Acer Aspire E 14 won’t talk to Wifi when running Linux-Image 6.12.88 but works when running the previously installed Linux Image 6.12.74
I need some help with my wife’s laptop please. Problem Acer Aspire E 14 won’t recognize Wifi when running Linux-Image 6.12.88 but works when running the previously installed Linux Image 6.12.74
Debian version 13.5, problem first noticed yesterday before upgrading from 13.4. Still there after upgrade.
Thank you
Processor : Intel Celeron N2840, 2 GB RAM
1 physical processor; 2 cores; 2 thread
root@tessas:~# lspci | grep -i network
02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
I Googled for the problem & found a suggestion I should install broadcom-sta-dkms when this didn’t help I installed the version from trixie-backports
It’s quite late at night in my timezone, I’ve hopefully supplied all relevant information, If not I may be some hours away from the screen.
-------------- Working version -----------
XXXXXX@tessas:~$ uname -a
Linux tessas 6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.74-2 (2026-03-08) x86_64 GNU/Linux
root@tessas:~# rfkill list
0: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: acer-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
3: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
root@tessas:~# ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enp3s0f1: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN group default qlen 1000
link/ether 2c:60:0c:6d:09:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
altname enx2c600c6d09d2
inet 169.254.6.254/16 brd 169.254.255.255 scope link enp3s0f1:avahi
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: wlp2s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 10:08:b1:e8:c1:97 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
altname wlx1008b1e8c197
inet 192.168.103.147/24 brd 192.168.103.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute wlp2s0
valid_lft 3388sec preferred_lft 3388sec
inet6 fe80::f643:a79c:4c46:a0a3/64 scope link noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
NB: Wired ethernet is down because I unplugged the cable before powering up.
----------------------
Non working version
root@tessas:~# uname -a
Linux tessas 6.12.88+deb13-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.88-1 (2026-05-15) x86_64 GNU/Linux
root@tessas:~# rfkill list
0: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: acer-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
XXXXX@tessas:~$ ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enp3s0f1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 2c:60:0c:6d:09:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
altname enx2c600c6d09d2
inet 192.168.103.196/24 brd 192.168.103.255 scope global dynamic enp3s0f1
valid_lft 3492sec preferred_lft 3492sec
inet6 fe80::2e60:cff:fe6d:9d2/64 scope link proto kernel_ll
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
NB: Ethernet cable plugged in before power on
----------------------
Extracts from HardInfo2 report
-Product-
Name : Aspire ES1-411
Family : <s>Type1Family</s>
Vendor : Acer
Version : V1.08
Serial Number : (Not available)
SKU : Aspire ES1-411_0843_1_08
-BIOS-
Date : 12/10/2014
Vendor : Insyde Corp.
Version : V1.08
-Board-
Name : EA42_BM
Vendor : Acer
Version : Type2 - A01 Board Version
Serial Number : (Not available)
Asset Tag : <s>Type2 - Board Asset Tag</s>
Firmware
--------
-BCM43142A0 broadcom bluetooth-
Version : 1.12
VendorId : USB:0x0489
Vendor : Foxconn / Hon Hai
Serial : 1008B1E8C198
Protocol : org.usb.dfu
Plugin : dfu
Guid : a0084d5b-f581-5878-8f91-0468ec7523ed
Flags : [updatable] Device is updatable in this or any other mode
DeviceId : 62d5d8280031f607f1db058da959a97f6a8e6d90