[all variants] Unknown device not working - intel microcode

I've done a few installs of various Ubuntu flavors. The only device that shows up in Synaptic > Additional Drivers is a device that uses intel cpu microcode. I've used the proprietary driver it suggests without any problem. On this last install, I ticked the circle to use the proprietary driver, and selected 'Apply Changes'. It went on forever, so I closed Synaptic and restarted.

Now under Additional Drivers, it shows "Unknown: Unknown", "This device is not working". And trying to apply the suggested proprietary driver does not work.

Any suggestions on fixing this without redoing the installation?