Saturday, April 19, 2025

Part 2: Debian 12 on HP 15-AF109AX fix BCM43142 wifi adapter

Connect your laptop  HP 15-AF109AX  to internet using ethernet lan port.

Update kernel

# apt-get install  linux-image-6.1.0-33-amd64 

Install tools for network and wifi tools

# apt-get install wireless-tools firmware-linux-nonfree wpagui network-manager-gnome dnsutils bluez-firmware blueman

Installing wifi BCM43142 adapter

# apt-get install linux-image-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') broadcom-sta-dkms

Check all the built DKMS kernel modules. There should be "wl.ko" in the list.

# find /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/updates 

/lib/modules/6.1.0-33-amd64/updates 

/lib/modules/6.1.0-33-amd64/updates/dkms 

/lib/modules/6.1.0-33-amd64/updates/dkms/wl.ko

Unload conflicting modules:

# modprobe -r b44 b43 b43legacy ssb brcmsmac bcma

Load the wl module: 

# modprobe wl

Check wifi adapter interface is available

# nmcli dev 

DEVICE TYPE     STATE                  CONNECTION

lo     loopback connected (externally) lo

wlo1   wifi     disconnected           -- <- found wifi xxxx 

enp3s0 ethernet unmanaged              --

Edit NetworkManager Applet -> Edit Connection -> Add -> type Wifi, fill SSID and Wifi Security WPA3 password.

Done.

Reference: https://wiki.debian.org/wl