Hi,
I have an old macbookpro 13" mid-2009 (model macbookpro5,5) running
Debian testing/Forky. The WiFi using b43 had been running fine but just stopped working earlier today. On boot, I found that the b43 module was
not loaded, so I just did `modprobe b43' and it was loaded fine, but the
WiFi was still not working, and the device did not show up (tried either `ifconfig -a' and `ip a' and nothing). I then checked dmesg output and
found the following part that seemed to be related:
,----[ dmesg output ]
| ...
| [ 2.508852] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
| [ 2.536758] ssb: Found chip with id 0x4322, rev 0x01 and package 0x0A
| [ 2.543446] usb usb3: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0001, bcdDevice= 6.17
| [ 2.543456] usb usb3: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=1
| [ 2.543460] usb usb3: Product: OHCI PCI host controller
| [ 2.543463] usb usb3: Manufacturer: Linux 6.17.13+deb14-amd64 ohci_hcd
| [ 2.543466] usb usb3: SerialNumber: 0000:00:04.0
| [ 2.544063] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
| [ 2.544342] hub 3-0:1.0: 7 ports detected
| [ 2.545087] ohci-pci 0000:00:06.0: OHCI PCI host controller
| [ 2.545096] ohci-pci 0000:00:06.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
| [ 2.545136] ohci-pci 0000:00:06.0: irq 22, io mem 0xd3487000
| [ 2.573835] ssb: WARNING: Using fallback SPROM failed (err -2)
| [ 2.573888] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: Failed to register PCI version of SSB with error -2
| [ 2.574080] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: probe with driver b43-pci-bridge failed with error -2
| ...
`----
Below is the `Network' section of the output of inxi:
,----[ Network section of inxi output ]
| ...
| Network:
| Device-1: NVIDIA MCP79 Ethernet driver: forcedeth v: kernel port: 21e0 bus-ID: 00:0a.0
| chip-ID: 10de:0ab0 class-ID: 0200
| IF: enp0s10 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:26:b0:e4:ae:de | IP v4: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/24 type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
| [...IP v6 info...]
| Device-2: Broadcom BCM4322 802.11bgn Wireless Network driver: N/A modules: ssb pcie: gen: 1
| speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4322 class-ID: 0280
| Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
| WAN IP: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
| ...
`----
I notice that the `driver' part is N/A, which I think is related to the
errors in dmesg. Cannot figure out how to load it.
In fact, this is the second time this happened. Last time I got stuck
too so I just reinstalled Forky and it started working again. I want to
try to understand and fix it this time, and any idea/hint is
appreciated. Also let me know if more info is needed.
Thanks in advance!
--
Regards,
Xiyue Deng


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Xiyue Deng <manphiz@gmail.com> writes:

Hi,

I have an old macbookpro 13" mid-2009 (model macbookpro5,5) running
Debian testing/Forky. The WiFi using b43 had been running fine but just stopped working earlier today. On boot, I found that the b43 module was
not loaded, so I just did `modprobe b43' and it was loaded fine, but the
WiFi was still not working, and the device did not show up (tried either `ifconfig -a' and `ip a' and nothing). I then checked dmesg output and
found the following part that seemed to be related:

,----[ dmesg output ]
| ...
| [ 2.508852] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002) | [ 2.536758] ssb: Found chip with id 0x4322, rev 0x01 and package 0x0A
| [ 2.543446] usb usb3: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0001, bcdDevice= 6.17
| [ 2.543456] usb usb3: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=1
| [ 2.543460] usb usb3: Product: OHCI PCI host controller
| [ 2.543463] usb usb3: Manufacturer: Linux 6.17.13+deb14-amd64 ohci_hcd
| [ 2.543466] usb usb3: SerialNumber: 0000:00:04.0
| [ 2.544063] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
| [ 2.544342] hub 3-0:1.0: 7 ports detected
| [ 2.545087] ohci-pci 0000:00:06.0: OHCI PCI host controller
| [ 2.545096] ohci-pci 0000:00:06.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
| [ 2.545136] ohci-pci 0000:00:06.0: irq 22, io mem 0xd3487000
| [ 2.573835] ssb: WARNING: Using fallback SPROM failed (err -2)
| [ 2.573888] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: Failed to register PCI version of SSB with error -2
| [ 2.574080] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: probe with driver b43-pci-bridge failed with error -2
| ...
`----

Below is the `Network' section of the output of inxi:

,----[ Network section of inxi output ]
| ...
| Network:
| Device-1: NVIDIA MCP79 Ethernet driver: forcedeth v: kernel port: 21e0 bus-ID: 00:0a.0
| chip-ID: 10de:0ab0 class-ID: 0200
| IF: enp0s10 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:26:b0:e4:ae:de
| IP v4: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/24 type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
| [...IP v6 info...]
| Device-2: Broadcom BCM4322 802.11bgn Wireless Network driver: N/A modules: ssb pcie: gen: 1
| speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4322 class-ID: 0280
| Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
| WAN IP: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
| ...
`----

I notice that the `driver' part is N/A, which I think is related to the errors in dmesg. Cannot figure out how to load it.

In fact, this is the second time this happened. Last time I got stuck
too so I just reinstalled Forky and it started working again. I want to
try to understand and fix it this time, and any idea/hint is
appreciated. Also let me know if more info is needed.

Thanks in advance!

After some extensive searching and all commands suggested failed, I
finally found the fix which is quite simple and all who used mid-2009
MacBook Pro would remember: reset the SMC, PROM/NVROM, etc. You turn
off the laptop, and press "shift + control + option + power button" to
reset SMC; then turn it on and immediately press "option + command + p +
r", the laptop will immediately reboot again. After these sequences,
the wireless started working again.
A possible explanation is that the wireless card could enter a faulty
state (e.g. power loss, sleep failure, etc.) and stopped responding to
SPROM requests. Resetting SMC/PROM/NVROM will reset its state.
--
Regards,
Xiyue Deng


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)