Broadcom wifi adapter stopped working after kernel update

After updating to kernel 7.2-2 my broadcom wifi adapter stopped working.

pacman gave me this error: Consult /var/lib/dkms/broadcom-wl/6.30.223.271/build/make.log for more information.

Here are the contents of the make.log. I don’t understand what the log is telling me. I’ve tried uninstalling the driver and then reinstalling with no luck. I’m using the broadcom-wl-dkms driver. How do I get my wifi adapter working again? Please Help!

DKMS (dkms-3.4.3) make.log for broadcom-wl/6.30.223.271 for kernel 7.2.2-arch1-1 (x86_64)
Mon Aug 31 09:55:05 AM PDT 2026

Building module(s)

command: make -j12 KERNELRELEASE=7.2.2-arch1-1 -C /usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build M=/var/lib/dkms/broadcom-wl/6.30.223.271/build

make: Entering directory '/usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build'
make[1]: Entering directory '/var/lib/dkms/broadcom-wl/6.30.223.271/build'
CFG80211 API is prefered for this kernel version
Using CFG80211 API
CC [M]  src/shared/linux_osl.o
CC [M]  src/wl/sys/wl_linux.o
CC [M]  src/wl/sys/wl_iw.o
CC [M]  src/wl/sys/wl_cfg80211_hybrid.o
src/shared/linux_osl.c: In function ‘osl_strncpy’:
src/shared/linux_osl.c:863:17: error: implicit declaration of function ‘strncpy’ [-Wimplicit-function-declaration]
863 |         return (strncpy(d, s, n));
|                 ^~~~~~~
src/shared/linux_osl.c:31:1: note: include ‘<string.h>’ or provide a declaration of ‘strncpy’
30 | #include <pcicfg.h>
+++ |+#include <string.h>
31 |
src/shared/linux_osl.c:863:17: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strncpy’ [-Wbuiltin-declaration-mismatch]
863 |         return (strncpy(d, s, n));
|                 ^~~~~~~
src/shared/linux_osl.c:863:17: note: include ‘<string.h>’ or provide a declaration of ‘strncpy’
make[3]: *** [/usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/scripts/Makefile.build:289: src/shared/linux_osl.o] Error 1
make[3]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
In file included from src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:85:
././src/wl/sys/wl_iw.h:73:9: warning: ‘isprint’ redefined
73 | #define isprint(c) bcm_isprint(c)
|         ^~~~~~~
In file included from /usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/include/linux/string_helpers.h:6,
from /usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/include/linux/seq_file.h:7,
from /usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/include/linux/seq_file_net.h:5,
from /usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/include/net/net_namespace.h:206,
from /usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/include/linux/netdevice.h:38,
from ././src/include/linuxver.h:69,
from src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:27:
/usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/include/linux/ctype.h:30:9: note: this is the location of the previous definition
30 | #define isprint(c)      ((__ismask(c)&(_P|_U|_L|_D|_SP)) != 0)
|         ^~~~~~~
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function ‘wl_pci_probe’:
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:792:9: warning: this ‘if’ clause does not guard... [-Wmisleading-indentation]
792 |         if ((val & 0x0000ff00) != 0)
|         ^~
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:794:17: note: ...this statement, but the latter is misleadingly indented as if it were guarded by the ‘if’
794 |                 bar1_size = pci_resource_len(pdev, 2);
|                 ^~~~~~~~~
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function ‘wl_open’:
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1108:38: warning: suggest braces around empty body in an ‘if’ statement [-Wempty-body]
1108 |                 OLD_MOD_INC_USE_COUNT;
|                                      ^
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function ‘wl_get_driver_info’:
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1542:9: error: implicit declaration of function ‘strncpy’ [-Wimplicit-function-declaration]
1542 |         strncpy(info->version, EPI_VERSION_STR, sizeof(info->version));
|         ^~~~~~~
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:99:1: note: include ‘<string.h>’ or provide a declaration of ‘strncpy’
98 | #include <wlc_wowl.h>
+++ |+#include <string.h>
99 |
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1542:9: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strncpy’ [-Wbuiltin-declaration-mismatch]
1542 |         strncpy(info->version, EPI_VERSION_STR, sizeof(info->version));
|         ^~~~~~~
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1542:9: note: include ‘<string.h>’ or provide a declaration of ‘strncpy’
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function ‘wl_set_mac_address’:
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:1864:40: warning: suggest braces around empty body in an ‘if’ statement [-Wempty-body]
1864 |                         wl->pub->unit));
|                                        ^
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function ‘wl_start’:
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:2254:58: warning: suggest braces around empty body in an ‘else’ statement [-Wempty-body]
2254 |                                           wl->pub->unit));
|                                                          ^
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c: In function ‘_wl_add_monitor_if’:
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:3030:9: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strncpy’ [-Wbuiltin-declaration-mismatch]
3030 |         strncpy(wlif->dev->name, wlif->name, strlen(wlif->name));
|         ^~~~~~~
src/wl/sys/wl_linux.c:3030:9: note: include ‘<string.h>’ or provide a declaration of ‘strncpy’
make[3]: *** [/usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/scripts/Makefile.build:289: src/wl/sys/wl_linux.o] Error 1
In file included from src/wl/sys/wl_cfg80211_hybrid.c:40:
src/wl/sys/wl_cfg80211_hybrid.c: In function ‘wl_set_auth_type’:
././src/wl/sys/wl_cfg80211_hybrid.h:52:12: warning: this statement may fall through [-Wimplicit-fallthrough=]
52 |         if (wl_dbg_level & WL_DBG_DBG) {
|            ^
src/wl/sys/wl_cfg80211_hybrid.c:835:17: note: in expansion of macro ‘WL_DBG’
835 |                 WL_DBG(("network eap\n"));
|                 ^~~~~~
src/wl/sys/wl_cfg80211_hybrid.c:836:9: note: here
836 |         default:
|         ^~~~~~~
make[2]: *** [/usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/Makefile:2187: .] Error 2
make[1]: *** [/usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build/Makefile:248: __sub-make] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory '/var/lib/dkms/broadcom-wl/6.30.223.271/build'
make: *** [Makefile:248: __sub-make] Error 2
make: Leaving directory '/usr/lib/modules/7.2.2-arch1-1/build'

exit code: 2

elapsed time: 00:00:03


You switched to the dkms one from the broadcom-wl package or already used the broadcom-wl-dkms before?

To me this looks like an issue introduced with kernel 7.2 so while wait for

a fix i would use LTS kernel:

sudo pacman -S linux-lts linux-lts-headers .. problematic if wifi is not working and you do not have LTS installed indeed.. may use usb wifi dongle or alternative network connection.. usb-tethering works too

I’m currently using the internet through the Ethernet network adapter on my computer. I’m glad that it stills function. I’ve tried using a Alpha usb wifi adapter and it doesn’t work either. It used to work though. So I think it is something with the latest kernel. Hopefully they will get it fixed soon. I will try the LTS kernel and report back if wifi works again.

Thanks

I tried installing the LTS Kernel and LTS kernel headers, but it just goes to a black screen. The log in screen never comes up. So I just downgraded the the kernel and kernel headers along with nvidia-open drivers and now my wifi is working again.

you will need nvidia-open-lts package too.. nvidia-open only works for main kernel.

Thats the reason for black screen on LTS boot

Maybe wait for this to show in extra.

Downgrade to 7.1.11 and wait for the fix.

/var/cache/pacman/pkg$ ls -asl *7.1.11*
150996 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 154613738 Aug 28 00:06 linux-7.1.11.arch1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 119 Aug 28 00:06 linux-7.1.11.arch1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst.sig
63100 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 64609072 Aug 28 00:06 linux-headers-7.1.11.arch1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 119 Aug 28 00:06 linux-headers-7.1.11.arch1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst.sig

I’ll report that the latest kernel (7.2.2) broke my broadcom wifi, too (2011 MacBookPro hardware).

I have been using the 6.18 LTS lately, so not a meaningful issue here - since wifi continues to work just fine. But by booting up with the current release kernel I was able to duplicate the issue - wifi becomes unavailable.

(No NVIDIA issues here to further complicate matters.)

Same here → MacbookPro 2009

I tried again with nvidia-open-lts and it worked! The broadcom wifi adapter does work with the LTS kernel.