a macbook into a xubuntu?

Question

I have a 2014 macbook air on which I have installed Xubuntu using a boot usb. I have no wifi connection, and the problem seems to be related to the broadcom driver. I download the deb files on my phone then transfer them through Bluetooth. The first crash arose from a missing dkms, which I installed, then I got an error 10, which is apparently linked to the linux kernel (said chatgpt...) I installed the linux headers and modules, but the compilation failed. with the log being

I am bit out of imagination for the next step. I apologize for the cumbersome pictures.

Answer 1

You have kernel version 6.11.x, which suggests your Xubuntu is probably version 24.04.2 or newer, while the last part of the version number of the bcmwl-kernel-source package suggests it's meant for *Ubuntu 20.04 series, which is about five years old now.

bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.271+bdcom-0ubuntu7~20.04.3_amd64.deb
                                                ^^^^^^^^

Back when *Ubuntu 20.04 was released, the entire kernel 6.x series did not exist yet.

Kernel modules are usually highly sensitive to major kernel version changes, and the contents of the DKMS log in your last picture are typical to trying to build a module that is incompatible with the current kernel.

According to https://pkgs.org/download/bcmwl-kernel-source the version of bcmwl-kernel-source for *Ubuntu 24.04 LTS series would be bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.271+bdcom-23ubuntu1_amd64.deb.

Note that unlike the packages for the older *Ubuntu releases, that version is marked as a transitional package, so there are apparently some major changes in how this driver is packaged for *Ubuntu 24.04 series: old instructions you may find on the internet for older releases may or may not apply quite as-is any more, although a transitional package is normally designed to make the installation work as similar to old versions as possible (so that automated update tools can handle the transition from the old scheme to the new one).

Since getting Broadcom WiFi chips used in Macbooks to work with Linux can be somewhat tricky and often requires third-party drivers (such as the one you're trying to install), I would recommend obtaining a cheap Linux-compatible USB wired Ethernet adapter for your Macbook. That will help a lot during initial setup and major upgrades, and as a general backup connectivity solution if wireless drivers have issues or wireless network is congested or not available.