Bug 508036

Summary:	BCM43602 bug with wpa_supplicant, but can't easily switch to iwd
Product:	[I don't know] kde	Reporter:	augustobob <augustobob>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Unknown <null>
Status:	RESOLVED MOVED
Severity:	major	CC:	nate, sitter
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	unspecified
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	KDE Linux
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description augustobob 2025-08-09 02:17:59 UTC

SUMMARY
There is a bug in spa_supplicant which prevents some old Broadcom wifi chips to authenticate in wifi networks, I usually fix this by changing spa_supplicant with iwd, but since kde linux is immutable its way harder to fix. 

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Start the live os
2. try to connect to any wifi

OBSERVED RESULT
The system prompts for password again

EXPECTED RESULT
connect to network

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: 202508080254

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/1g158h3/wifi_on_2015_mbp_bcm43602_im_about_to_pull_my/?tl=pt-br

Comment 1 Nate Graham 2025-08-10 12:26:11 UTC

Is there a bug report for this issue we can read through? Maybe there's a workaround or a configuration change that fixes it.

Switching to iwd for everyone is a possibility, but we would need to be sure we aren't just exchanging one set of bugs for another.

Comment 2 augustobob 2025-08-15 21:35:21 UTC

(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1)
> Is there a bug report for this issue we can read through? Maybe there's a
> workaround or a configuration change that fixes it.
> 
> Switching to iwd for everyone is a possibility, but we would need to be sure
> we aren't just exchanging one set of bugs for another.

When the problem first started I was using archlinux, something a year ago or so, initially I downgraded spa_supplicant and it was unreliable because of the constant system trying to upgrade the package. I found some people complaining about this bug in bugzilla, reddit and other forums, it appears to affect old macbooks with bcm43602, 4331, etc. 
The solution I found was changing to iwd, completely removing wpa_supplicant.

I really don't know if it has any downsides if switching for everyone, but if there's a way to fix this is enough. I couldn't find a way to install iwd from a flash drive in KDE Linux. 
The steps I do in arch or any arch based distro to fix is just installing iwd with pacman, stopping and disabling wpa_supplicant, add iwd as backend in NetworkManager, enabling and starting iwd. 
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=298025
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2302577

Comment 3 Nate Graham 2025-08-16 15:52:40 UTC

Thanks for the info. Let's move the discussion to https://invent.kde.org/kde-linux/kde-linux/-/issues/236, as we're transitioning away from Bugzilla for KDE Linux in the interest of centralizing everything on invent for simplicity (despite Gitlab Issues being in some ways inferior to Bugzilla; we're going to give it a go and see how it works out).